The UN-originality of Hollywood Part 3

[lasvidfil]

From Denofgeek.com. A list of of old TV shows being made into movies in some phase of creation:

Magnum
Tom Selleck and his moustache are absent from the planned cast list of the big screen Magnum movie right now, with Matthew McConaughey in the running for the lead role. The script is written, and now it’s up to director Rawson Marshall Thunder (Dodgeball) to get it filmed for a planned 2009 release.

I, Claudius
Producer Scott Rudin has optioned the Robert Graves original novel, although he’ll have a tough job beating the terrific BBC adaptation of old. 2010 at the earliest for this one too, which is still at the writing stage.

The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole
Adapted for a TV show in the 1980s, Sue Townsend’s creation could be hitting the big screen, with The Wedding Date director Clare Kilner currently attached to the project. The film’s in pre-production.

Alan Partridge: The Movie
Steve Coogan’s most famous and funniest creation – if you scrub the last series of I’m Alan Partridge from your memory – could yet hit the big screen, if a script ever gets completed to everyone’s satisfaction. 2009 is the earliest we’ll see it.

Arrested Development
The wonderful American sitcom that was so good it got canned is coming to the big screen! Expected release date is 2009, and all of the show’s cast and crew appear to be attached. Result!

The A Team
The movie is still pressing ahead, with John ‘Shaft remake’ Singleton in the director’s chair. Latest casting rumours: Woody Harrelson as Murdock and Ice Cube as B.A. Take with pinches of salt. The film’s due in 2010.

Wonder Woman
Originally this had Joss Whedon attached, but he’s moved on to other things. Producer Joel Silver still has the film on his slate, though, although the targeted 2009 release date will be tough to hit.

Masters of the Universe
Joel Silver had also been lobbying to get the rights for a big-screen adventure for He-Man and company. The project, however, seems stuck in development hell for the time being.

Thundercats
Jerry O’Flaherty – a video game art director who worked on the likes of Gears Of War and Daikatana (remember that?!) – is the odd choice to direct the big screen Thundercats movie. We understand it’ll be animated rather than live action, and will be out in 2010.

V: The Second Generation
This is looking like a television project that’s a follow on to the 1983 mini-series. Kenneth Johnson, who worked on the original V and directed Short Circuit 2 as well, is attached to the mini-series.

The Sweeney
With Ray Winstone reported to be singing on to play Regan, the planned movie of The Sweeney – buoyed in no small way by the success of Life On Mars – is moving ahead. It’s in pre-production for a 2009 release, with Nick ‘The Business’ Love directing.

Hustle
The BBC’s hit con artist drama is heading to America courtesy of Fox. The big screen version has director Deon Taylor attached, and should be filming this year.

State of Play
Currently filming for release next year is Hollywood’s remake of the cracking BBC drama series. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren are in the cast, under the stewardship of director Kevin ‘The Last King Of Scotland’ Macdonald.

The Prisoner
Will Christopher Nolan really direct the big screen version of the iconic Patrick McGoohan TV show? With a screenplay by Janet and David Webb Peoples, this could have solid gold stamped right the way through it…

ChiPs
Ready for a big screen bout of Chicago Highway Patrol? Warner Bros is developing the project for possible release next year; writers are attached to the film now, with Wilma Valderrama (from Party Monster and Fast Food Nation) reported to be interesting the casting team.

Fraggle Rock The Movie
Given the fact that big screen Muppet movies are – tragically – a thing of the past (or are they - see the next entry), this one was a bit of a surprise. But Fraggle Rock has been optioned, and a writer is being sought for the project. 2009 is the earliest we’ll see it.

The Muppets
But here’s a stop press! There’s talk of a Muppet revival, with Jason Segal and Nick Stoller writing and directing the project. Hurray!

The Smurfs
Blame the huge success of Alvin & The Chipmunks for this, as now The Smurfs are being dusted down for a big screen outing. Colin Brady is down to direct, and John Lithgow may be persuaded to lend his vocal talents to the film. 2009 is the planned release year.

Dallas
Betty Thomas – who did the The Brady Bunch Movie (great) and Dr Doolittle (rubbish) is down to direct the big screen tale of J.R. et al. They’re looking to start filming this year, if all goes to plan. Cast is yet to be finalised, though.

Spaced
This link is all you need to know about this one. Sigh.

The Tripods
Remember the series that the BBC showed back in the 80s? Well, a bit more cash could be being spent on The Tripods this time, with Gregor ‘Buffalo Soliders’ Jordan in the director’s chair. It could hit the big screen in 2009.

Prison Break: Cherry Hill
A potential spin-off of Fox’s hit TV series, although if it comes about it’s all but certain to be a small screen project.

Mighty Mouse
A big screen animated Mighty Mouse movie is being planned for 2010, with Nickelodeon stumping up the dollars to make it.

[scotto]

Wow! Feature-length films of old television programs? We are indeed lucky to live in an era of such pure, unadulterated genius.


