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Captain Nemo movie torpedoed by idiots!
Well folks, Harry here. And it seems yet again I am to come to you with... Tragic news. You see... The script for this film has made the production rounds in Los Angeles... Most everyone that read it.. fell in love. The movie gets financed... Then... Just two months from shooting... Some GENIUS producers get it in their heads that Keanu Reeves should play a younger Captain Nemo and ... well... The project dies because... Now get this. The director, Christophe Gans, actually believed that to be miscasting... Can you believe that. Someone thinking that Keanu Reeves would be wrong for Captain Nemo? Shock... Gasp... Sigh. Often times it seems idiots are placed in power over fantastic projects. In this case, it's a great Captain Nemo and Jules Verne adaptation. For Roger Avary, it was his and Neil Gaiman's BEOWULF. For Guillermo Del Toro, it's his HELLBOY film which seeks only a domestic partner and it would be a go... Yet some want STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN as HELLBOY, and Guillermo thought that was a bad idea. Can you believe that? Or there's Paul Verhoeven and CRUSADE. Or Robert Zemeckis and BAD TROUT. Or Gary Ross and WALLY & PEPPER. Chris McQuarrie and his ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Protosevich and I AM LEGEND. Sam Hamm and Terry Gilliam on WATCHMEN. Great projects that just sit. Great projects, with all the talent in the world behind them.... rearing to go... And idiots standing in their way. Here's the story of NEMO...
Harry, sad news indeed.
Apparently development of this movie (with a reported budget of well
over $40 Million) (HARRY NOTE: I heard it was at $60million) based on Jules Verne's classic 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER
THE SEA was canceled just 2 months before actual shooting was to start.
In an recent interview with French magazine DVDRama director Christope
Gans explains the recent developments (translated from French):
"[Némo] has been stopped 2 months before shooting was supposed to start
because of artistic differences on the casting. I didn't agree with the
British financiers' choice. I decided to pass and do THE PACT OF WOLVES.
It is in my opinion, a wise decision. [...] I invested over 2 years and
today I am not able to compromise anymore on what actor should play
Captain Némo. After 2 years of work one has a precise enough idea of
what one wants and this does not allow changing leads 2 months before
shooting. I have no regret... I wanted BILLY CRUDUP (HI-LO COUNTRY) and
they wanted to impose KEANU REEVES on me.."
The interviewer also asked Gans: "Are you going to make it one day?"
Gans: "Maybe. If they want to change their opinion. For me, the movie is
already made in my head. Caro made all models, I have a complete
storyboard... The movie only asks to be shot..."
Now, this is sad new indeed but I really have to admire Gans for
sticking to his guns. He is extremely passionate about this movie.
Apparently WINONA RYDER liked the script so much and wanted to be in it
badly. She asked $2 Million. Gans reportedly said: "Forget her, I prefer
put this money in the creation of my octopus!" You have got to love this
guy!
Gans' previous movies include NECRONOMICON and CRYING FREEMAN (Hardly
known in the US, it was the most successful movie of 1997 in French
cinema's toppling other major US action releases.)
It's hard to believe a project like this could end up not being made.
Look who's on board SAMUAL HADIDA, producer (KILLING ZOE, Incidentally
the first guy to buy a TARANTINO script ever!) Marc Caro, production
designs (CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, DELICATESSEN) and (reportedly) ROGER
AVARY and THIERRY CAZALS co-wrote the script with Gans! (HARRY NOTE: Actually, Roger Avary did not co-write the script... the info on IMDB and other places has been.... WRONG)
I love Jules Verne's classic and enjoyed RICHARD FLEISCHER's 1954 Disney
adaptation (Starring KIRK DOUGLAS). Gans' incarnation is to use the
characters from the original story but the events in NEMO are set 20
years before the events in Disney's original 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE
SEA film, using the American Civil War as a backdrop. Knowing Gans he
won't hold out on the action and special effects!
DAMNIT, ANYONE WITH THE POWER AND FINANCIAL MUSCLE TO MAKE THIS MOVIE
HAPPEN, PLEASE CONTACT GANS OR HADIDA!!!
Morphic.
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+ Expand All
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A captain nemo movie with a good story... trashed. Great. Oh yeah - Crying Freeman is a damn cool movie! Too bad Mark Dacascos and his fighting abilities are wasted in every other movie (or show)
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Wow a Director/Writer with PRINCIPLES this is stunning!!!
