The BJMDDS General Discussion Thread......

[bjmdds]

The Wizard of Oz?

[English Agent]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/ Don't look now but the cowboy calamity has fallen to 7th place well behind both the Smurfs and the Apes! Could the box office beating that Spielberg, Grazer, Howard, and Favreau are enduring be the TRUE reason that there has been no news on Bond 23? In this worldwide economy, why would a proven failure at the box office be trusted to do another Bond film, after a 4 year hiatus in the role, and a disaster just released, equal to the budget of the next Bond film?

C&A does seem to be sinking faster than the Titanic (the boat, not the film) at the US boxoffice.

I saw trailer for film last night at the cinema, as film hits the UK next weekend...........i'll think i'll see it for the hell of it, hope its good!

[stockslivevan]

The Wizard of Oz?

A remake of the musical adaption? Hopefully not. I'm very tired of the musical Oz.

I would like to see an adaption of the book. With the Harry Potter films being so popular I'm puzzled by why the studios haven't tried doing one for Oz. I think the timing is right. Return to Oz came a bad time when most of its target audience thought Oz was supposed to be a musical and many unfairly criticized the flick for not being a happy musical like the MGM technicolor romp.

I always liked this sequence.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnIdI8ii ... re=related[/video]

Terrifying when I was a child, which made it more exciting for me than the musical.

[stockslivevan]

If Craig's comments on Bond 23 being more of a "classic Bond film" are anything to go by it may already be true.

Didn't he say the same thing about QOS?

When was that?

[Alessandra]

Probably just another bad actor, just like Swayze. So it won't be hard. Frankly I'm not surprised. I'm sure they'll be riffing the Step Up flicks with the emphasis on hip-hop/r&b.

Haha, you're right, not that I think Patrick Swayze was a phenomenal actor, but I do think he was at the very least decent. And, the biggest point, he was a phenomenal dancer. I see no decent actors around, or even under par, who are phenomenal dancers. THANKFULLY the Step Up stuff is not going to happen, seen as Ortega who coreographed the original movie is going to be the director. My fear given his recent projects is that we get someone like Zac freaking EFRON for the part And that they turn it into high school. The Step Up thing, however, they have done with Footloose. Another one that is a piece of my childhood. Loved the original and what I saw of the remake was HORRID. The only good thing about it was Dennis Quaid.

It's not that people in Hollywood are running out of ideas, it's that they're scared of original ideas at all. Hollywood in recent years has become dependent on brand names because they're a lot more easy to market than original movies. Why make an original buddy cop film when you could do a remake of Lethal Weapon thus have a higher percentage of movie goers interested in something that is familiar? There's a good article suggesting that Hollywood truly is afraid to make movies like INCEPTION which is ironic given how good that did.

I can understand why someone would be scared of doing something like Inception because it certainly isn't aimed at mass public AND it can be quite complicated. Yet like you said, it did great especially against expectations. But what I meant by original was just "not a remake" , I didn't even mean it as in "way out of the box" I'm not aiming that high! I just meant "not copied" As in, newly written. The stuff they do is mostly remakes OR ripped off of other things. You're right the majors have that attitude when you reference Lethal Weapon and the like, but it's also true that original stuff has done much better than expected. Perfect example? Super 8. Extremely low budget and it did very well. Contrary to Cowboys & Aliens. Because it was a well thought-of and thought-out movie (and because it had a MUCH better lead. Kyle Chandler has been outrageously overlooked by Hollywood. He's really good.) They only had JJ Abrams as big name involved, yet it did well and exceeded expectations.That's just an example of course. In the end when you just manage to have a decent story and decent actors you do ok. I think the real problem is that they pick horrible scripts out of laziness and always go for the same actors for a certain genre, while instead going a little bit more out of the box would probably help in some cases. They'll soon be forced to write something new anyway, they're running out of remakes.

They'll remake anything, don't be surprised.

