The soon-to-be-made Miramax film Neverland is yet another take on the endearing Peter Pan classic–and who better to star in the film than Johnny Depp? Kate Winslet is also in negotiations to star.
Based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan, we get to see how author James M. Barrie (Depp) actually came up with the story about a boy who refuses to grow up, living in Neverland with the Lost Boys, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell. Apparently, the story sprang from Barrie’s relationship with four fatherless brothers and their mother in the early 1900s in London.
OK, if you break it down, the four boys probably represent the Lost Boys, and maybe one of them stands out as the leader to the rest; he’s Peter. The mother is probably Wendy, telling stories to her sons to make them feel better. Somewhere, there’s a mean guy who wants to corrupt them. That’s Hook. How does Tinkerbell fit in that scenario, do you think? I don’t think there were a lot of fairies around the turn of the last century.
Comic books: Hollywood’s new frontier
Who would have thought those dime store mags, in which superheroes rule the day and villains do dastardly deeds, would somehow be Hollywood’s answer for new and exciting material? Sure, Superman and Batman are legendary, but out-of-the-mainstream comic books like Ghost World and Spawn are also being turned into cult classic movies.
At the head of the class is Marvel Comics. First, there is the success of Blade, a half-human, half-vampire “day walker” who hunts down the bad vampires. The movie version’s hero is embodied perfectly by Wesley Snipes. Next will be Spider-Man, and it’s going to be big. Really big. Even if Tobey Maguire isn’t who you think should play Peter Parker/Spidey, comic-book fanatics are still salivating. Face it, Spidey is one of the cooler comic-book heroes there are. We’ve also got The Hulk (that’s the Incredible Hulk) to look forward to from director Ang Lee, coming out next summer.
The newest Marvel comic to hit the screen will be Daredevil, and Ben Affleck will be donning the superhero duds. This guy, also known as the Man Without Fear, is attorney Matt Murdock, a man who defends the downtrodden–and who is also blind. His other four senses, however, function with superhuman sharpness. By day, he does his job, but by night, he is a masked vigilante named Daredevil, stalking the streets and acting as a relentless avenger of justice. The 20th Century Fox film also stars Michael Clarke Duncan (the big black dude from The Green Mile), Colin Farrell (the oh-so-cute Hart in Hart’s War) and Jennifer Garner (yep, the Alias chick). Principal photography has already begun.
Comic-book creators must be feeling pretty good about themselves right about now. At least now, their audiences go beyond the pimply-faced 15-year-olds who hide in the corner of comic-book stores, scouring over their favorite issues. It’s universal, baby!
“Big Fish” in Burton’s small pond
Quirky director Tim Burton has found his next feature, and aren’t we the lucky ones? He is set to direct Big Fish for Columbia Pictures. Adapted from a novel by Daniel Wallace, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the story explores a complicated father/son relationship. When William Bloom comes home to spend time with his estranged father, Edward, who is a braggart and an exaggerator, he learns his father is dying of cancer. With time running out, William tries desperately to unravel the mystery that is Edward, by separating fact from fiction. The story unfolds mostly through humorous and poignant flashbacks. There is no cast as yet.
Now, call me crazy, but this kind of material just doesn’t seem to fit with the director of Ed Wood and Planet of the Apes. But at the same time, I’m somewhat intrigued on what Burton would do with a sappy-sounding melodrama. I guess we’ll see.
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Surf’s up!
In a frenzied bidding war that only Hollywood can create, DreamWorks emerged as the exclusive-rights owner to turn the popular ’70s cop show Hawaii Five-O into a big-screen adaptation. (The theme song begins to play.) Detective Steve McGarrett will rise again in a new form (because the original actor, Jack Lord, died in 1998) and tell his faithful sidekick Danny Williams to bring the criminals in and charge them with a crime. Yes, get ready to book’ em once again, Danno.
It’s truly amazing what little imagination those bigwig Hollywood types actually have. Not to say a Hawaii Five-O movie wouldn’t be fun to go see. It’s cops. It’s Hawaii. What more could you ask for? My beef is simply the fact studios don’t want to try anything original. Either they think, “Oh, just let those Sundance folks take care of the really original stuff,” or “That would be an interesting idea, but we can’t afford to spend any time on it because it isn’t going to make any MONEY.” I guess I’ve basically answered my own question. It’s all about money–and taking older material that people once loved and will immediately recognize is much, much safer than a truly original story. Oh well.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