Wonder if Keanu wakes up in the morning and wonders where his career came from? "Like hey...I can't act, and I make 10 mill a picture....woah."
I'd love to see more film creators with the courage to say no to a bad actor/tress. Winnona Ryder...heh heh.
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Man oh man... Hallywood does suck ass big time. Fuck Keanu Reeves. Mark Dakascos has never been so cool... That movie was 95% pure joy and style (it
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the NEMO pic was Gans' baby
all the time. the first time I heard about it was after CRYING FREEMAN war released.
If he thinks Keanu Reeves is the wrong guy - then this is it. Gans is a great director and normally knows what he wants.
In an ideal world he shoudn't have to to fuck around with these hollywood morons!!!!! -
Keanu Reeves would stink to high heaven as Nemo.
There are some roles that just can't be followed, and Nemo could never follow James Mason.....nobody can !
On the other hand, and just to proce that I am, if nothing else, a fair opinionated bozo, nobody could follow Reeves in "The Matrix" (my film of the year 1999) either !
So there !!! -
Did I understand it right that the Hellboy film is out? Say it ain
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Harry, you're mad if you think that the Sam Hamm Watchmen script is a "great property." The reason the project was scrapped was the very solid realization that by the time you trim out everything that makes Watchmen so brilliant as a comic to allow for a two-hour film, you're left with a fairly uninteresting superhero story...Watchmen cannot exist as anything other than a comic, it's a comic ABOUT comics, about the whole experience of READING comics. It should forever STAY a comic. We don't need movies of EVERYTHING...
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Most people in Hollywood would have sold out, but this guy knows what he's doing. Kudos, and good luck on your next film. Filmlovers (and literature lovers) are looking on you with admiration.
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Surprise, surprise, yet another fuck up by hollywood. I really enjoyed Crying Freeman, and the director sounds as if he knows what he's doing. The studio should just let him get on with it, and make his own vision. Fucking Keanu Reeves!!!
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and that's it. The Disney film is by far THE great adaption of the book. Anybody see that retred a few years ago with Michael Cain?
nuff said -
I wasn't quite sure how to take the Hellboy part of what Harry had to say. I can't believe anyone would consider Stone Cold for this role. But, I'll be especially bummed if this project doesn't ever get made. As anyone who has read the comic knows, this movie could be the coolest movie ever made if done right. As for Captain Nemo, hats off to someone finally wanting to do something the right way or no way at all. Possible something for the people involved with Hannibal to keep in mind. I would like to see both of these projects made, but not compromised simply to get an interesting script or story done with the wrong actor or actress.
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.....is that we'll be subjected to one less keanu film....big fucking deal. he'll turn up in some hollywood shitfest sooner or later.
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Is this my lot in life? To continually have to step in to defend what I think is one of the top masterpiece films ever. Sure Keanu was stiff and kind of queer in BSD, but he was supposed to be stifled and nervous. In the novel Jonathon Harker is obsessed with time because every passing minute draws him nearer to possibe failure if not the end of his life (old age). The guy is a neurotic, nervous mess, the most insecure of persons. He is to appear like a quivering dolt, unsure of every line he speaks or action because he is so fearful he may screw something up in what time he has left in life. That quality of his character makes the extramartial "affair" all the more plausible. And Winona was the perfect Victorian, both in appearance and character. I bet if you went back in time and filmed my great-grandmother in that era, Winona would have a better delivery than granny did in real life. As for 20,000 Leagues, I am all for it with Caro's set designs, and if it has the same sort of compositional care and proper homage to its source like Coppola's uber-vampire film did, than I would greatly mourn the idea of the film not being made over a mere technicality.
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Actually, from a visual standpoint, Stone Cold would be a pretty good Hellboy. Too bad he can't act and has a Texas accent. Ron Perlman can act and has the right voice, but his face doesn't resemble Hellboy's at all. I don't know. A lot of make up needed to get that Hellboy look for him.
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Dude, I thought BS's Dracula was a glorious mess, myself, but no matter how much you loved it Keanu was woefully miscast. He wasn't playing neurotic, he was playing, well, Keanu, with an atrocious wavering accent. As for the Crying Freeman live action, am I the only one who thought it was really boring? Between the needless quick cuts and the incessant slo-mo 99% of the tension was sucked out of every single action sequence. Which is not to say Gans couldn't have pulled of a great Nemo, but Freeman is hardly positive proof. At least it would have looked gorgeous. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, though, is that if this movie gets made then there's one less snag in the way of a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie, and that is a very good thing indeed.
