Showing posts with label It Remake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label It Remake. Show all posts
NEWS: IT is sinking
A film production of Stephen King's epic novel, IT
-- True scares
-- Theaters
-- Big budget
-- Tight editing
-- Not television!
. . . is it too good to be true? Maybe.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that New Line Cinema has indefinitely cut production on IT. EW says that director Cary Fukunaga reps say that he has left the project.
I've grown leery of remakes in recent days. In fact, I opted not to see Poltergeist this weekend because reviews were -- it's just not scary. Bu IT wasn't just another remake; it truly was a re envisioning of the Novel. The previous work had been for television; a worthy effort, but Pennywise has always belonged more on the big screen.
So of all the Stephen King projects that I was really excited about coming to the big screen, I was excited about this one. And the Dark Tower. While the novel is slowly dating itself, the movie promised to bring an update to the story.
Will Poulter will be PENNYWISE
variety.com reports that Will Poulter is "in negotiations" to play the evil clown, Pennywise, in the upcoming IT movie. The movie is not a remake of the mini-series so much as it is a retelling for the big screen.
Justin Kroll at Variety reminds us that the IT project is really two feature film. Kroll notes, "Fukunaga has been very vocal recently that the latest script will stay true to the King story while also giving the film a new look."
The plan is for the first movie to tell the kids’ story and the second movie to focus on the adults.
About Poulter as Pennywise, Kroll says that New Line originally looked at older actors like Mark Rylance and Ben Mendelsohn to play the evil clown. However, they decided to "go younger" with Poulter. Why? Because Poulter rocked the audition with Fukunaga -- leaving the director unable to say no.
Honestly, Pennywise does seem like the role of a lifetime. What fun.
comingsoon.net notes taht Will Poulter, best known for his roles in The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Maze Runner.
IT movie to start filming in March 2015
vulture.com has posted an article that says they spoke with IT project producer Dan Lin, who confirmed that IT is getting serious.
Lin told vulture, “The idea is to start official prep in March for a summer shoot. Cary likes to develop things for a while, and we’ve been with this for about three or four years, so we’re super excited that he stayed with it. You guys are gonna be really excited.”
The current plan, according to Lin, is to break the movie into two parts, much the way the ABC miniseries handled the King book in its 1990 adaptation.
“The book is so epic that we couldn't tell it all in one movie and service the characters with enough depth,” explained Lin; the first film, then, will be a coming-of-age story about the children tormented by It, while the second will skip ahead in time as those same characters band together to continue the fight as adults. Though Fukunaga is only committed to directing the first film, Lin says the in-demand helmer is currently closing a deal to co-write the second.Lin went on to say that what was really important to them was Stephen King's "blessing." What did King say after the script was sent to him? "Go with God, please! This is the version the studio should make."
The idea of two IT movies is good news to me, since the book is so large. The story could hardly be told in 2 or 3 hours. I do hope they don't mess with the dates, though.
Pennywise Still Creeping Toward The Theater
Borys Kit posted news at the Hollywood Reporter that Warner Brothers, which had been developing Stephen King's IT has given the project to it's New Line division. New Line appears to be WB choice to lead the way on horror films. Which is good news to fans! IT needs to be seen as a horror movie.
New Line will now take the lead on horror, bringing the company back to one of its roots. It was once known as the House that Freddy Built due to the long-standing success of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Horror is now having a resurgence at the company -- the emphasis is less slashery and more thrills and chills -- as evidenced by last year's hit The Conjuring.Borys then shares that IT appears to be a two part movie plan. It appears they will follow the path the mini-series did, focusing first on the kids, then the adults in a sequel. "It will be overseen by the division's Walter Hamada and Dave Neustadter, along with Warners vp production Niija Kuykendall, who will also stay involved with the project."
Pennywise Birthday Time
Happy birthday. How would you like a Pennywise cake? Sure you would. Pennywise always loves a good party.
