michael crichton Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Steven Spielberg Setting Sail With Michael Crichton's 'Pirates'
Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Deals », Scripts », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Steven Spielberg »
Steven Spielberg is going to need a bigger boat -- a much, much bigger boat. He's leaving this shore, sailing away to 17th century Jamaica for one last adventure with the late Michael Crichton. USA Today reports that DreamWorks has bought the rights to Crichton's posthumous novel, Pirate Latitudes, and has hired screenwriter David Koepp to develop it into a film. Spielberg is producing, but plans on directing, though nothing has been scheduled until the script is completed. While it's a bittersweet reunion, it's one that's sheer luck and coincidence according to DreamWorks' co-chair and CEO Stacey Snider. "Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read. But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film." Not surprisingly, Spielberg already is coolly confident in Pirate Latitudes. "Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen. Michael and I have had almost two decades of solid collaborations. Whenever I made a film from a Michael Crichton book or screenplay, I knew I was in good hands. Michael felt the same, and we like to think he still does."
Pirate Latitudes doesn't hit store shelves until November 24, so plot details are relatively scarce. But this isn't going to be a tale of undead pirates and squid-faced Davey Jones like Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. Latitudes is a semi-historical tale of piracy that takes place in 1665. Its star is the dashing Captain Edward Hunter, who infiltrates the notorious Port Royal, and plans to raid a Spanish galleon loaded with treasure. Cue the cannons and swashbuckling, though it sounds as though Spielberg plans to load it up with lots of grimy, historical details.
Michael Crichton Passes Away at 66
Filed under: Obits »
Leave off Congo, forget Timeline, and don't even start on Sphere. The positive impact of prolific author Michael Crichton on the worlds of television and film with Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and "ER" is difficult to dismiss, and it's a shame to see him pass away yesterday from cancer at the age of 66, according to CNN.His medical background helped lend credibility to his work, especially Andromeda, Coma (which he directed) and The Terminal Man. Of course there's also the overriding elements of sci-fi, ranging from Jurassic to Westworld (which he also directed and is tentatively awaiting a remake). Corporate scandals were also a topic of interest in the early '90s with Rising Sun and Disclosure, and The 13th Warrior offered his own take on the Beowulf tale.
I remember his Prey, about nano-technology gone awry (but of course), making for a fun enough read and relatively ripe for a film adaptation (one that, as far as I know, has yet to be considered). Regardless, the man's works on-screen and off were entertaining and influential more often than not, and it's a pity to see him go.
Billy Ray Writing 'Westworld' For Warner Bros.
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Warner Brothers », Scripts », Remakes and Sequels », Western »
Wouldn't you love to go to a theme park that supplied robots to fulfill all of your fantasies or at least watch people go and fulfill their own? Michael Crichton wrote about that very experience in 1973 and now Billy Ray is writing his take on what an android fantasy amusement park would be like in the remake of Westworld for Warner Brothers. In the original film the theme park supplies three worlds in which humans can play in; a Western themepark, harboring the android of Yul Brynner (the dreamiest bald guy I've laid eyes on), a Medieval world and Roman world. Humans paid a hefty $1,000 admission ticket to be satisfied in any way they desired and the robots were programmed to comply. Unexpectedly, the android Brynner begins to rebel against the programming and begins to attack and kill the humans. Eventually, someone puts an end to the android violence (after three attempts, mind you) by sending the gun-slinging Yul Brynner to his death.Ray, who most recently came out with the February release Breach, with Laura Linney and Chris Cooper, reported to SCI FI Wire that "I love the basic idea of the movie, which is that our amusements can kill us." He didn't give any thoughts as to eventual casting, however. Who would you cast as the gun-slinging android? I vote Bruce Willis circa the current issue of Vanity Fair or Billy Zane ... he was just so spectacular in Titanic.
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