dolemite Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Marlon Wayans Is 'Dynomite'
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Independent », Casting », Focus Features », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Hopefully we'll never again have to see Marlon Wayans' face on the body of a little person, or covered by a white-girl mask. If he and his brothers (Shawn and Keenan Ivory) want another franchise (they are still going with the Scary Movie series), they could possibly make one out of their next project. The Wayanses are turning their comic book Super Bad James Dynomite into a live-action feature film for Rogue Pictures with Marlon starring as the title role. Dynomite is a 1970s blaxploitation-era detective -- ala Shaft and Dolemite (which is apparently being remade) -- who has been in prison for the past 35 years, or so. When he's released in the present, he retains his 70s look, complete with exaggerated afro, and sets off to find the criminal who framed him. The comic is full of adult material, so turning it into a franchise wouldn't be as easy as it has been for superhero titles. The Wayans brothers aren't reported as being interested in sequels, but I'm sure Rogue would love a franchise if the guys were down and if the first movie does good business. Of course, there are a few reasons why the movie might not be too successful. The most important of these reasons is that blaxploitation doesn't need another homage. Between the Shaft remake, Jackie Brown and the spy comedy Undercover Brother, we've seen enough tributes to and jokes on the genre recently to last us another 35 years. Plus, the Wayanses already covered the territory with the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. The bottom line, though, is that the original films are just too enjoyable by themselves to require any kind of hindsight rehash. If Dynomite is only a single shot film, Rogue should be fine. The studio also just bought another script from Marlon and Shawn, which was co-written by Xavier Cook and Mitchell Marchand (The Wayans Bros. television series).
Watch Out for the Return of... Dolemite!
Filed under: Comedy », Deals », Remakes and Sequels »
Whether you're a fan of blaxploitation films or not, you've probably heard of Dolemite and his bone-crushing, skull-splitting, brain-blasting action. The cinematic legend is so well-known that he's been referenced a slew of times, by everyone from Jamie Foxx in Booty Call to Bill Murray in Broken Flowers, and he was definitely an inspiration to a certain Hebrew Hammer. The creation of Rudy Ray Moore, Dolemite was cool for being so exaggeratedly terrible -- an ex-con who has a squad of "kung-fu fighting girls." And now, he's coming back. Not in a special edition DVD, as one might hope, but to the big screen. I guess it was inevitable that Dolemite would get a remake one of these days. Nothing is sacred, especially not cult icons. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Fallout Entertainment has nabbed the rights to the comedy, with Jeff Hause and David Hines writing the script and Bill Fishman directing. Having three white guys, whose biggest accomplishment seems to be Jim Carrey's long-ago Once Bitten, head a remake on a film that was known to be one of the few blaxploitation films created and made by black people seems all sorts of tacky. Fishman is quoted as saying: "I think there is a certain sincerity in the original that is kind of undeniable." Hmm. Maybe, Mr. Fishman, that's because the original film's creators were re-appropriating the genre. They're currently looking into comedy and hip-hop names like Snoop Dogg, and production will begin this fall.
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