Creepy IT REMAKE website
Check out the creepy IT remake website at itremake.com.
From the site:
Cary Fukunaga is the last person we heard was attached to
this project, which is planned as a series of two films, to accommodate the
massive 1100-page tale of an evil monster who shape shifts into a murderous
clown named Pennywise, and the group of friends who have to stop it. The
inclusion of Fukunaga is a very positive sign that we’re in for a well-made It
Remake.
Fukunaga's resume has some pretty impressive credits on it,
starting with his feature film debut Sin Nombre, an emotional, harrowing tale of
children trying to escape gang life in Honduras and leave the country. The movie
picked up the Directing Award and Sundance and a pile of other prizes from film
festivals and award shows. He then went on to direct a 2010 adaptation of
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. This
too was critically acclaimed and even picked up an Academy Award nomination for
Costume Design. Perhaps Fukunaga's biggest credit to date has been the
zeitgeist-filling hardboiled HBO detective series True Detective, where he was
the sole director for the first season's eight episodes. In terms of his writing
skills, he’s done much less writing than directing – though he did write the
acclaimed Sin Nombre.
We have yet to hear any casting rumours, but stay tuned to
ItRemake.com for more information about this film.
The site also offers the case for the remake:
Why remake IT? Anyone that has read the book and then seen
the 1990 movie can tell you that the movie itself was terrifying, so why mess
with something that was already done? The answer to the question of why remake
IT is quite simple, the technology is better now than it was back in 1990 when
the first movie was done. Computers have impacted the way that movies are made
now, so with even better technology, the IT remake is guaranteed to be even more
terrifying than the original.
Whenever you hear the words movie remake, you immediately
feel the need to cringe. You get images in your head of beloved movies being
redone, and possible in the worst ways imaginable. Warner Brothers has decided
to take the Stephen King movie, IT and remake it. Though the idea of this
remake can worry you, the film studio has promised that IT will be just as scary
as King’s novel and the 1990 movie. Over twenty years has passed since IT came
out as a movie, and now with the newest movie-making technology, the remake of
this classic is sure to be a terrifying movie experience.
Is Oculus A Pattern For The Next IT Movie?
Cinema Blend brings up an interesting point in its review of Mike Flanagan's OCULUS. Noting that Occulus is a possession story, the article then points out that it "that bears striking similarities to Stephen King’s It (and provides filmmaker Cary Fukunaga with a template on how to juggle King’s sprawling text when he attempts that adaptation later this year)." (cinemablend.com)
I've been a bit worried about the IT remake when I heard they were moving the timeline up the the 80's. I really (REALLY) liked the trip back to the 50's. I didn't grow up in the fifties, so it's not that I have sweet memories of the era. But the novel was good -- really good -- at bringing the era to life. I did grow up in the 80's.
Interview With Hans Ake Lilja
My favorite Stephen King website is Lilja’s Library. (www.liljas-library.com) There is actually more content on this site than King’s official web presence! Full of interviews, news, podcasts and links, Hans Ake Lilja has created one awesome Stephen King hang out. He is also a very gracious person, always quick to answer questions and upbeat about King projects.
Talk Stephen King: Hi Lilja! Thank you so much for agreeing to another interview. I really liked your book, Lilja’s Library.
Lilja: Thanks! It’s always a pleasure talking to you!
TSK: I see you have a new book coming out, The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book. Can you tell me a little about it? What makes it different from other trivia books?
LILJA: Well it’s actually The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book and it focuses on the adaptations on King’s stories and it covers movies, TV series and Dollar Babies. The questions span from quite easy to really hard so anyone, die-hard fan or just an avid reader, can enjoy it. It’s up to date and it has illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne and an introduction by Mick Garris. I’m very proud of it and I think readers will enjoy it.
TSK: The book was written by several outstanding authors. How did you collaborate?
