Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Is the "Original Screenplay" Oscar in danger of disappearing?

This is topic Is the "Original Screenplay" Oscar in danger of disappearing? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 08-05-2005, 04:19 PM:

The way things are going with these remakes and sequels, soon EVERY motion picture will be (as they say at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) based on material previously published or produced!

Let's give Hollywood a helping hand, shall we? Feel free to submit some titles such as those below:

"HARRY POTTER AND HERMIONE'S UNEXPECTED PREGNANCY"
The magic of hormones goes awry.

"THE BOURNE SENILITY"
Even in his "Golden Years," Jason Bourne is STILL being pursued!

"WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE SECOND INVASION"
This time, the Martians got all of their shots before attacking Earth.

"DR. STRANGELOVE"
The newest Eddie Murphy remake. Some executive misunderstood the meaning of "black comedy," so this remake features an all black cast with Murphy portraying all of the roles originally done by Peter Sellers.

[ 08-17-2005, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: Robert Harrison ]

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 08-05-2005, 04:48 PM:

Here's two possibilities:

PATTON RIDES AGAIN
outtakes compiled from George C. Scott movies

M.A.S.H. 2005
Donald Sutherland and Eliot Gould come out of retirement and volunteer for duty in Iraq

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-05-2005, 05:04 PM:

RETURN OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST (or, as Hollywood would call it, "WWW2")
The famous witch from the Wizard of Oz DIDN'T REALLY MELT... and now she's back with a vengeance

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-05-2005, 05:53 PM:

An interesting (to me, at any rate!) side-issue, pointed out by one of my ex-university lecturers: only one of the films Alfred Hitchcock directed was from an original screenplay, which was The Ring. Every single one of the other films for which he is credited as director were adapted from a previously published book or play. My ex-tutor argues in this book that Hitch's real strengh was in taking stories and plays which were previously thought 'unfilmable', and translating them into strong character parts and visual images on the screen. As a result, he says, The Ring is a pretty weak film, because it's full of the trademark Hitchcock visual touches, without much of a plot to hold them together. Comparing it with other Hitchcock silents such as The Lodger and Blackmail, I agree completely.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 08-08-2005, 12:30 PM:

quote: Robert Harrison
DR. STRANGELOVE"
The newest Eddie Murphy remake. Some executive misunderstood the meaning of "black comedy," so this remake features an all black cast with Murphy portraying all of the roles originally done by Peter Sellers.

Actually, Eddie Murphy in the Peter Sellers role is a movie that I'd want to see. I suppose Jim Carey could do it also, but he'd mug too much.

quote: Mike Blakesley
RETURN OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST (or, as Hollywood would call it, "WWW2")
The famous witch from the Wizard of Oz DIDN'T REALLY MELT... and now she's back with a vengeance

You are going to see this movie. It's called Wicked, based on the book by Gregory Maguire. It's also a Tony-award winning Broadway play. (But she still melts at the end.)

Posted by Jason M Miller (Member # 2597) on 08-09-2005, 06:52 PM:

Top Gun 2010.....Oh wait they just did that it was called Stealth

Ok got one:
The Sixth Sense 2: Entrance of the Seventh Sense
After Cole Sear enters puberty he starts noticing the female ghosts and starts feeling a funny feeling every time he sees one.

Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 08-11-2005, 07:48 PM:

ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS / ROBIN AND THE EIGHT HOODS

Hoping to cash in again on a remake (and a sequel to) a Rat Pack movie, Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney reunite to film these two projects back-to-back. Clooney will do his own singing. Does this mean that he will change his name to Crooney?

MA AND PA KETTLE KICK THE BUCKET AND BUY THE FARM

It had to happen eventually, didn't it?

Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 08-19-2005, 05:46 PM:

Okay, enough with the jokes. Here is a REAL upcoming remake that makes me say "Who the hell was asking for this one?"

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE

I barely remember the original as being just a programmer with, I believe, George Segal. And what's with the John Carpenter remakes? First, it was "Assault On Precinct 13" and now "The Fog!" What's next? "They Live?"

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-19-2005, 05:51 PM:

Somebody's remaking THE HILLS HAVE EYES, a real scary b-movie from the 70s. They should just reissue the original, it was uber-creepy.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 08-19-2005, 06:20 PM:

That somebody is Wes Craven himself (writer/director of the original) ... well, as a producer anyway, Alexandre Aja (the guy who directed High Tension) is directing.

quote: Robert Harrison
And what's with the John Carpenter remakes?

Well, he's done the whole remake thing too, both The Thing and Village of the Damned were remakes.

--

I have no problems with remakes in general, they certainly aren't anything new! There are good remakes and bad remakes. And I definitely don't think there is any danger of "original screenplays" going by the wayside. There have ALWAYS been more adaptations than original screenplays.

Leo brings up an excellent point above, regarding Hitchcock. I have always felt that a screenplay (and subsequent film) is not inherently bad just because it is based on something previously published... just as an original screenplay (and film) is not automatically good only because it was written/conceived for the screen.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-20-2005, 10:29 AM:

I understand the panic described in this topic; we are definately in a very unoriginal year for mainstream American cinema. We are awash in remakes, reimaginations, adaptations, television crossovers, spin-offs, not-at-all-scary "horror" films and rehashes. It seems that after last summer gave us some enjoyable hollywood formats, such as Spiderman 2; political spouting, and characters like Ron Burgundy, patrons have to pay for the chum at the bottom of the conceptual barrel.

I guess I should have enjoyed AVP more while it was still on-screen.

What's that word that's the exact opposite of scary?
Tacos
-Aqua Teen ref.