RevengeOfTheNerds Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Erik Davis ordered me to come up with a new approach to summer movies, and he demanded that the concept be intelligent, engaging, and jam-packed with vowels and consonants. (One out of three isn't bad.) And since I'm a childish movie nerd who had a deep affection for all things nostalgic, my first idea was "Hey, let's have the writers pick their favorite 'movie summer' and write a piece about it." And since my next eleven ideas stunk, he said "Ugh, fine. Do your Favorite Summers thing. But don't forget the vowels."

Nearly all of the Cinematicaleers will be penning their own pieces, but since I like to lead by example (when I'm not leading by guilt), I figured I'd get the ball rolling first. (Special thanks to Box Office Mojo for displaying OLD release dates in very handy fashion.) Also, for the sake of this series, let's say "summer" counts as "May through August," even though May is technically spring and part of September is definitely summer.

5/4 -- The Bounty // Breakin' // Hardbodies // Sixteen Candles -- So which one of these would be the big "Iron Man" release? We got Gibson and Hopkins in a nautical remake; a whole lot of pop-lockin' looneys; a leering sex comedy that helped to kill the sub-genre of mid-'80s sex comedies; and the directorial debut of one John Hughes.

5/11 -- Firestarter // The Natural -- Robert Redford knocking the cover off a baseball and Drew Barrymore immolating George C. Scott. Now THAT's summer!

5/18 -- Finders Keepers // Making the Grade -- A pair of justifiably forgotten farces, yes, both of which I saw theatrically.

5/23 -- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom -- Even back in 1984 Indiana Jones demanded his very own weekend ... one that starts on a Wednesday, no less! I distinctly remember seeing this on the afternoon of opening day, and while I was waiting for Mom to come pick us up, there was a woman BERATING the box office girl. Honest! Something about the heart-tearing scene had upset her small child. And just like that, the PG-13 was born.

Welcome back to The Write Stuff! I'm thrilled that there is such a strong interest in screenwriting out there. Thank you all so much for your comments last week, both here and on my site. All of your questions and comments will be addressed in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and keep them coming!

The first interview for the column is with red-hot screenwriter Adam F. Goldberg. Adam is living the dream. He writes for both television and film, and his upcoming movie projects include Fanboys, the live-action Jetsons movie, and They Came from Upstairs. Cinematical spoke with the incredibly busy Goldberg about his scripts, his process, and Goonies: The Musical.

Cinematical: You said you were being "enslaved by a director," what are you working on? And should I call the authorities?

Adam F. Goldberg: Perhaps call them for my hacky writing! It's called They Came From Upstairs for Fox. It's a family movie, kinda like Gremlins -- but with aliens. The spec was written by Mark Burton and was sold for like $1.7 mil. I believe I am making about .0001212 of that. It's been a really cool project. The movie was in pre-production and the studio realized the script wasn't ready and shut it down pretty late in the game. I came aboard to get the train back on the tracks which is always high pressure and very difficult to do. I handed in 40 pages and they re-greenlit the movie and we're casting and location scouting now. I'm on draft two currently, working next to the director and bringing his vision into it.

Cinematical: Is that an awkward process at all -- being brought in to re-write a fellow writer? Do you ever run into hurt feelings or bruised egos? I guess the $1.7 million makes the pill easier to swallow.

AFG: Well, I come from the TV world, writing on sitcoms and that's very collaborative. You have to sit in the room and watch 10 other writers tear apart your script right in front of you. That bruises your ego. As for movies, more often than not a writer can only go so far and it's your job to bat clean up. It's never a great feeling to have your screenplay rewritten, but hopefully you've moved onto your next project, so it doesn't sting so much. And believe me, that $1.7 payday is like winning the lottery. I hope I can sell a spec one day. I've had little luck in that department.