LILJA: Well, it’s written by me, Kevin Quigley and Brian Freeman. We all came up with questions for the book and sent stuff back and forward to each other by email. It’s amazing how the world has shrunken. I’m in Sweden and Kev and Brian in the US but it still worked without any problems. When the questions where done Glenn did the illustrations and Mick wrote the introduction and it was all then put together into a great looking book by Cemetery Dance.
TSK: One of my favorite features of both your book and website is the interviews. Any upcoming interviews we can look forward to?
LILJA: Well, I always try to get a chat with interesting people and I hope to keep doing that for as long as I run the site. Who might depend on what happens next in the King world…
TSK: Do you have a favorite interview (other than King himself?)
LILJA: Frank Darabont. I have interviewed him three times and it was always interesting to talk to him and he was very open and easy to speak to.
TSK: Under the Dome seems to be breaking ground and making headway where other King television projects have failed; what do you think of the series?
LILJA: Well…it’s OK but it has problems. Let me explain. First, the show looks amazing (except from that cow that was cut in half which was a big disappointment). And I don’t have that big problem with the fact that they have changed the plot quite a lot like many others seems to have (and that King himself defended) but I do have some problems with the characters. I don’t like the Joe and Norrie characters. They feel very strange to me. I also have problems with Carolyn who feels too much out of place. The dialog sometimes feels more like it’s from a daytime drama than from a Stephen King series. However, my biggest problem is that I don’t get that feeling after an episode that I need to see the next episode ASAP. I get that with shows like Dexter and The Walking Dead but not with Under the Dome and that is a problem.
TSK: Were you glad Under The Dome was renewed for another season, or were you hopeful it would be wrapped up this year?
LILJA: I was hoping for it to wrap up this year. I think it risk losing viewers during a second season and maybe get canceled before they have the time to give us the ending they want and we’ll be hanging. I hate when that happens! I think that if it had aired at any other time then during the summer when the competitions from other shows are less fierce it would have been a one season series…
TSK: I recently did a post discussing possibilities of what the Dome might be. Any ideas?
TSK: I recently did a post discussing possibilities of what the Dome might be. Any ideas?
LILJA: No, not really, could be anything. I’m glad though that they have decided to do a different ending then the one in the book. I don’t like that one.
TSK: Are you still tracking with Haven?
LILJA: Yes, I am. It doesn’t have much to do with King’s book any more but it’s a nice show and I can’t wait to see how they will solve the ending of season 3. It better be good though… :-)
TSK: Do you have a favorite thing about operating a Stephen King website?
LILJA: Talking to all the other fans! I love hearing from other King fans both through the site, email, facebook and twitter. I have made a lot of friends from all over the world thanks to the site and I love talking King with them.
TSK: I’ve been watching for news about several proposed movies – any news about remakes of IT or The Stand?
LILJA: No, it’s been very quiet about those. I haven’t heard anything in a long time so maybe they have been canceled of stuck in the famous development Hell…
TSK: Having seen Under The Dome, I can envision a television show based on The Stand. What do you think?
LILJA: Yeah, I guess it could be done. We could have people trying to survive the plague for many seasons but I prefer to have King’s books adapted without an open ending like an ongoing TV series. There are so many original ideas being turned into TV series that are good anyway so I say “Keep close to the original when it comes to King”.
TSK: I don’t see a review of The Shining. Do you think you might post one with Doctor Sleep coming out soon?
LILJA: Don’t plan on doing that. I will review Doctor Sleep through and I bet I’ll be referencing back to The Shining in that review.
TSK: Doctor Sleep sounds absolutely incredible to me. It’s not really like King to return to previous works. Do you think this might be a trend of things to come? Could he give us a little more of Charlie from Fire Starter?
LILJA: No, I think this is a one thing deal. Given the history of King’s book it’s like you say not often that he goes back to older books and write about those characters again, other than if he lets them do a guest appearance in a new book. But you never know, maybe this has gotten him interested in following up on older characters. I would personally prefer a third Talisman book.