Sigh. Not Gone with the Wind please. They have already outraged me with that monstrous remake of my all-time favorite (Billy Wilder) movie, Sabrina. Possibly the WORST Harrison Ford work ever. Only one who was good in the movie was Greg Kinnear, who did a good updated rendition of William Holden's character. If they also ruin Gone with the Wind, I'll just give up. But sadly I think you're right.. they will remake just about anything at this point. I'm extremely surprised they haven't touched Hitchcock yet. Seen as they had zero respect for Billy Wilder with Sabrina, I guess nothing is sacred. Hopefully Hitchcock is too sacred for them to think about it.

[stockslivevan]

I'm extremely surprised they haven't touched Hitchcock yet.

Oh, if only that were true.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRWMPt9Y9yo[/video]

Still, at least that was hilarious. Cattle? Why is cattle flashing before his eyes as he dies? Did he used to rape cattle? Is he going to hell?

One of the dumbest hollywood decisions ever made in 1998.

[katied]

Ugh I gotta agree. The Psycho remake was a bad idea.


I'm not too happy about all the movies from my childhood being remade.It's official-the Hollywood idea well has run dry.

[stockslivevan]

Just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Another brand name that the studios were no doubt eager to produce to make them lots of money, but unlike recent entries such as the braindead Star Trek they actually hired filmmakers who clearly had a certain level of passion and respect for the franchise thus we're given one of the best flicks of the summer. It's very refreshing to watch a sci-fi film that does not insult your intelligence and keeps you involved with well crafted characters and very impressive work on emoting the apes.

I'm now interested in revisiting the old Charlton Heston flick and checking out the rest of the sequels. Good job filmmakers.

[English Agent]

Just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Another brand name that the studios were no doubt eager to produce to make them lots of money, but unlike recent entries such as the braindead Star Trek they actually hired filmmakers who clearly had a certain level of passion and respect for the franchise thus we're given one of the best flicks of the summer. It's very refreshing to watch a sci-fi film that does not insult your intelligence and keeps you involved with well crafted characters and very impressive work on emoting the apes.

I'm now interested in revisiting the old Charlton Heston flick and checking out the rest of the sequels. Good job filmmakers.

Yes, i agree 'Stocks', the new Apes film was very good.........its shows there is still some very good talent in Hollywood.

May we see more well crafted stories in the future.

.........and hopefully a far better Bond film next year!

[Alessandra]

I'm extremely surprised they haven't touched Hitchcock yet.

Oh, if only that were true.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRWMPt9Y9yo[/video]

Still, at least that was hilarious. Cattle? Why is cattle flashing before his eyes as he dies? Did he used to rape cattle? Is he going to hell?

One of the dumbest hollywood decisions ever made in 1998.

OMG I had that in the back of my head but thought it was a spoof not an actual remake I never even considered it for a sec... I swear I was convinced it was a spoof. Which, even if unwillingly, it looks like is

[bjmdds]

"In the meantime, as part of their plan to add some diversity to their movie production portfolio, Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are preparing to oversee production on the thriller ‘Remote Control’, which will be based on the Mark Burnell novel about a war correspondent who becomes a British corporate intelligence analyst. He finds himself entangled in a plot hatched by some major Western corporations to disrupt the Chinese economy and is forced to go on the run. The Bond producers are also keen to continue with their long-term plan to remake 1968’s ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, based on the now-famous children’s book by Ian Fleming about a magical flying car." What is the update on these two items?

[bjmdds]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/ Aliens & Eggs on Sunday has dropped to 8th in box office revenue if you go by the Sunday alone totals. The Apes taught Spielberg a big lesson: You don't have to pay an ape-ish actor a lot of money to make a sci-fi film, when CGIs will do the trick for free!

[JackWade CIA]

$200-plus-million budget

Somebody is getting the money I'd bet for producing.
Pierce Brosnana's western,a far superior product to Cowboys & Aliens has a better story, charters and better acting from some very notable names didn't cost $20 million according to IMDb.