If any of these producers had any real cajones, they'd make a big-screen version of "The Chicago Teddy Bears."

[Dillydipper]

Okay, now yer just pizzin' me off...!

[Capt. Cadillac]

ChiPs
Ready for a big screen bout of Chicago Highway Patrol? Warner Bros is developing the project for possible release next year; writers are attached to the film now, with Wilma Valderrama (from Party Monster and Fast Food Nation) reported to be interesting the casting team.

Chicago? Hope that's a typo, as everyone knows Ponch and John worked for the California Highway Patrol.

[jstraw]

And there's no such thing as the Chicago Highway Patrol.

[AndrewS]

Alan Partridge: The Movie

Arrested Development

The Prisoner

Spaced



I would see these four, assuming Spaced was with the original cast, as a sort of followup.

[The Panda]

Great cast for State of Play. Helen Mirren's been doing some quality work lately.

[Chris R]

Hustle
The BBC’s hit con artist drama is heading to America courtesy of Fox. The big screen version has director Deon Taylor attached, and should be filming this year.

Oy! :shake:

Wonder if they will use any of the original TV cast or is this what FOX is intending?

If so, I hope Adrian Lester is back as Mickey "Bricks". Although I still enjoyed the 4th series, it wasn't quite the same without Mickey.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4517/hustlemx3.jpg

[reechie]

Dallas
Betty Thomas – who did the The Brady Bunch Movie (great) and Dr Doolittle (rubbish) is down to direct the big screen tale of J.R. et al. They’re looking to start filming this year, if all goes to plan. Cast is yet to be finalised, though.
Funny that Betty Thomas hasn't thought to do a big screen Hill Street Blues revival.

[soundboy]

Dallas
Betty Thomas – who did the The Brady Bunch Movie (great) and Dr Doolittle (rubbish) is down to direct the big screen tale of J.R. et al. They’re looking to start filming this year, if all goes to plan. Cast is yet to be finalised, though.

Aren't John Travolta and J. Lo attached to this already?

BTW, any news on the feature version of "Magnum PI", "Hawaii Five-O", or "The Green Hornet"?

Edit: Just read that Matthew McConaughey has been offered the role of Thomas Magnum in Universal Pictures' adaptation of 'Magnum PI'.

[wayneklein]

Chicago? Hope that's a typo, as everyone knows Ponch and John worked for the California Highway Patrol.

He might have been thinking of an old TV show called "Highway Patrol" which had Broderick Crawford as its star.

[wayneklein]

I really don't see cannibalizing TV shows as any different or worse than taking something from a novel...comic book...history...mythology. TV and comic books are a huge part of our cultural hertiage (for bad or good)...we're a young culture and we lack much in the way of the history and mythology of other cultures and countries.

[Rachael Bee]

I'll never sleep well till they remake Hogan's Heroes but this time set at Guantanimo Bay and Habeb is in the Hogan part.....then there's The Montefuscos who deserve big-screen justice.....:laugh: NOT!

[Jack White]

I'll never sleep well till they remake Hogan's Heroes but this time set at Guantanimo Bay and Habeb is in the Hogan part.....then there's The Montefuscos who deserve big-screen justice.....:laugh: NOT!


A few years ago there was talk of a film adaptation of "Hogan's Heroes" with Mel Gibson in the Colonel Hogan/ Bob Crane role. Alas, it never came to fruition.

[Rachael Bee]

A few years ago there was talk of a film adaptation of "Hogan's Heroes" with Mel Gibson in the Colonel Hogan/ Bob Crane role. Alas, it never came to fruition.

Good!!!!!!! Autofocus was enough of Hogan and his_______.

[Jack White]

Good!!!!!!! Autofocus was enough of Hogan and his_______.

:laugh: Do you mean Hogan (the character) or Bob Crane (the actor)? Crane did have a fairly disreputable personal life.

Re. the tv show. I watched it as a kid and always enjoyed it. I haven't seen it since. I have reservations as to whether it would hold up with a viewing today.

Here's a comment I found on the IMDB site, that puts the series into context.


A Show that has lost its context, 1 January 2004

Author: schappe1 from N Syracuse NY

The problem with Hogan's heroes is that it has lost its context. People criticize it as a comedy set in a German prisoner of War camp, saying that trivializes the real human tragedies created by the Nazi regime. The thing is, Hogan's Heroes is not a spoof of prison camps. It's a spoof of World War II movies and TV shows. It came out in the wake of films like `The Longest Day', `The Great Escape', etc. which produced shows like `Combat', `The Gallant Men', 12 O'Clock High', all of which were hyper serious because of the subject matter. Such a trend requires a leavening spoof. And `Hogan's Heroes' and `McHale's Navy' provided that comic relief. Nobody ever criticized McHale's Navy for trivializing the Pacific War, any more than they criticized `F Troop' for not being a documentary about the Old West or `Get Smart' for not being written by John LaCarre. Why do we indict Hogan's heroes for being insensitive to the deprivations of the Nazis?

