"Forbidden Planet" news - SPOILERS POSSIBLE [Archive]

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mandragora

10-31-2008, 12:50 AM

J. Michael Straczynski, the writer of the Clint Eastwood-directed "Changeling," is penning a long-in-the-works update of sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" for Warner Bros. Joel Silver is producing via Silver Pictures.

Full article here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib356467890c70c66f5453b8ea7d5fc00

Jan

10-31-2008, 03:19 AM

glindros

10-31-2008, 03:48 AM

I do believe that this is the film that's "near and dear to everyone's" hear he was talking about earlier in the year.

Lensman and now Frobidden Planet. Nice to know they've got somebody who loves and respects the material.

Jan

Shouldn't this be considered a rewrite/reimagining?.

I'm not that thrilled that they're remaking it, in many ways it is the archetype for much of the science fiction we enjoy to this day. If anybody does it, I feel better with jms and his pen. I wonder how he'll monkey with it?

Garibaldi's Hair

10-31-2008, 03:50 AM

Well, at least they have picked a writer who is widely known to have the utmost respect for the original. I still wish they would leave it alone though.

Jan

10-31-2008, 03:53 AM

Shouldn't this be considered a rewrite/reimagining?.
Not a rewrite, but of course it'll be a reimagining.

I'm not that thrilled that they're remaking it, in many ways it is the archetype for much of the science fiction we enjoy to this day. If anybody does it, I feel better with jms and his pen. I wonder how he'll monkey with it?
It'll be interesting to see. SF aspects aside, I thought the love story was unbelievable in the extreme.

Jan

glindros

10-31-2008, 03:57 AM

Not a rewrite, but of course it'll be a reimagining.

It'll be interesting to see. SF aspects aside, I thought the love story was unbelievable in the extreme.

Jan

Live on a deserted world with only your Dad and a robot for 20+ years, and see how your social and flirting skills are. That and have you ever seem a bunch on Navy guys on shore leave after a several month deployment. Streched yes, unbelievable not quite.

Jan

10-31-2008, 04:10 AM

Oh, I realized that that sort of 'love at first sight' was standard for back when the movie was made. It just wasn't something I could buy into even back when I was around 13 and saw it for the first time.

I can only imagine how stunning this version will be visually. Wonder what the timeline is for this.

Jan

frulad

10-31-2008, 04:42 AM

Normally, I am dead set against any and all remakes. Does anyone think that the new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still has anything to add to what the original said?

However, we all know that JMS is a fan of the original and I have no qualms whatsoever about his handling the material.

Oddly enough, this is the second remake announced this week that I actually like the idea of. (The other is David Mamet scripting a new version of Kurosawa's High And Low.)

Spoo Junky

10-31-2008, 05:14 AM

I'm like some people here - for the most part I don't like remakes. I have never watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey because the original cartoon is the "be all and end all" for me.

I also love Forbidden Planet and I can watch it over and over. If JMS weren't writing it, I definitely wouldn't go to see it, but with him at the helm my resolve is wavering. I'll see what he says about it - if it doesn't go the way he envisions it, then that's it. If it does, then I'll probably go.

Jan

10-31-2008, 05:39 AM

What does anybody know about Joel Silver?

Jan

nottenst

10-31-2008, 06:01 AM

What does anybody know about Joel Silver?

JanJust check out his imdb page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005428/). There are a lot of impressive production credits there including The Matrix, Veronica Mars, and Die Hard.

Neil

Jan

10-31-2008, 06:09 AM

Just check out his imdb page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005428/). There are a lot of impressive production credits there including The Matrix, Veronica Mars, and Die Hard.

Oh...my. Wow!

Jan

Joe Nazzaro

10-31-2008, 06:45 AM

One thing you can be reasonably sure of is that if Joel Silver is producing, it will most likely get made. And it will be BIG.

SmileOfTheShadow

10-31-2008, 07:02 AM

Cheers to the good news!

B5_Obsessed

10-31-2008, 07:12 AM

What does anybody know about Joel Silver?

Jan

I'm gonna pretend I didn't read that. :eek:

mandragora

10-31-2008, 07:14 AM

He's also the producer of "Ninja Assassin", which is most likely the connection to JMS.

So, after "Lensman" this is the second one I guessed right ;) What might be the other two he mentioned? Maybe we should open a guessing game thread. :)

B5_Obsessed

10-31-2008, 07:16 AM

Hmm, Zathras always tending Krell machinery without much appreciatings. Luckily, Zathras too beat down to have powerful killer Id monster. One day when Zathras was asleep, Zathras created a vicious Id poodle which snuck up and peed on Dr. Morbius' foot.

