Christopher Nolan is Not a Number!
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
I don't know how many of you have seen the short-lived British TV series The Prisoner, but if you haven't, you should (it's on DVD). It ran for fewer than 20 episodes in 1967, and is just awesome -- fantastically weird, creepily demented and incredibly smart, all at the same time. The series stars Patrick McGoohan as a government agent who, after his resignation, is kidnapped and finds himself in a place known only as "The Village", in which his name is now "Number 6", and no one will tell him anything about where he is, or why he is there. Oh, and whenever he tries to escape, big, white, balloon-y blobs chase him. (If that sounds familiar, there's a Simpsons episode based on the show -- even McGoohan, who hardly ever acts anymore, is in it.)Anyhoo, it rocks. And if some studio were to decide they wanted to make it into a serious, intense-as-hell movie, I certainly wouldn't complain (assuming they didn't hire Michael Bay or Brett Ratner to fill the thing with explosions). Needless to say, then, I almost fell out of my chair this morning when I read in Variety that Christopher Nolan is close to signing a deal with Universal to direct a big screen version of The Prisoner. Hooray! Those of you who have seen the show will understand my glee -- based on his previous films (not to mention The Prestige), Nolan has exactly the right cinematic sensibility to make a Prisoner movie that kicks all kinds of ass.
Of course, it'll be a while -- the plan is for Nolan to start work on The Prisoner when he gets done with The Dark Knight (production on that film begins early next year). In the meantime, Janet and David Peoples (Twelve Monkeys, Unforgiven, Blade Runner) will get busy on the script.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2006 @ 10:49AM
Cross777 said...
The BBC is remaking this, as a series with the guy who played Doctor Who for the first season.
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8-11-2006 @ 11:11AM
RP said...
It's actually being made by Granada for Sky One (so you just know it's going to be appalling), and as far as i've seen, Ecclestone's involvement has only been rumoured
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8-11-2006 @ 12:15PM
Gilbert Davis said...
The 40th Anniversary complete boxset of all 17 episodes of The Prisoner is now available at Amazon.com. Like the original Star Trek series you will pay a premium price for this set. But, it's worth it since The Prisoner is one of the very best things to ever have come on television. Unique and thought provoking, indeed, I was introduced to the series when it was playing on the local PBS station back in the seventies and beyond. I remember that after each episode there was a discussion panel to interpret and discuss what had just been witnessed. I don't recall that ever happening with any other television series. And 40 years later the show and the idea of the show still lives.
Patrick McGoohan was the star of a very popular television series called Secret Agent Man and was given a lot of leeway to do what he wanted with The Prisoner. It's admirable when actors break away from the safe things that made them popular and like Patrick McGoohan, use their fame and popularity to say something important. Through all the discussion and talk about what The Prisoner means my opinion is that it's about the struggle of man to maintain his dignity, freedom and values in a world that increasing has no place for those things. As you watch the show you recognize yourself and you identify with The Prisoner. It's just great.
As for the likelihood of a big screen version or the rumored television version I have my doubts. Rarely does a remake capture what was good about the original. I can't think of it ever happening and what we are left with is a pale comparision that usually, mercifully, fades back into the mist. For me, if I liked the original, I am already hostile to the remake and if I didn't like the original there is no way I want to see a pale remake of a show I didn't like in the first place. (I'm looking at you Dukes of Hazzard) The only exception I can think of offhand is Battlestar Galactica and that succeeds because it isn't a remake but a complete reimagining of the story.
Oh, and Patrick McGoohan, if you have trouble remembering where you've seen him, think Braveheart and the evil Longshanks, "If we can't chase them out, we'll breed them out!" Ohh, creepy. But well acted.
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8-11-2006 @ 3:21PM
Cath said...
A friend actually wrote his master's thesis on The Prisoner. I don't know if the philosophical implications can survive the transition to the big screen unless it's done as an art picture.
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8-12-2006 @ 1:18AM
Emma Abraham said...
So this is SEPARATE from the Eccleston version? What bizarre timing
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8-12-2006 @ 5:01AM
Anthony Weight said...
There is no "Eccleston version". It was all just newspaper talk about his involvement - he will not be featuring in the Granada / Sky One remake.
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8-14-2006 @ 12:30PM
The Jeremy said...
Funny, considering the man that Chris Nolan SHOULD have picked to play the role of The Joker was previously rumored to be involved in a re-imagined television update. That actor being CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON.
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