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"...if this movie DOESN'T get made..." My bad.
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Jan 16, 2000 11:56:45 AM CST
The world doesn't need another "Captain Nemo" story, but they do
by uncapie
They did a good one in 1970 called "Captain Nemo and the Underwater City" with Rober Ryan as "Captain Nemo". Good choice. "The Mysterious Island Of Captain Nemo" starring Omar Sherif. Then there were those two crappy abominations for television with Michael Caine and the "all children" version that were recently made. The only thing left is an X- rated version."Sexual Captain Nemo". He has an all girl crew and the adventures begin when they pick up the shipwrecked survivors. In this ending, no one wants to go back to civilization. I'm warming up my Casio electric organ right now to do the soundtrack.
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Jan 16, 2000 3:43:36 PM CST
And so but once again casting-over-story trods upon quality...
by alexandra dupont
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let's be honest folk. Reeves isn't an all that good actor, let him do anothet couple of Matrix films and/or Bill & Ted or whatever. Fact is, he'll never win an oscar for good acting. Besides, he has without a doubt the most annoying voice in Hollywood (followed closely by Jeff Bridges). Anyway thats my opinion. Cheers
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If he doesn't want Keanu, he doesn't need Keanu forced down his throat. (Nor does the movie-going public)***And BTW, BS's Dracula, while visually beautiful, sucked royally and strays from the original novel so much it should not have been labeled as BS's.
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Jan 16, 2000 4:20:53 PM CST
I guess we can bury this corpse beside the cript for WAR OF THE
by keeper
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Of all the art forms, I must say again it is the filmmaker that takes in the rear more often than a proctologist
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This movie should have fucking been made with Ralph Fiennes as Nemo......period. No fucking around with anyone else. Stop the insanity!
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Jan 16, 2000 6:08:53 PM CST
Todd, your last post made me spit milk through my nose
by neck hair eater
That anal comment was damn funny. Thank you very much. I needed a laugh.
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Guys, the fork in our reality just took a turn for the worse. Billy Crudup is PERFECT for a young Nemo. Loved him in Sleepers. SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING DOWN IN TINSELTOWN? YOU INBRED SILICON BASTARDS! Go lick Gant's crack and pray that he'll reconsider! Oh well, at least the movie will be made in most other realities, the universe can't suck this bad. Screw this, I'm going back to bed. My first favorite author, DENIED!
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Oh Harry... you ten year old fuck..... Don't give me your bullshit. This project would have been nothing but a middle finger to Jules and his original novel...fuck, even to the famous Greg Pecker film.... THIS WAS NOTHING BUT COMMERCIAL BULLSHIT TO BEGIN WITH!!! Crudup, Reeves, what does it matter?? They both suck ass... Crudup looks like the kind of guy that would be delivering newspapers and selling porn mags door to door for the rest of his adult life. THIS MOVIE WOULD HAVE SUCKED COCK AND YOU KNOW IT.
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WHATS WRONG WITH DELIVERING PAPERS AND SELLING PORN???!!!!
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Jan 16, 2000 7:21:41 PM CST
Devil's Advocate, Satan's Lawyer, Lucifer's Legal Advice, Asmode
by lapp
OK, and thanks for the spam. Maybe I was getting carried away, there. I'm not going to stick up for a project I know little to nothing about, so hey, you win. But by my definition of the source material Keanu would be the definition of WRONG. He managed not to screw up Matrix BUT HE AIN'T NO NEMO! Ack!