Not good, *click, click*

NotSoWize

10-31-2008, 12:01 PM

Somehow, I don't think I've ever seen Forbidden Planet. I guess I'll take care of that!

Joel Silver, huh? Yes, that should mean that this version gets made.

Go Joe!

mandragora

10-31-2008, 12:01 PM

glindros

10-31-2008, 12:15 PM

Somehow, I don't think I've ever seen Forbidden Planet. I guess I'll take care of that!

You'll be shocked about how familiar many things are. Remember it's 50+ years old, and anything like the great machine similarities were grabbed from it, not the other way around.

Oh, and enjoy Leslie Neilsen in what might be his last serious role. :)

Jonas

10-31-2008, 02:57 PM

Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a134231/straczynski-to-pen-forbidden-planet.html) reports that David Twohy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878638/) will be directing this (no confirmation from other sources yet, though).

I must confess until I've never heard of him :confused:

That would be awesome. Twohy is a great director and loves sci-fi. All of his sci-fi movies - The Arrival, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick - are really underrated.

frulad

10-31-2008, 07:01 PM

Twohy was attached to this a while back, but that was before it migrated over to Warner Brothers. I didn't think he was still with it.

Morden

11-01-2008, 09:25 AM

Well, I'm not particularly fond of remakes/re-imaginings, but the new "Battlestar Galactica" show and "Casino Royale" have shown that the "re-imagining" idea can work very well. I'm a big fan of the original "Forbidden Planet" and I'm regarding it a cult classic in the scifi-sector which doesn't necessarily need a "new" version, especially no simple modern looking remake. But a cleverly written re-imagining, focussing on other and new aspects and giving the characters new sides and depth, well that might be very interesting given the great potential the story has. JMS might be just the right guy to pull of something very cool here.

As for David Twohy, well I liked "Pitch Black", but never found something very special or astonishing in his way of directing. Let's wait for more details about the filming crew.

grumbler

11-01-2008, 03:59 PM

Lunan

11-01-2008, 05:47 PM

I am among those who think that remaking already-classic movies is dumb. Why make Forbiden Planet again (and risk unfavorable comparisons) when On Basilisk Station hasn't even been made once?

I suppose WB feels that it must keep up with 20th Century-Fox, which needlessly remade The Day the Earth Stood Still. :rolleyes:

Still, it is money in Joe's pocket, so I am happy for him.

now, i can agree to an extend there. however until its proven to me that someone other then peter jackson can do book movies of series right lets be a little less ambition then OBS, lets start with Mutineers' Moon, Crystal Singer, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, or similar first, lets be VERY VERY careful before we start working on Pern or Harrington, or Serrano. now if joe got one of THOSE deals, thru the roof i'd be

i'm not going to talk about wheel of time because i think it CAN'T be done

raw_bean

11-02-2008, 04:30 PM

Sure it could. OK, you'd have to skip whole reams of characters and plotlines to focus on the most important ones, but I tend to think of that as an improvement and something the books could have done with.

Joe Nazzaro

11-02-2008, 06:01 PM

I suppose on an abstract level one could ask why it's necessary to remake The Tempest at all. From my perspective, the original Forbidden Planet looks incredibly dated, particularly the animated ID creature, so the notion of remaking it doesn't particularly bother me as much as, say, The Day the Earth Stood Still, so to each his own.

Funnily enough, I just e-mailed an editor of mine a chunk of an interview I did with The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner who I interviewed back in 1994 I think, when his next project was going to be a remake of Forbidden Planet. There was a script by Sterling Silliphant already in place, and studio space had been booked at Shepperton Studios in the UK, so I'd love to know what happened to that version.

Night Marshal

11-03-2008, 06:19 PM

I to have never seen the original Forbidden Planet but I think might drop a two cent in here about why you make a remake. Part of the glory of remakes is it brings the Orginals back into Demand. I remember when the the Wild Wild West movie came out. At the same TnT(which Babylon 5 was showing at the time) decided they needed to have the Original Wild Wild West on as much as Humanly possible which only when on to show how the originally TV show was so much better than that Movie but that is the Double edged Sword of a remake. You get Sales on a Product that would otherwise have very low sales of but it also means a lot of people that might have never Seen the original or haven't seen it in a long time, are exposed to it and can make a direct comparison.

I for one have faith in JMS but then again a good Script doesn't make a good movie but it does help.

Dr Maturin

11-03-2008, 07:26 PM

Morden

11-04-2008, 10:15 AM

Although I did love 3:10 to Yuma...

Yeah, me too, that movie is quite good!

