Thanks to the incredible spy system in the greater California area, and due to the high amount of cellular phone monitoring and the tapping of phone lines in the Malibu area, AICN and specifically myself have found out through our most trusted spies that James Cameron has once again hit the brick wall that surrounds SPIDER-MAN and that he is not yet convinced to make AVATAR. Yes, he is writing PLANET OF THE APES for 20th Century Fox, and he will produce it. He will not direct this film. Don't even consider it.
However, I have come to learn through the wonderful world of communications, that James Cameron is mounting a project far cooler than any of the above. A remake that was set to film, just a few short years ago. His buddy Stan Winston had done massive amounts of preproduction work. It is based upon one of the most loved films in our geek fevered brains. And it is a film that inspired Star Trek, Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron, and countless other geeks around the globe. And it had, quite simply the coolest robot ever to walk the silver screen. Of course I'm talking about FORBIDDEN PLANET.
Have you ever seen the TERMINATOR 2: Special Edition Laser Disc with all the designs of Skynet, that evil place we never got to visit in the Terminator universe. Well, anyone who had seen FORBIDDEN PLANET could easily tell you that Cameron loved the awe and scope of FORBIDDEN PLANET. Well, Cameron was once incredibly excited about doing a T3, but when rights to that project were wrestled away from him, his dream of doing his Forbidden Planet tribute was gone....
With word that Cameron is mounting this film, I can just imagine what he's going to do with it. This is very hush hush right now, but I tell you, it is happening. The phone lines don't lie.
Now I don't usually do this, but damn I'm excited about the concept of this film moving. In all likelihood the project wouldn't begin active moving till the turn of the year, thus giving Cameron his 'year off' that he has told everyone. Meanwhile he will inevitably be working on the script, working with Stan and/or Digital Domain people to nail the visual concepts note perfect. Ahhhhh, this is painful. However, as I was saying, I don't usually do this, but I can't help my glee and enthusiasm. Couldn't you just see Anthony Hopkins in the role of Dr. Edward Morbius, Charlize Theron as Altaira Morbius, Michael Biehn as Commander John J. Adams, Kevin Spacey as Doc Ostrow, and of course Bill Paxton as Cookie. Geezus, this movie would be sooooo cool.
But that's merely fan fiction, and I want to clarify that this report is no joke, that you may hear it called fiction, but my phone tappers are never wrong regarding Malibu residents and I trust them (and yes I have more than one source on this, in fact one contact over my own phones.) I've waited calmly and cooly.
I can't imagine that anyone would want to see Forbidden Planet remade, that a hair, a spot, a frame or a sprocket be touched, reshot or rethought. This film is holy, it's art direction beyond sci fi compare. It is a film I hold so dear in my pantheon of cool, that even now in my bedroom I have a 7 ft tall plywood painting of Robby The Robot that I commisioned oh so long ago. If I could tell Cameron one thing. One sheer piece of heart felt, teary eyed advice... it would be don't screw with Robby's design. Instead think of using his existing design and because of existing technology, you could make him do things that they could never do back then. I once held in my hands, all the original pan backgrounds for Altair 4, these small, gorgeous matte paintings. Ahhhhhh, this could be a thing of beauty, and with Cameron there, at the helm... we could see some sights that would bring tears of glee to our eyes. Just don't screw it up.