TSK: What do you do outside of the world of Stephen King?
LILJA: Well, I run the site The Walking Dead News (http://www.TheWalkingDeadNews.net) that’s dedicated to all things about The Walking Dead
and I speak my mind on the facebook page “Lilja Speaks” (https://www.facebook.com/LiljaSays).
Then, together with a friend, I run a Swedish Stephen King site called Följeslagarna (http://www.Foljeslagarna.com)
and a DVD review site called DVDKritik (http://www.DVDKritik.se).
So, I keep busy. :-)
TSK: Thank you so much!
LILJA: You're welcome.
and I speak my mind on the facebook page “Lilja Speaks” (https://www.facebook.com/LiljaSays).
Then, together with a friend, I run a Swedish Stephen King site called Följeslagarna (http://www.Foljeslagarna.com)
and a DVD review site called DVDKritik (http://www.DVDKritik.se).
So, I keep busy. :-)
TSK: Thank you so much!
LILJA: You're welcome.
JJ Abrams SUPER 8
JJ Abrams was very interested in the Dark Tower. . . way back before Ron Howard was. Remember that? He walked away from the project in 2009. So what's he been up to? SUPER 8! Wow, this movie was awesome! A classic monster movie without the bad "classic monster movie" special effects. But this is not a special effects driven film.
In many ways the movie reminded me of a Stephen King story. The characters were through the roof good. And the story was much more about the people, not the monster.
Of interest to the Stephen King universe is the several references to horror director George Romero (Creepshow). The name of the fictional chemical plant in the movie within the movie is: "Romero Chemical Plant." I also enjoyed spotting Darth Vader's Tie Fighter.
The movie was so well executed, I am hopeful maybe Abrams can be brought onto the new IT project. It's not just how he handled the monster, it's how Abram's presented children. The dialogue was real, the children's lives complex, and their emotions raw. While the young band of movie makers is not exactly a "loser club", it wouldn't be too far a leap. Seriously -- I have been Ho-Hum over the IT remake; but his hand in the project could seriously energize it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCRQQCKS7go
Pontificating Remakes
.
Brian Clark at movieline.com has an interesting article titled "5 Remakes of Bad Stephen King Adaptations That Should Get Fast Tracked ."
.
Each entry is given a short synopsis and reasons why it deserves a remake. Here's the big 5:
.
1. Children of the Corn. You've got to be kidding, Mr. Clark! Let it die. It might not be able to rest in peace, but at lest let it squirm in its nasty grave on the back aisle of the video store and the $5 barrel at Walmart.
.
2. The Night Flier.
.
3. Needful Things
Clark writes: "Max Von Sydow plays the devil , who opens up shop in (of course) a small town in Maine. With this casting and setup, I still don’t understand why this movie is so tame and dull, but it is! I’d accept either a straight-up comedy remake or a horrifying one, but the middle-ground that the original version treads is unacceptable."
.
I too would love to see a Needful Things remake. But, as always, one faithful to the book. Maybe a mini-series.
.
4. Pet Sematary. (Just in case the first one didn't do it for you.)
.
5. It
Clark's logic: "The original TV miniseries inspired weeks or even months of nightmares in small children thanks to Tim Curry’s terrifying portrayal of Pennywise, the shape-shifting, child-eating clown. Then the ending (spoiler alert) where he just turns out to be a stupid, giant spider out of a 50’s B-movie quickly ensured that all children could sleep soundly again. To actually make a faithful adaptation of the novel, this would probably work better as an HBO miniseries. Which would be great! But even if the studio could deliver something as slick as the first hour and a half of the original that doesn’t peter out at the end, It could become a potential horror classic. "
.
You know, I have to agree. All went well, until the end -- when the movie just petered out. But things I hear about the movie do not give me hope. Moving the time line up to the 80's -- not good! Forcing the whole story into a 2 hour feature movie, again, not good.