PMvanova

11-05-2008, 09:49 AM

Some concern was voiced by some sf movie 'purists' shall we say. One was rather skeptical about this being redone at all and pointed to the recent disaster of War of the Worlds.
I replied with 'At least Spielberg and Cruise aren't involved in this one.' The person I was talking to has never watched B5, but knows of it from my experience. I assured him that of all the people to give this one a 're-imagining' I trust JMS the most.

I started to ponder the question though (and if someone could pass this on to him it would be interesting to see his answer):
What will be his treatment of it? He is well known to us as writing character stories first and let the rest take care of itself. All the movies he's getting are very much character stories which I think is a very purposeful choice on his part. He's already given some hints on his treatment of the Lensmen stories (which I am thrilled he got) but what about Forbidden Planet?

Side question for the rest of us that know the story, who do you think should be cast in it? Knowns or unkowns? Ooooohhhh... here's a kicker... how about Bruce Boxleitner as the replacement for the Leslie Neilson character? oh my...I think that would actually work.

Jan

11-06-2008, 05:35 AM

Ain't It Cool News is claiming to have details about how JMS will approach "Forbidden Planet", that it'll be less of a remake and more of a continuation: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38991

Harry also says that JMS has just "completed his rewrite for THOR." I'd be sorry for that to be true.

Jan

glindros

11-06-2008, 05:46 AM

Jan

11-06-2008, 05:58 AM

Really? What does the first script look like?

White sheets of paper with black marks on them? :p

Dunno. I don't generally trust anything AICN says without corroboration. I've started a thread on the moderated newsgroup in case JMS wants to chime in.

Jan

frulad

11-06-2008, 09:27 AM

Harry also says that JMS has just "completed his rewrite for THOR." I'd be sorry for that to be true.

Jan

Well, I think the main reason Mark Protosevich's THOR draft needed rewriting was to reduce the budget several tens of millions of dollars!

(Also, can we make this a spoiler thread because I have a thought or two about AICN's story today?)

Jan

11-06-2008, 09:44 AM

Jan

11-06-2008, 01:20 PM

JMS responds to the AICN 'scoop':

That report is totally incorrect. It's not going to be retro, and
it's not going to be a continuation. When Altair 4 blows up, it blows
up. I have, however, found a way to honro the original movie without
in any way besmirching it in order to do this iteration. Once folks
find out what we're actually going to do, I think they'll be most
pleased. Forbidden Planet remains one of my favorite films of all
time, and I wouldn't even think about doing this project if I didn't
think there was a way to do it that would not in any way diminish the
original...which is why this is the the first development in years to
actually get to the script stage. Everybody involved is very excited
by the approach.

jms

Jan

frulad

11-06-2008, 06:07 PM

Am I going senile? When/where did we find out that JMS was rewriting somebody's Thor *script*?! I was assuming that he meant that JMS wouldn't be writing the comic any longer.

Spoiler warning added to the thread heading.

Jan

Harry would have mentioned it if it were for the comic. Besides, don't we have two unnamed projects he's working on?

frulad

11-06-2008, 06:15 PM

Although the AICN story has now been officially debunked, I have to say that I had some concerns about the idea of a "continuation." FP is, at its heart, is a morality tale and how do you do a sequel or a "continuation" to a morality tale?

Dr Maturin

11-06-2008, 10:28 PM

Yeah, me too, that movie is quite good!

I can't wait for Crowe's Robin Hood movie.

I am not looking forward to Forbidden Planet. For one, it's a remake, for two, JMS will find some way to stick a political statement into the story.

Talwyn

11-06-2008, 10:36 PM

While I'm not usally in favour of remakes, Forbidden Planet is a good candidate for it, especially if JMS is going to script it.

It would be great if he gives it a political theme as well - maybe something on the lines of the perils of the abuse of power?

Jonas

11-09-2008, 04:18 AM

Well, since Forbidden Planet is based on The Tempest, and The Tempest has some pretty strong cultural/political questions in it... and since sci-fi is one of the best places to truly discuss politics and philosophy... and since that is one of the best things about B5... I don't see why not!

Tom Bedlam

11-12-2008, 02:08 PM

I was never sure if it was intentional or not, but they drop lots of hints and never address the issue.

What WAS the machine for? Morbius handwaved it by saying it was to eliminate physical instrumentalities; while that may be true in a sense, Morbius' use of it and his descriptions of the library give it a bit of a different spin that was never addressed squarely.

First, Morbius says that after he was "vastened" or "enhanced" or whatever you want to call it by the Educator, the first thing he learned from the Krell library was how to invent Robbie - artificial life.

