New Line Cinema, Michael Deluca and FORBIDDEN PLANET

Hey folks, Harry here. Early on today, I received the following news from about a half dozen different folks:

New Line Cinema purchased the remake rights to science-fiction classic "Forbidden Planet" from Lindsay Dunlap and Ember Entertainment Group. President of production Michael De Luca, senior executive vice president Richard Saperstein and creative executive Bryan Hickel will oversee the film's development. Cast and crew decisions have not yet been released. The original was directed by Fred Wilcox and starred Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis

And instantly began fretting. With the possible exception of DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, 2001, WAR OF THE WORLDS and STAR WARS... there is no more beloved science fiction film in the history of the genre.

It is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of 50's science fiction spectacle. It was science fiction ripped off the covers of ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, AMAZING, THRILLING WONDER STORIES, etc. With visions of gigantic unfathomable machinery, flying saucers, force fields and robots, FORBIDDEN PLANET created the technicolor dream of the future. It set down the rules for Gene Roddenberry to take in his creating of STAR TREK... the first, Wagon Train in space.

The project has had a long history. Bopping from Irvin Kershner and Stan Winston to reportedly a brief stint with James Cameron. At one point props were created, and set designs done... when suddenly financing fell through. And never in all of this had fans been disappointed.

Let's face it, today's science fiction is dictated by the advent of the microchip and minaturation. A streamlined look. Giant Jack Kirby Devices Simply Won't Exist. So, through all of this... FORBIDDEN PLANET is our vintage dream of what the future would hold.

Why remake a beloved film?

Can you design a more iconic robot? A more dynamic ID created energy beast? A more trippy cool futuro soundtrack?

It just doesn't seem likely. But then... FORBIDDEN PLANET is based upon Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST... and how many filmed versions do we have of ROMEO AND JULIET, HAMLET, MACBETH, etc? It seems inevitable that somebody somewhere would attempt to mount a campaign to revisit THE TEMPEST and it's Science Fiction Sister... FORBIDDEN PLANET.

So, curious as to what NEW LINE had up it's sleeve, I dropped the following letter to Deluca to see what he thought:

"I just wanted to get a comment or two from you about why you would be interested in remaking a classic. What you think New LIne could do with the material"

And Deluca answered back:

"I was interested because the original film, plus its source material, Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, offer up an incredible opportunity to make the most imaginative and emotinonal science fiction epic since 2001.

Something serious, along the lines of Arthur C. Clarke or Ursula LeGuin, but with a real adventure at the heart. I want to base it in NASA's ponderings today of what life and interstellar travel could be like 300 years from now.

I want to make the best sci-fi film in years. Maybe start with a novelist like Clarke for the story. Any suggestions? "

Being encouraged by Deluca's desire to make a genuine serious science fiction film based upon the earlier work and being asked about suggestions, I couldn't help myself... So I chimed in with:

"Well, First thing you'd need to do is get someone like... oh, let's say David Fincher or Paul Thomas Anderson or Frank Darabont. A director that has NEVER TOUCHED SCIENCE FICTION before. Perhaps even someone like Mostow. Just get a director that has a great deal of VISION, then before getting a screenwriter... Have this director hook up with various FUTURIST SOCIETIES. Hire researchers to go through old PULP MAGAZINES like Astounding Science Fiction, Amazing, etc. Then, with all those ideas, sit down with a talented screenwriter, and begin incorporating those ideas into the structure of THE TEMPEST and FORBIDDEN PLANET.

In the original film, the idea was that man had begun settling in star systems around the galaxy. Very Star Trek-y. And that there was a very military (50's style) mind set to mankind's settling of the galaxy. But the future was very elegant. Whatever you do, you do not want polished stainless steel. You don't want ribbed clothing. I think visually you'd want to be closer to the vision of the future from those old pulp scifi covers, than the 'reality' of today's space travel.

The KRELL technology is where you get to think a million years of advancement. One of the aspects that most scifi fans love in the original FORBIDDEN PLANET was the cannibalization of the spacecraft to be able to send messages back to earth, to create weapons, etc. It's very scifi-ish and practical.

But I can't strongly enough voice how much you should attach a director to the development first and how important it is to go with a great director that has never touched this field before. And... contact Ellison. He may have a reputation for being hard to work with, but I know from personal experience with the man, that he just wants the respect he feels he deserves. The man is a genius though. "

To which, Deluca responded with:

"Couldn't agree more. It's funny, I actually had a preliminary talk with Frank Darabont about directing and someone else writing. It'd be great to get ideas from novelists like Clarke or Brian Aldiss."

I then wrote Deluca about the possiblity of attaching James Cameron, because of his prior interest and love for the material, and received this response...

"We checked Jim Cameron out. He declined, guess he's busy with his own stuff. I promise we won't make it ever unless it's stunning and warrants it."

So there you have it. A electronic conversation I had with Deluca about FORBIDDEN PLANET today. From the sound of it, it seems that Deluca has high ambitions for the film. And no matter what it will probably come at the story from a completely different set of sensibilities. I'm encouraged by the "I Promise We Won't Make It Ever Unless It's Stunning And Warrants It." comment, but that is of course subjective as all hell. The material in THE TEMPEST, mixed with the science fiction vision created in FORBIDDEN PLANET, taken with a very serious look at interstellar space travel, the future of a intergalactic U.N. style military science organization would make for a very different film. If it ends up being very different... I would hope they'd go with a new title and try to make a new and great science fiction film that uses the original extremely loosely and creates something new and bold and brilliant. I don't want just a new designed robot, a newly designed space ship, Charlize Theron as Altaira, George Clooney as Commander John J Adams, Anthony Hopkins as Morbius and Robin Williams as the voice of THE ROBOT. Ugh... However, something provocative like what Deluca seems to want to do... That, well, I'd be interested in seeing that. Let's hope they do it right, or not "make it ever."