An unfair comparison given that the Neeson/Brosnan film wasn't a tentpole film featuring aliens attacks. A better comparison for Seraphim Falls is probably True Grit which was made for $38 million and got back $249 million. That's roughly what a film like The Lone Ranger should be aiming for, but I guess Disney is more concerned of producing a film that would make a billion worldwide. I think they're better off without Johnny Depp, let him continue with the Pirate films instead.

True Grit got a true release ( pun intended), Seraphim Falls was very limited, I agree the summer tentpole is not a good comparison. The Lone Ranger is a classic story for a by gone generation (radio & early television) revitalizing it sufficiently to making money with it is a hard road.

BTW Pierce Brosnan's character is a bad ass in Seraphim Falls.

He's very good in anything that isn't a James Bond film. Have you seen The Fourth Protocol?

[/quote]
I do not believe I have. Brosnan was fine as Bond, very good in fact. Although I enjoy Craig in Royale and I see Royale as necessary for the producers who were uninspired and need a change of pace. I do not see the reboot as necessary. The producers got do do something different (do it well) then threw it away. I do not know what Bond needs for sure, another Craig movie I am fairly sure it could do without. I think it is time to recast and rethink Bond on a more fundamental level. Craig's gritty Bond was never going to be along term thing and I really think they need to look at the long term with a plan in mind. It is obvious they are doing a half-assed job with no plan and no ideas behind their actions film to film.

[JackWade CIA]

"In the meantime, as part of their plan to add some diversity to their movie production portfolio, Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are preparing to oversee production on the thriller ‘Remote Control’, which will be based on the Mark Burnell novel about a war correspondent who becomes a British corporate intelligence analyst. He finds himself entangled in a plot hatched by some major Western corporations to disrupt the Chinese economy and is forced to go on the run. The Bond producers are also keen to continue with their long-term plan to remake 1968’s ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, based on the now-famous children’s book by Ian Fleming about a magical flying car." What is the update on these two items?

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the Fast and Furious generation? I pass.

[Kristatos]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/ Aliens & Eggs on Sunday has dropped to 8th in box office revenue if you go by the Sunday alone totals.

It's down to 6 in the weekend estimates chart, and has yet to break the $100 million mark.

[Omega]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/ Aliens & Eggs on Sunday has dropped to 8th in box office revenue if you go by the Sunday alone totals.

It's down to 6 in the weekend estimates chart, and has yet to break the $100 million mark.

Ouch! I had thought it might break 100 million... not so much now. UK it is up to your guys to make this a success to get Craig out of Bond!

Cowboys & Aliens had its first foreign openings this weekend, grossing an estimated $7 million from 14 locations. That included a decent $2.8 million in Russia and an unimpressive $1.1 million in South Korea. Next weekend, the movie expands to eight more markets, including the U.K. and Australia.

[Omega]

Just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Another brand name that the studios were no doubt eager to produce to make them lots of money, but unlike recent entries such as the braindead Star Trek they actually hired filmmakers who clearly had a certain level of passion and respect for the franchise thus we're given one of the best flicks of the summer. It's very refreshing to watch a sci-fi film that does not insult your intelligence and keeps you involved with well crafted characters and very impressive work on emoting the apes.

I'm now interested in revisiting the old Charlton Heston flick and checking out the rest of the sequels. Good job filmmakers.

Yes, i agree 'Stocks', the new Apes film was very good.........its shows there is still some very good talent in Hollywood.

May we see more well crafted stories in the future.

.........and hopefully a far better Bond film next year!

I like Rise of the Apes too but then I like Apes 2001 too.

[Blowfeld]

How can a film with this advertising lose?

[bjmdds]

General Thade EA? He's no Dr. Zaius. The 1969 version was IT!

[bjmdds]

How can a film with this advertising lose?

With a $163 million budget, if that is true, with at LEAST $100 million extra being poured out the window on advertising and promotions I would guess, this film needs to do at LEAST $520 million worldwide to break even. Correct Q? If so, HOW can they ever do that for it won't do $150 million worldwide at this rate and no one will buy any dvds. I wonder what the egghead's statement will be regarding this box office fiasco by him. First the penguins beat him and now the Apes and the Smurfs! Unreal!