In the same scene, he uses the Educator to create a simulacrum of Altaira - "simulated life" if you will, stating that "she was alive moment to moment in his mind as he manipulated".

Later, you see Altaira's "friends" - a mix of animals from Earth. No other life higher than plants apparently survives from the time of the Krell downfall, but these animals do. And they're in general not breeding pairs, different types of monkeys, a single tiger, a pair of female deer. But even if they somehow WERE the only animal life to survive, in 250,000 years, they never evolved? They're still in Earth coloration? You wouldn't recognize a tiger's 250,000 year old ancestor as a Bengal. Why haven't these animals changed? And why do they associate with Altaira? Because Morbius intentionally created them using the Krell device, that's why.

The ID monster itself was a sort of pseudo-life created from Morbius' subconscious. Morbius was doing the same thing in the small, consciously, off-stage.

The question you have to ask ("She exists from moment to moment in my mind...as I manipulate") is if Altaira herself was created by Morbius after the death of his wife.

The purpose of the Krell machine wasn't just to deliver pizza on time or a spare hammer for working on the deck - it was intended to create living beings on demand for whatever use, which better explains the captain's last line - "We are, after all, not God", which never really seemed to fit.

On another subject....

I always thought it would have been interesting to set a remake in current time, so you could get the sets cheaper and have less Captain Video looking props and uniforms, and more audience identification with the characters. Just posit that the Navy has crude interstellar travel that's very SCI (re Gary McKinnon) but maybe not so dependable, and that the Bellerophon was a European first gen craft from the late 80's. It gives you an excuse for having a breakdown that strands both the Bellerophon and the C57D ala Tempest/FP (the technology's still over-complex and cantankerous), and a reason for waffling/stalling while the ID monster has a chance to eat half the crew (we don't know how to do FTL comms yet). Cast David Bowie as Morbius, throw in some Europe/US cultural tension, stir.

And on the way back, have the surviving corpsman discover that Altaira's no more human than a woodwife in the last scene...set up for sequel. :D

Jan

12-01-2008, 12:55 PM

There's a short interview with JMS about "Forbidden Planet" on MTV Movie Blogs. (http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/12/01/j-michael-straczynski-promises-his-take-on-forbidden-planet-will-be-something-no-one-has-thought-of/)
Of particular note after the AICN rumor:
It’s not a remake. It’s not a reimagining. It’s not exactly a prequel. You’ll have to see it. It’s something that no one has thought of when it comes to this storyline.”

I thought this was interesting as it ties back to JMS's request for suggestions on who he should talk to regarding the future a while back:
Straczynski will be paying close attention to detail, with the writer revealing conversations he’s had to ensure the film is as scientifically attuned as possible. “[When coming] up with the Krell backstory and who they are, I sat down with some of the nation’s best minds in astrophysics and planetary geology and A.I. and asked them — based on what we know now — what will a million years from now look like? The goal is to put things in there you’ve never seen before.”

I'm looking forward to this.

Jan

mandragora

12-01-2008, 01:34 PM

At least now we know the reason for his research tour concerning far advanced societies.

ETA: Not a re-imagining and "not exactly" a prequel. Exactly a prequel would be the establishment of the colony itself. And he was looking for information about a far advanced society - not just the technology was mentioned in his post a few months ago. This sounds like it will involve the exploration of the Krell. But it can't focus on the Krell alone, somehow the humans must play a part in it. Some of the colonists discovering information of the Krell, perhaps? I wonder if there will reminders of Epsilon 3's "Great Machine".

Belbo

12-19-2008, 12:49 PM

Jan

12-19-2008, 12:59 PM

I've posted the rumor over on the moderated group to see if JMS can tell us if it's completely false. Unfortunately, if he doesn't reply at all, that doesn't mean it's true.

Jan

B5_Obsessed

12-19-2008, 02:41 PM

If it's true, Joe may be physically incapable of speaking. :eek:

Jan

12-19-2008, 03:49 PM

I'm thinking that there may just be way too much leaking going on for credibility. Now there's another article claiming to have story details.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS IF YOU FOLLOW THE LINK!!!!!!!!!

MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!!

Claimed story details of "Forbidden Planet". (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=1&article=5974)

Again, I've posted to see if JMS has anything to say. My personal opinion is that this may well be along the same lines of the rumored '24 minute yonkers scene' in WWZ - what JMS would call balloon juice.

Jan

B5_Obsessed

12-19-2008, 05:00 PM

I mean, events prior to the original featuring characters from the original and how they got to be where they were at the start of the original is more or less the definition of prequel, no?

