Cinematical

The last time we heard from J. Michael Straczynski about his remake-but-not-really of The Forbidden Planet, it ended up being a lot of misquotes that the screenwriter quickly refuted. MTV caught up with him this week, and he explained his take on the classic sci-fi film: "I've always wanted to do something involving Forbidden Planet. It's my favorite science-fiction film of all time. I've watched the rights go from one company to the next. I heard that the rights at Dreamworks were about to expire and I went to Joel Silver and said I think if you move quickly you can grab it and I can write it. And he did. It's the dream of a lifetime to play in that universe."

While he remained relatively tight-lipped on the plot, Straczynski was careful to point out what it isn't. "I told Joel [Silver] this is how you do Forbidden Planet without pissing on the original that no one has ever thought of. When I told [the idea] to him, his eyes lit up. It's not a remake. It's not a reimagining. It's not exactly a prequel. You'll have to see it. It's something that no one has thought of when it comes to this storyline."

To that end, he's researching astrophysics, A.I., and planetary geology to create a scientifically accurate Krell backstory -- none of which will be stylishly retro. "At the time it was made it was cutting edge ...People that went to see that film saw things they had never seen before. What we have to do now is have this one be as innovative now as the original was then."

Like most of you, I wasn't particularly excited about a Forbidden Planet remake, but I do love the idea of an original story that explores the world and mythology of the film. I don't think it's betraying or copying a classic to play around with its universe. But maybe I'm way off on that -- thoughts?