Jackson Misses The Frighteners
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Horror, Thrillers, Universal, RumorMonger, Fandom, Peter Jackson, Remakes and Sequels
It has been said that Peter Jackson had a relatively lackluster
career pre-LotR. Whatever fans he had from his
earlier days will be excited to know that despite his success, he hasn't forgetten his film roots. Detractors from his
early days, of course, may be less excited to know this. Nonetheless, it remains that not only has PJ repacked
his film The Frighteners for a special edition DVD release.
Jackson has admitted to being very hopeful about the success of the DVD release, because a successful bottom line for
the DVD could override a rather unfortunate box office performance- allowing for the possibility of selling a sequel.
Yes, that's right; Jackson would love to return to the story (and would hope to get Michael J. Fox involved somehow) if he could convince Universal to take
a chance on it.
Does someone out there have a solid opinion on this? Because I'm really floundering about trying to decide what I think of it all. I mean, the truth of the matter is that DVD sales are the real action these days, and Jackon is probably right in thinking that he could sell a sequel on a strong DVD performance. I'll admit that I'm not a very big fan of the original film, so this news doesn't really excite me at all. Any fans out there in the audience want to weigh in?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-23-2005 @ 10:48AM
johnathan Schmidt said...
I Have seen Frighteners in the Theater and thoroughly Enjoyed it and with Jackson at the Helm well come on it would be Classic.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 11:09AM
Calvin said...
I thought The Frighteners was an excellent film by Jackson. However, I would definitely be AGAINST a sequel not because I think it wouldn't be good, but more because I'm sick of Hollywood taking the "safe" root with 90% of the movies made today. Everything is either a sequel, a remake or an adaptation of a book. What happened to original ideas? The cycle has progressed to the point where the film industry is almost 100% a business that runs with no consideration for artistic merit, only the power of the almighty ROI. Plus, I feel as if Peter Jackson is one of the few directors who has a strong independent filmmaking past who has made it into the Hollywood studio system. Instead of playing their game, I'd like to see him use his influence to make truly original movies and push the medium.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 11:18AM
JT said...
I liked it a lot too. I think it's an underrated flick.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 11:30AM
Rico said...
The Frighteners is a severely underrated movie. Great acting, really impressive special effects, intense scares, wicked sense of humor, with great supporting performances from Jake Busey, John Astin (Gomez Addams), Jeffrey Combs ("You are violating my territorial bubble!"), Dee Wallace-Stone (the mom in E.T.), Chi McBride, and even R. Lee Ermey. Everyone should check this flick out.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 11:32AM
Bus said...
I loved the movie before Jackson even hit it big. It's still nice to see movies like this on cable rather than crap movies by Jean Claude and Dolpf Lundgren (don't get me started on Steven Segal... I've left better things in the toilet than his movies). Made in the time before multi million dollars in effects was what made or broke a movie, the effects were dark and set in well with the mood of the movie. With half the characters being dead, they were still enjoyable and their social quirks played out well into their roles. I feel that Jackson succeeded because he (like Kong) made the movie he wanted to make.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 1:30PM
Tom said...
I thought the original was a great movie. What I find hard to believe is Jackson having trouble selling any kind of movie. I think if Jackson called up Universal and said he wanted to do Frightners 2 they would green light it without so much as a script. He is one of those directors that now has a following that will watch a movie based on his involvement versus what th content is about and he is smart enough not to put trash out there. I would love to see Michael J. Fox back on the big screen. I fear that Back to the Future 4 may be his Big Screen Bellyflop Exit otherwise.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 2:10PM
pat miller said...
This is a great film for several reasons and PJ should consider a follow up. This is a great role for Michael J. Fox - not the least an Alex Keaton or Marty McFly type role. It examines scam artists and what happen if they find they are not scamming at all.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 4:23PM
The Jeremy said...
Jackson has bigger fish to fry currently. He needs to figure out something on how to make King Kong a success because people aren't seeming interested in checking it out no matter how good its supposed to be. If he can't make that flick a success, then he's in trouble because he sank a lot of his own money into it as well as NBC Universal's. If he can't turn Kong around, there's no way they will give him a second shot at The Frighteners.
Reply