The Week In Geek: Ghostbusters III With No Bill Murray? Remake And Reboot News Galore, & More
Ghostbusters 3 Moves Forward With No Bill Murray?
That Dan Aykroyd is just not giving up on the notion of a Ghostbusters III, despite the better judgment of everyone else on Earth, including original star Bill Murray. In an interview with Empire Online that appeared this week, Aykroyd stated that if Murray refused to appear as Dr. Peter Venkemen for a proposed third chapter, then they would consider re-casting the role.
I can’t imagine a worse idea than this, but there you go. One other recent rumor, that Bill Murray had shredded the script for part three that Aykroyd has sent him, only to send it back with a note attached that said “no one wants to see fat old men chasing ghosts” is apparently just that- a rumor. According to Aykroyd, “Bill Murray is not capable of such behavior. This is simply something that would not be in his nature. We have a deep, private personal relationship that transcends business. We communicate frequently and his position on the involvement in Ghostbusters 3 has been made clear and I respect that. But Bill has too much positive estimation of my writing skills to shred the work.” I’ll totally bet he wanted to though.
The original Ghostbusters was that lighting in a bottle that you just couldn’t capture twice (I mean, we know…they tried to with part two) It was that perfect storm of script, casting and directing. If they had as hard a time repeating that magic formula once, why try again twenty five years later? I’ll agree with Dan Aykroyd on one particular thing though, there are more cool Ghostbusters stories to tell, but maybe movies is not the way to go here. An animated series, maybe in CGI Clone Wars style, should be the way to go. After all, the 80’s cartoon show was pretty bad ass, imagine what they could do now? Sony could keep the franchise alive and viable this way, they could move more Ghostbusters shirts at Target and not tarnish the original, perfect film. Food for thought Aykroyd.
Guillermo del Toro To Helm Beauty and the Beast
Well, it feels like months since the last time I announced a project that Hellboy/Pan’s Labyrinth director Gullermo del Toro was attached to do. Well, here comes another one: The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that del Toro is directing a new adaptation of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast for Warner Brothers, with Hermione Granger herself Emma Watson as Belle. (or whatever she’ll be called in this one) This appears to be del Toro’s next directing gig after he wraps up work on his currently filming monster movie Pacific Rim.
According to the original story, the deal for this movie has been in the works since last spring when del Toro first began working with producers Denise De Novi and Alison Greenspan on a the project, which was initially an adaptation of the Robin McKinley novel Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of the Beauty and the Beast. It seems the project has evolved since then, and is no longer a straight up adaptation of the book. Aside from this movie, del Toro is directing Trollhunters for Dreamworks, is developing a Haunted Mansion movie at Disney and is still attached to direct both a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and a Frankenstein project at Universal. This guy really needs to stop saying “yes” to everything they come at him with.
It Is Official: Michael Bay To Direct Transformers 4
So, you thought you might finally be free of Michael Bay directed Transformers movies, after Bay announced last year that Dark of the Moon would be his final entry in the saga? Yeah…not so fast. Deadline.com broke the news this week that Paramount had finalized the deal for Bay to return to the director’s chair for Transformers 4 in 2014. According to the official announcement, this new Transformers movie would be a “re-imagining” of the series, with an all new cast. I’m not entirely sure how in the hell a director can re-imagine his own damn movie series. How is this not just a sequel with a new cast?
Ninja Turtles Reboot Gets A Director Too
And speaking of Mr. Bay, The long talked about live action reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gained a little bit more traction this week, as Jonathan Liebesman, director of last year’s pretty awful alien invasion flick Battle:Los Angeles (and the upcoming Wrath of the Titans) getting the directing honors. What worries me more than Liebesman is that the production company for this is none other than Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes, a studio known for not having a shred of originality and only remaking classic 80’s horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th into glossy, soulless cash grabs. Now that they’ve run out of 80’s slashers from our youth to destroy, they are setting their sights on beloved comic book and cartoon properties.
Although TMNT came out as an indie comic in 1984, I wasn’t really into it as a kid. By the time the whole franchise hit weekday afternoon kiddy appeal and mass popularity, it was 1989/90, and I was too old for that stuff, so I really have no emotional investment in this property like many of you reading this no doubt do. But I honestly feel sorry for those of you who do, because Platinum Dunes is almost sure to piss all over your beloved Turtles. Might as well brace yourselves now kiddies.
MGM Hopes Valley Girl Is The New Grease, Or At Least The New Hairspray
MGM, in an effort to crawl out of their recent bankruptcy, is looking to exploit every last movie in their library for some kind of reboot or sequel. Joining Red Dawn, Carrie and Robocop as the latest of their classic flicks to get the remake treatment will be none other than Valley Girl, the 1983 movie that was the first starring vehicle for a young Nicolas Cage. The original movie is pretty terrible; imagine a shitty version of a John Hughes flick and that’s pretty much Valley Girl in a nutshell. However, it does have an awesome New Wave soundtrack, which still gets some heavy rotation in my itunes library I must say. Leave me alone ok? I’m a child of the 80’s.
This time, MGM is looking to remake the movie as a musical, using all the great 80’s music, maybe hoping to be for today what Grease was to kids in the late 70’s. Although Grease had original music, and Valley Girl looks to be cover versions of classics from the likes of the Go-Go’s and the Cars. The director for this is an relative unknown named Clay Weiner (best name ever, btw) who directed a few commercials and a Nickelodeon movie. Despite name director’s wanting the job, Weiner’s demo presentation for Valley Girl was apparently so awesome, with choreographed 80’s mash-ups, it won the studio over and he got the gig. MGM is looking to fast track this one, so expect it to be out next year, the 30th anniversary of the original film.
Personally, I think MGM should have taken this thing to Broadway instead. Clearly this movie is going to be targeted at today’s teen audience, and their knowledge of anything pre-2000 is questionable to say the least. At least the Broadway audience is the right age demographic for something like this, not to mention most “jukebox musicals” do really well, as there is nothing people love more than familiarity. And besides, this makes more sense than a Back to the Future musical, and that is said to be happening. Why not Valley Girl?