A few weeks back we brought the word that Fox Atomic's Revenge of the Nerds remake was hitting some seriously rocky scheduling difficulties on location at Atlanta's Emory University. With the project firmly in limbo, we had no idea if the thing was delayed, on hiatus or downright ash-canned, but now it seems that the latter is indeed the case. To those of you who simply couldn't WAIT to get your paws on the Nerds re-do, I offer my apologies: The remake looks to be dead in the water.

According to THR, Emory University booted the production after only two weeks, reportedly because they didn't appreciate the overtly raunchy nature of the production. (Quick question: Had anyone at the college either read the screenplay ... or seen the original Revenge of the Nerds? Was the college expecting a Disney flick?) So the Atomic folks tried to do some shooting at another school (Agnes Scott College), but the facilities simply weren't expansive enough to pass as a big-time party school.

With the holidays approaching, the production on hold, and all involved parties earning a paycheck, Atomic simply decided to stop the bleeding: Case and crew members have been sent home to enjoy Thanksgiving, and it looks like they'll all have a little unexpected free time for the next several weeks before moving on to projects that don't require the approval of any snippy college administrators.

A scooper who goes by the dubious handle "Kentucky Redneck" sent a rather interesting email in to the folks over at Moviehole. Redneck had a good bit to say about the progress on the remake of Revenge of the Nerds (which just recently finished casting); following are the basic thoughts he shared:

• Nerds is now officially on hiatus, and nobody really knows when it will pick up again. After ten days of waiting, everybody involved was sent home.
• Kyle Newman (the director who put together Fanboys) managed to shoot for one whole week before everything stopped. Newman is certainly unhappy, but what can a somewhat rookie director do about it?
• The studio and Newman himself are rather unhappy with the location in Atlanta. Apparently, the executive producer had just finished up another film there and pushed hard for the big A. If Nerds manages to get back on track, expect it to be somewhere else.
• Rumors also suggest director Kyle Newman may be getting sacked. No surprise there -- when a film stoppage occurs rumors like this will always pop up.

Like most geeks, I've got strong hopes for Kyle Newman because of his Fanboys project. Maybe somebody should tell him losing this gig might not be a terrible idea.

More on Nerds remake:

Nerds Geek Up its Cast

More and More Nerds

More on Nerds Remake

Casting for the upcoming Revenge of the Nerds remake (or re-imagining) is heating up, and we now know who will be playing the main nerds. IESB reports Chris Marquette, Dan Byrd, and Efren Ramirez have signed on as members are the Lamda Lamda Lamda fraternity, with Marquette and Byrd playing the lead roles. They also tell us Kristin Cavallari will be joining Katie Cassidy as Kailey, best friends and sisters in the Pi Delta Pi sorority.

This marks Marquette's second time working with director Kyle Newman, as the two also paired up on Fanboys. He'll be taking on the part of Max Foster, lead nerd. Byrd will play his sidekick, Owen DiMarco (aka "horn dog"), the kind of guy who majors in women's studies. Not surprisingly, Ramirez will portray a foreign exchange student (a la Napoleon Dynamite) named Santiago. In a recent interview with Coming Soon, Ramirez noted his accent will be "quite like Mr. Deeds' John Turturro with the personality of Raul Julia in The Addams Family." Okay, that sounds a bit bizarre ... but I dig it. When asked whether any of the nerds will be based off characters from the original film, Ramirez replied, "They're all new."

So, what do you think about the new cast? Any chances they'll screw it up?

While I don't have any shiny new movie pics for you today, I do have a few new posters for those of you looking to cover up the beer stains in your dorm room. Check it out:

• Even though the film doesn't have a cast yet, Fox Atomic is wasting no time in promoting its Revenge of the Nerds remake. That's right folks, we officially have a teaser poster. Directed by Kyle Newman (Fanboys), Nerds reunites us with the Lamda Lamda Lamda fraternity as they struggle for acceptance and seek revenge upon those jocks who deserve it the most.
• Hey, guess what -- Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to make another crappy thriller. Hooray! A new poster for The Return (aka Scott's most anticipated fall flick) has hit the net and, well, why am I not excited. Pic follows a traveling business woman (Gellar) who is drawn to an old farmhouse after having dreamt that a murder took place there 15 years earlier.
• Those of you itching for another fun-filled trip with the Hewitt clan will be happy to know that a brand new poster has been released for Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Going the prequel route, pic is said to detail the "beginnings of the Hewitt clan and expose their psychotic idea of family fun." Why do I feel a trip to Disney World is not on their agenda?