I'm generally against prequels because if you're familiar with the original, then you know where they're going. In this case, everyone dies.. almost. And on top of that, Morbius doesn't even figure out it was his mind that murdered the rest of the crew for another 20 years, so it seems kind of pointless to me.

As far as the small intro piece, it does kinda resemble some of Joe's previous writings, but then again, it also sounds a hell of a lot like the start of "Contact", so I don't know.

Quick edit to spoiler protect rumored information. -Jan

Jan

12-19-2008, 05:07 PM

I just put in a spoiler protection on your post, B5_Obsessed. I know, it's just a rumor and the thread's clearly marked but since we don't really know if it's true, I thought it would be better to be safe.

Jan

JDSValen

12-19-2008, 05:17 PM

I don't know if this was already covered on another thread, but AICN is reporting that James Cameron is very interested in directing "Forbidden Planet." It seems kinda early, especially where Cameron's still working on "Avatar" but if this does pan out, wow.

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/node/39518

B5_Obsessed

12-19-2008, 07:12 PM

I think you covered the wrong part

Jan

12-19-2008, 07:28 PM

I covered the potentially new information, not anything that dealt with the original movie. I'm don't know the original all that well, though, so if I missed something that wasn't in the original, please fix it.

Thanks,

Jan

B5_Obsessed

12-20-2008, 09:31 AM

According to Latino Review, which does get stuff wrong.

Jan

12-20-2008, 10:42 AM

(also posted on the newsgroup)

And the Latino Review piece (http://www.latinoreview.com/news/exclusive-j-michael-straczynski-s-forbidden-planet-plot-trilogy-details-revealed-5879) really makes me wonder just what exactly they're reading. Because I don't think it's a script. That article talks about a prologue to the script and an epilogue.

Excuse me? Screenplays don't *have* prologues or epilogues.

Okay, let me expand on that. *JMS's* screenplays don't have prologues or epilogues. I've seen a lot of his scripts and can only recall two instances where there was anything at all after FADE OUT. One was a dedication and one was a 'To Be Continued'. That's it.

IF it's legit at all, I seriously doubt it's a script.

Jan

JDSValen

12-20-2008, 12:45 PM

Its been updated. Looks like its a trilogy now. This sounds awesome:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39531

Dan Dassow

12-20-2008, 03:00 PM

Oooh - IESB makes a startling claim :eek:

IESB Exclusive: FORBIDDEN PLANET May Have a Director (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5968&Itemid=99)

Not exactly Variety, but a step up from AICN at least ......

It is frequently amazing how rumors propogate. Cineblend picked up the IESB.net's "scoop" that James Cameron wished to direct.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/James-Cameron-Heads-To-The-Forbidden-Planet-11332.html

As somewhat of an afterthough, James Cameron is almost on the other side of the spectrum to Clint Eastwood. Whereas Eastwood prides himself on efficiency and capturing the moment, Cameron is more concerned with detail.

Morden

03-10-2009, 12:32 AM

So, JMS wants/has to re-write the entire script because so many details lacked into the communities. That's a pity IMO, but perhaps he'll have the chance to improve the script now, as he said himself...

frulad

03-10-2009, 03:15 PM

vakie

03-10-2009, 03:40 PM

Didn't JMS just say this in a post somewhere? But I can't see it now on the jmsnews frontpage...

edit: here it is

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated/browse_thread/thread/673b7a0fc29c309/8964b5917e1045ee#8964b5917e1045ee

Meanwhile, on a wholly different note...not of triumph but of
annoyance....because so much of the Forbidden Planet screenplay was
leaked out, Warners and I have decided to chuck the screenplay in its
entirety and start over. This is the direct result of the leaks that
showed up on the nets, including detailed script reviews of a project
that was barely a week old, and which would effectively destroy any
anticipation of the movie because by the time it finally reached the
screen in 2010 or thereabouts, the story would be old news. So we're
starting fresh, and we're going to keep a tight lid on the script this
time.

So to the sites that say, "Where's the harm, it's not like they're
gonna toss out the script because we blew the contents of same all
over the nets," well, yes, that's exactly what it's like, and it's
precisely your responsibility that a year's worth of work was
destroyed.

So we start anew, with the determined hope that the next draft will be
even better, and far more secure, than the last one.

jms

frulad

03-11-2009, 07:48 PM

Ahhh... thanks.

Morden

03-11-2009, 08:02 PM

Strange, it definately was also on the jmsnews.com frontpage, but it seems to have disappeared...?!

frulad

07-02-2009, 07:45 AM

So if they're chucking it, is it OK to talk about now?