This show is itself based on a hit Broadway play and movie from a decade before called `Stalag 17' which won William Holden an Oscar. If you've seen Stalag 17, the humor there is much cruder and more oblivious of the real threat of the Nazis than Hogan's Heroes. Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck, (later to show up in another Military spoof to which HH also obviously owes a lot), decide at one point they would like to see some female Russian POWS take showers. They grab a bucket of paint and begin painting a stripe down the middle of the road toward the building where the showers are. This fools the guards until the paint a stripe right over to the window of this building, (the showers have windows?), and peer in. There is nothing this crude or insensitive in any episode of Hogan's Heroes. Yet this is a highly regarded film.

But now, 30 years later, when there are fewer films about that era made, the old show is viewed not a spoof of a show business trend but as a parody of the real event, which it was never really intended to be. This has allowed the critics to `pile on' and rip the show for being insensitive to the victims of Nazi oppression. All I remember is a funny show and that's all it was ever intended to be.

[Rachael Bee]

:laugh: Do you mean Hogan (the character) or Bob Crane (the actor)? Crane did have a fairly disreputable personal life.

Both really. Bob was a philandering prevert in real life. I've watched Hogan's Heroes a few times in recent years and it seemed like a spent whopee cushion....these days. It hasn't endured for me. I thought it was mildly entertaining years ago.

Bob should'a played drums in a band with Rick James.....:laugh:

[Jack White]

lasvidfil: ... I, Claudius
Producer Scott Rudin has optioned the Robert Graves original novel, although he’ll have a tough job beating the terrific BBC adaptation of old. 2010 at the earliest for this one too, which is still at the writing stage.

I wonder if this wasn't actually inspired by the recent HBO series "Rome".

[RDK]

Rather than responding with my typical :rolleyes: , I'll give you this:

The AFI list of the Top 100 American films (take the list for whatever it's worth; that's not the point), to which I've added asterisks to all the films that were adapted from one medium or another, whether novel, short story, stage play, musical, or in the case of "12 Angry Men" a prior television production. I did this quickly, so may have left one or two out, but by my count 55/100 of these were adapted screenplays. You can call that an example of Hollywood's "unoriginality" if you want, but I'll just say that that's nothing new. I think we can all agree that there's some pretty decent films on the list. So I don't care what the source material is - a novel, TV show, comic book, or pop song - it's what you do with it that counts.

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
*2. The Godfather (1972)
*3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
*6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
*7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
*9. Vertigo (1958)
*10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
*12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
*14. Psycho (1960)
*15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
*17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927)
*19. On the Waterfront (1954)
*20. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
*22. Some Like It Hot (1959)
*23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
*25. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
*26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
*27. High Noon (1952)
*28. All About Eve (1950)
*29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
*31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
*33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
*34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
*36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
*37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
*38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
*39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
*40. The Sound of Music (1965)
*41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
*43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
*44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
*45. Shane (1953)
*46. It Happened One Night (1934)
*47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
*48. Rear Window (1954)
49. Intolerance (1916)
*50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
*51. West Side Story (1961)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
53. The Deer Hunter (1978)
*54. M*a*s*h (1970)
55. North By Northwest (1959)
*56. Jaws (1977)
57. Rocky (1976)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Nashville (1975)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
61. Sullivan's Travels (1958)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
*63. Cabaret (1972)
64. Network (1976)
*65. The African Queen (1951)
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
*67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
69. Tootsie (1982)
*70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
*72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
*74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
*75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
*76. Forrest Gump (1994)
*77. All the President's Men (1976)
78. Modern Times (1936)
*79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Apartment (1960)
*81. Spartacus (1960)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. Titanic (1997)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
85. A Night at the Opera (1935)
86. Platoon (1986)
*87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. Swing Time (1936)
*91. Sophie's Choice (1982)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
*93. The French Connection (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
*95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. Do the Right Thing (1989)
*97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Toy Story (1995)
*100. Ben-Hur (1959)

[Paul K]

Alan Partridge will be a UK film...

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the second series of the TV show...

[Jack White]

You overlooked,



4. Raging Bull (1980) [book]
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952) [songs]
8. Schindler's List (1993) [book]
18. The General (1927) [book]
30. Apocalypse Now (1979) [book, "Heart of Darkness"]
32. The Godfather Part II (1974) [previous film]
49. Intolerance (1916) [partially inspired by the Walt Witman poem, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"]
60. Duck Soup (1933) [play/ stage revenue/ comedy act?]
82. Sunrise (1927) [book]
85. A Night at the Opera (1935) [play/ stage revenue/ comedy act?]
92. Goodfellas (1990) [book]


I could be wrong about the two Marx Brothers films on the list, but I believe both were based (at least in part) on plays they appeared in and/ or their comedy act.