Maybe I'm too cynical, and immediately calling Fox Atomic's just-announced slate of films bombs might be a bit harsh, but the new youth-centered specialty division of 20th Century Fox has such an unoriginal bunch of releases, I can't help but expect the worst. Besides, with a name like Atomic, how can one not make the connection? Martha already told you about Turistas, the studio's first, and only fresh, title. After that we'll be treated to two sequels, The Hills Have Eyes 2 and 28 Weeks Later, in the spring of next year and eventually we'll be permitted to suffer through the Revenge of the Nerds redo and The Comebacks, which is yet another movie about an awful sports team.

Even more disturbing than Atomic's horribly worthless crop is how most of the films don't even seem appropriate for the "young adult" demographic the studio is targeting. Maybe I'm unclear as to what "young adult" refers to these days, but I thought it meant adolescents. Maybe it means late teens, though, since the first installments of the two sequels (follow that?) were rated R, as was the first version of Nerds -- not that it makes economic sense for Fox to do the remake with as much nudity (though, come on, wasn't that the only reason you saw it?). So either all these movies are going to be watered down in addition to being totally lacking in creativity, or Fox has changed its mind as to what its new arm is all about. I'm guessing the former, because in addition to being a movie distributor, Fox Atomic will also be publishing comic books (yeah, I know, older people read comic books, I was one of them that did, but you know what I mean). The graphic novels The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning and 28 Days Later: The Aftermath (where is Revenge of the Nerds: Enough Already?) will be released next year.

Admit it, I know you're just dying to know more about this Revenge of the Nerds remake. Well, the bad news is they are still going ahead with the film. And the good news? As of this minute, Paris Hilton is not attached to the pic. Phew ... for now. IESB caught up with Kyle Newman, who will be directing the Nerds remake right after he's done dealing with all these Fanboys. Hey, when did this guy become the resident expert on all things geek? I'd really like to know.

After checking out the interview, I was happy to hear that Newman will not be creating a straight-up remake. Seems plausible, seeing as the original was tied into so many classic 80's stereotypes that one would be forced to re-invent and update this story so that it makes sense in the present. While it was still too early for casting rumors and the such, Newman did not totally rule out an appearance from any of the original nerds. He did inform us that the geeky fraternity in the film will still be called Lambda Lambda Lambda. Okay, fine -- maybe I'm just a little curious about this film. A tiny bit. Minuscule, really. Don't tell anyone.

Just when I thought Hollywood was ignoring my non-stop phone calls and pretending as if the gigantic cardboard signs I created didn't exist, word gets out that, finally, someone is remaking Revenge of the Nerds. How long were you gonna wait Hollywood? Huh? How long were you going to make us suffer?

Kyle Newman, director of the upcoming Fanboys flick, has been tapped to direct. Seems like the perfect fit to me. Who better to direct a film about nerds then a fanboy himself (or, well, someone who is directing a film about fanboys). Newman will be teaming back up with Adam F. Goldberg, who also worked on Fanboys and is currently rewriting this new Nerds film. Now, I assume the pic will be along the same lines as the classic 1984 original, however I imagine it will take place in the present and, if we're lucky, Lindsay Lohan will play one of the head sorority girls. Oooh, my fingers are so crossed!

So, help me cast the new Revenge of the Nerds. Shall we add Justin Timberlake to the list? With so many hot young actors, will it even be possible to find the right nerds?