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Well, aside from this project being dead in the water, I guess we should be thankful at the very least, that a director stood up and said no to not one, but two of the worst actors in the last 15 years! Don't get me wrong, I like Keanu in some of his films, he held his own well enough in Matrix and Speed, and he did opt out of Speed 2, but his range is VERY limited...as for Winona, has Ebert completely lost it?!?! On his show last night he was praising her as a real treasure amongst actress'...HELLO!!! First he gives Phantom Menace FOUR FRIGGIN' STARS, and now this? I don't think she sucks, but I feel about the same towards her as I do Keanu. I say I would rather not see this film made than see it made poorly. I don't know, the craft is lost. The 90's proved just how bad big budget films could get, we need new life bred into the system, no more of the old dogs who can't check their egos at the door for the sake of what's right for the film! Hollywood's got the dough and power, they just don't have the brains or balls! That's why we got shit like Deep Blue Sea last year. Oh yeah, quite sticking your toungue out at us Harry! :)
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When? When do execs quit thinking with their asses? *deep and sorrowful sigh*
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No offense to anyone interested in this movie (I really mean that), but isn
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Despite my previous post, I say
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Hey there,
This has nothing to do with movies but with a project I'm involved with. Does anybody know what's Howard Stern's radiostation. And is he online??
thanks.cheers -
Damn, a Captain Nemo movie, set during the Civil War, with Marc Caro as the production designer? I guess it was just too good to be true. How about some news on Jeunet/Caro's new project?
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Jan 16, 2000 10:50:39 PM CST
Damn. I was really looking forward to a Michael Schenker biopic.
by powerslave
Captain Keanu? With music by DogStar, no doubt. Just can't see it. On the subject of Reeves, I finally got around to seeing the Fanboy Gushfest, aka "The Matrix," the other day. My verdict: What's the big deal?
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It's nice to see some integrity. Knuckling under to idiots has gone on too long. While I'm glad the filmmaker did what he did, I will say that if I were casting the movie I, personally, would find Keanu Reeves a better choice for Captain Nemo than Billy Cruddup. When Keanu's good, he's pretty good (although I must admitt, when he's bad, he's the worst). Billy Cruddup has never particuarily impressed me in anything and for Captain Nemo, fuggidabowdit. Another Billy, Zane specifically, would be better than either Reeves or Cruddup for Nemo. My personal fave for this role: Jason Scott Lee, but that's just me, what do I know? Lou Diamond Phillips would also be excellent. Now, for Hellboy, how you can use the words Hellboy and artistic integrity in the same sentence makes me laugh. Yeah, Stone Cold Steve would be a stupid choice, but can you really tell me there's an intelligent choice for a guy in a devil suit?
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Really now, does anyone like Winnona Ryder anymore? That boy haircut is not doing it for me, and her whining is annoying as all hell. I wouldn't pay her $20 bucks let alone $2 million! I don't care if she does the ping-pong ball trick as a bonus! Fuck her.
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Whats wrong with Keanu Reeves? He's not that bad an actor, although he was horribly miscast in Dracula. (what the hell was Coppola thinking?) I think that when the smoke clears the movie will eventually get started up again.
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This would have been so awesome. Can't believe some nitwits cancelled a movie simply because they wanted one actor who would have been a poor choice and no one else would do!
This sucks!
I can just imagine . . . an adventure movie with subs.
The Hunt for Red October was great! -
Winona remembers how to act again in Girl, Interrupted. Really. Angelina drags a good performance out of her by the teeth.
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Lets give credit where credit is due. Mr Reeves was ideal for the role of Neo in The Matrix. The role called for some one to stand around and look confused and full of self doubt for all but about the last 15 minutes. At this, and looking pretty he is quite probably without peer among top paid actors in Hollywood today. Asking him, or about any actor in Hollywood to ACT, meaning to play a role other than "what if I was a..." is a bit much to ask for. Strangly Jim Carrey seems to be the only person recently to pull it off (and I am NOT a fan). Ol' Keanu might be a one trick pony, but he is GOOD at that trick (perhaps not $10 mil worth of good, though....).
Ms. Rider, the other principal of this convoluted string of thought, is another who is limited, but good within her range. Any time I see her act it seems her charachter is terribly constipated and/or recovering from a disappointing bowel movement. For roles in films like "Heathers" and "Girl..." she is quite good, as the charachters are supposed to be a bit..er .. reserved, at least at first. However Aliens Res. was a nighmare as far as she goes. And a few other problems but I LIKED Ron Pearlman as usual and several other supporting actors.
P.S. Phantom Menace sucked.
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Thanks for the update on NEMO. I'm not sure of the timing of your info, since I heard this info a year ago from Christophe the last time he was in LA for the AFM '99.
I was the Film Editor and post supervisor of Crying Freeman, and it's nice to read good things about the film that was to make my career. Unfortunately, the film was never released in the U.S., so I'm still toiling on low-budget films, hoping for that big break. Well, maybe someday....
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