.
If I may ask, why keep remaking old movies that went dud in the night when there are some great books that haven't been touched? Bag of Bones, most things Bachman, Cell, From a Buick 8, Duma Key, Lisey's Story, Talisman, Under The Dome, Eyes of the Dragon, The Sun Dog, Insomnia.
.
Perez Hilton on the IT remake
Well known blogger Perez Hilton cited the already noted Lija's Library (though he failed to actually cite his source) and then offered these thoughts:
.
"We can't imagine anything will terrify us as much as the original miniseries, but you never know!" and, "that awful Pennywise the Clown will surely scare us shitless once again! That monster is FUCKED."
.
Offered without commentary on my end.
.
http://perezhilton.com/2010-07-01-stephen-kings-it-getting-remade
.
"We can't imagine anything will terrify us as much as the original miniseries, but you never know!" and, "that awful Pennywise the Clown will surely scare us shitless once again! That monster is FUCKED."
.
Offered without commentary on my end.
.
http://perezhilton.com/2010-07-01-stephen-kings-it-getting-remade
Remake Update
The web is pretty full of news about the upcoming Stephen King remakes (IT and Pet Sematary). The articles are all stimming from the same source matereal, Lilja's Library. Both Bloody Disgusting and Dread Central have articles on the remake, which quote exclusively from Lilja's interview with David Kajganich. All that to say -- skip the other articles and just go straight to Lilja's for the interview.
.
Kajganich revealed to Lilja that he was dissatisfied (my word) with the process for Pet Sematary and opted out why they began to make some pretty serious character changes to make the story more appealing to teenage girls. Sounds like someone is looking to capitalize on the girl mania over Twilight.
Kajganich revealed to Lilja that he was dissatisfied (my word) with the process for Pet Sematary and opted out why they began to make some pretty serious character changes to make the story more appealing to teenage girls. Sounds like someone is looking to capitalize on the girl mania over Twilight.
.
The more interesting news came in revelations about the IT remake. "I think the book’s content is really more appropriate for cinema," Kajganich said. "I told the studio from the beginning that I felt I needed to be able to write for an R rating, since I wanted to be as candid as the novel about the terrible things the characters go through as kids."
.
Kajganich says that working with IT, reading it over and over is like looking inside Stephen King's head -- which he calls "fascinating." (that's what Spock would say, too). He says that as a writer, studying King so closely has taught him a lot about story-telling.
.
I've been reading IT lately, and I find the structure interesting. It appears, at first at least, to be about adults going back to face their childhood fears. Some opt out while others face the deadlights head on.
.
When Lilja asked what actors might step into various roles, Kajganich didn't offer much -- except that he thought Pennywise would be best played by Buster Keaton. Now that would be interesting! Espeically since I remember Buster having such a large role in Needful Things.
.
This interview is so interesting, you should go check it out yoruself! Good stuff.
.
IT's a New Movie
According to Scifiwire.com, Warner Brothers is making a movie version of IT. Several key elements have been revealed:
1. The dates have been changed to move the modern scenes forward. That's disappointing, since the 1950's was a cool time frame to set the sections of the story with the kids.
2. The studio has promised a "No PG-13." Which means they will go out on the gore and fear. One of the things missing when ABC did their mini-series.
3. It is being done for the big screen. Which of course causes the immediate question: How can they get the novel, over 1,000 pages to be fairly represented in such a short time frame?
http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/warner-brothers-to-adapt.php
1. The dates have been changed to move the modern scenes forward. That's disappointing, since the 1950's was a cool time frame to set the sections of the story with the kids.
2. The studio has promised a "No PG-13." Which means they will go out on the gore and fear. One of the things missing when ABC did their mini-series.
3. It is being done for the big screen. Which of course causes the immediate question: How can they get the novel, over 1,000 pages to be fairly represented in such a short time frame?
http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/warner-brothers-to-adapt.php
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
