Commence Incredulity: 'Forbidden Planet' Remake is Coming
Filed under: Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Remakes and Sequels
OK, get it out of your system right now, before we begin. All together now: "Holy crap I can't believe they're remaking an unquestionable classic like XXXX and I'm completely certain that Hollywood has officially run out of new ideas. Argh!" Feel better? Good, because an unquestionable classic like Forbidden Planet is officially being remade.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver are moving forward on their new version of the 1956 sci-fi favorite, which itself was (loosely) based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, so that makes it sort of a remake in its own right. From THR: The original "told the tale of an expedition sent from Earth to check on a colony of scientists on a far-off planet. They find two members, a man who has found alien technology that doubled his intellect, Dr. Morbius, and his daughter, both of whom have managed to survive an unseen monster roaming the planet." And yes, this is the one with Robbie the Robot. Classic character to be sure, but dare I say one that is ripe for a "re-imagining"?
The new version will spring from the word processor of J. Michael Straczynski, a veteran sci-fi creator who recently went in a new direction with his screenplay for Clint Eastwood's Changeling. And while I'd definitely agree that Forbidden Planet is one of the true-blue classics of the sci-fi genre, I'd also admit that I'm pretty interested to see where a new version would go. Obviously a lot depends on who Silver and WB tap to direct the remake.
And heck, are there many more science fiction classics that haven't been scheduled for a remake? Between War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, I Am Legend, The Invasion, Planet of the Apes, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and When Worlds Collide ... has anyone optioned this one for a remake yet?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2008 @ 7:26PM
B said...
I must say that I will not see this re-make! I am strongly against a re-make of this great sci-fi classic.
AI personally think that all the re-makes that you mention in this article are horrible and I think that Hollywood should respect these films and not kill them. I fell in love with Forbidden Planet when I picked it up on Laser Disc years ago and it is one of my favorites. I think that the time a movie is made really impacts the effect it has. The technology that we have now blows away anything that was in the original film and why would it be interesting to people now? The cool part of watching old movies is that they are a window to the world in the time that they were made. I think that if the original movie had not been made it would not be made today.
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11-03-2008 @ 9:38PM
Rich Drees said...
FP is one of my all-time favorite films and normally I would be halfway across the country to strangle in their sleep all involved with the idea of remaking it. However, JMS is a devout fan of the film and even visually quoted it in his series Babylon 5. If there is anyone who could make this a good film, I feel it is him.
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11-03-2008 @ 11:03PM
Paul Kulik said...
2001? I'm afraid! I can feel it!
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11-04-2008 @ 6:56AM
John R said...
Meh. What else is new?
As far as the robot goes, here to hoping they take in some Gundam/Macross influences and stay with the times.
2001? Please, God, NO.
I think it would be far more inspired if they did a homage to it as an Anime and use the original soundtrack (everything; voices, music, sound FX).
I was watching it on Encore last weekend and thought to myself that this would be a pretty badass Anime in the "Ghost in the Shell" style.
But just my opinion.
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11-04-2008 @ 8:31AM
bongo123 said...
Bring on more remakes, these films although great wont suffer from a new lease of life and some nice 21st century SFX, plus we get the added bonus of diehard fans of the originals going apeshit cause there childhood is being raped, which always brings a tear to my eye... its a fecking movie numbnuts not your bloody kid!
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11-04-2008 @ 8:40AM
bongo123 said...
Bring on more remakes, these films although great wont suffer from a new lease of life and some nice 21st century SFX, plus we get the added bonus of diehard fans of the originals going apeshit cause there childhood is being raped, which always brings a tear to my eye... its a fecking movie numbnuts not your bloody kid!
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11-04-2008 @ 9:17AM
Bill said...
I'm not a fan of the original so I really don't mind them remaking it. Whenever I see it on TV I have to resist the urge to say "Shirley, you can't be serious."
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11-04-2008 @ 10:16AM
ML said...
After The Day the Earth Stood Still, I figured it was only a matter of time ... But, if you recall, Forbidden Planet is really an extremely clever retelling of The Tempest, so it's already a sort of a remake in itself.
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12-31-2008 @ 1:20PM
Dr. Mark said...
Well,
As a fan of the original since childhood I do shiver at the thought of a remake. It is not that the technology wasn't dated, or that the more innocent 1950's culture seems so distant from the scum that proliferates the media and film today, but that this story will be ruined with a new "edgy" version. I imagine the starcruiser (now manned by a politically correct mixed sex crew) captained by someone like Jeanine Garofalo, dealing not only with monsters from the ID but with the real conflicts and emotional turmoil that we "need" in film today. There will probably a "gay" theme or some other F'ing B.S. to make the film "relevent" to today's desensitized moviegoer. The only saving grace is that I have my re-mastered original to turn to in times like this.
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12-31-2008 @ 4:22PM
john Chabak said...
An old favorite of mine that I'd like to see redone in a larger scope especially making more use of the flying ants is:
"THEM"
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