Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Hooooo-boy. This talkback’s gonna get bloody.
Did you catch that story the other day about Mike Myers and the film sampling? It was in both trades, in case you missed it:
Click here for the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s coverage!
Click here for the VARIETY coverage, complete with silly photo!
I think Mike Myers, Jay Roach, Dave Foley, and Jay Kogen are all very funny men. I am sure they have an idea that is entertaining. I mean, Dreamworks signed up for a multi-picture deal based on this premise. But still... as a film fan... some of these quotes make me squirm a bit. For example:
"Film sampling is an exciting way to put an original spin on existing films and allow audiences to see old movies in a new light," Myers said. "Rap artists have been doing this for years with music, and now we are able to take that same concept and apply it to film. Think of me as the Puff Daddy of film or 'M. Diddy' or 'M & M' or just 'M,' or maybe when you sample movies you don't need a special name."
What Mike is talking about, “film sampling,” is what Steve Oderkirk did with KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST. It’s more complicated than WHAT’S UP, TIGER LILLY?, but I can see how people would want to lump them together. With KUNG POW, Oderkirk actually put himself into an existing movie, recutting it and turning it into a new story altogether. Even though he did it for very little money, some of his work was seamless and convincing. Still, the film he did it with was obscure, and he wasn’t in danger of screwing up something people already loved. The REPORTER article says that Dreamworks is going to buy hit films and classics for Myers to “sample,” and that’s what makes me really nervous. What classics? And what’s he going to do to them? Are these going to be parody films? Or is he going to change them completely?
Whatever the case, I would imagine people are going to have very strong feelings about this, and we’ll definitely be paying attention as the project moves forward.
Myers is a busy man these days. He’s also supposed to partner with Jay Roach on a remake of ELLING, a Norweigian film about a 40 year old mama’s boy who has to emerge into the world after his mother dies and leaves him unprepared for life. I haven’t seen the original, but what I’ve read about it makes me want to find it. It looks like Fox is the place Myers will be making the film, and it marks a bit of a departure for him and for Roach. I know, I know... all remakes are evil automatically, but having said that, this one seems to offer some real opportunities for the actor, and I’m curious to see what he does with it.
On the other hand, I don’t want to see what Rob Minkoff is about to do to THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. I just don’t want to know. I want to be free to continue along, blissfully unaware, happy as can be. Disney must be out of their goddamn minds to even consider letting someone manhandle one of the cornerstones of their legacy.
I know this was reported in the trades, but I missed the story until I got this letter:
Hey Moriarty,
Well, Disney is still recycling those old properties. What we have here though is something that could very well border on sacrilege.
According to Variety, and as posted at animated-movies.net, Disney is planning to do a remake of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice.' Hopefully, you are holding onto something when the shock hits you.
Rob Minkoff (who worked on both Stuart Littles and the attractions-based Haunted Mansion) will direct.
However, it's hard to tell how this will all play out. The articel hints at live-action/CG integration. Does this mean that Mickey will be 3D in an all real environment, or is there going to be actuall actors standing in for Mickey and the sorcerer Yensid? That's not revealed yet, but I just hope Disney doesn't hope to turn this into the animated short that proclaims "The Sorcerer's Apprentice for the 21st
Century."
The original SORCERER’S APPRENTICE is one of the finest pieces of work Disney ever produced. It was supposed to be a stand-alone short, but ended up becoming so expensive that Walt decided to build an anthology feature around it. The image of Mickey in that blue hat is one of the most familiar from the studio’s entire history.
Why would you screw with that? There’s a very funny, very sarcastic rant about it here, but it genuinely mystifies me as to why this would happen.
I assume the studio is happy with HAUNTED MANSION, Minkoff’s new film for them. They’ve hired the screenwriter of that film and the upcoming Will Farrell comedy ELF to write this new film for them, and I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. I have no experience with David Berenbaum as a writer yet. I’m hoping to lay hands on an ELF script before I head up to Vancouver to visit the set next week, but for now... it’s a big question mark. I do know this... there are very few films where audiences have the same kind of affection and emotional attachment that they do for SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. Disney would be well advised to tread lightly here and not just slap together some HARRY POTTER-esque ripoff just so they can play the fantasy game like New Line and Warner Bros.
"Moriarty" out.
