sahara Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Sahara' Director to Helm New 'Flash Gordon' Flick
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Sony », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Don't worry, I'm not going to go off on a tangent here about how things were better in my day, but I will say that watching the whacked out 80's incarnation of Flash Gordon is one of my favorite childhood memories (I can hear the strains of Queen's theme song as I type this). So you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled with the news that the man behind the 'swashbuckling bomb' Sahara had signed to direct an update of the classic sci-fi story. Variety reports that Sony has won the bidding war for the rights to make a live-action film based on Alex Raymond's original comic strip with Breck Eisner at the helm.In the original story, "Flash was a handsome polo player who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo. He is pitted against an evil ruler named Ming the Merciless." Some of the other incarnations of Flash included making him a football player, and a hover-boarding teen in the 90's (um, OK). In 2007, the Sci-Fi channel also attempted to reboot the series with Eric Johnson in the lead, but the series was canceled shortly after.
Believe me, I know the 1980 film was a total flop, and most of it looked like it was conceived on a mushroom trip. But how you can say no to flying hawk men, Timothy Dalton dressed like Robin Hood while in a fight to the death, and Max Von Sydow in a skull cap?
'Sahara' Director Thought Film Would Spawn Indy-Like Franchise
Filed under: Action », Celebrities and Controversy »
Remember that lawsuit that Jessica Barnes posted about in February? To recap -- there was this big blockbuster film, or rather, there was this movie that filmmakers hoped would be a big hit -- Sahara. While it might have had a short rule in the box office, the movie pretty much flopped. Grossing less than $70 million, and having a budget of almost twice that, well, it leaves a bunch of people angry and disappointed. So, we've got the author of the original novel, Clive Cussler, blaming the producers, Crusader Entertainment. They, in turn, are counter-suing that the author not only badmouthed them in the press, but that he also made racial slurs during production.The trial has been underway for a while now, and jurors have heard testimony from screenwriters, executives and lawyers about the doomed film's struggles. The latest in the parade -- director Breck Eisner. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he says that he was aware that it had some problems, but knew that he could "nail this film" and had no idea how big the problems were. Not only that, but he thought that this would be the beginning of a film franchise, just like Indiana Jones! I'm not sure why Eisner would think that he could take a movie that he knew had problems, and make it into a huge, unforgettable blockbuster franchise. Youthful exuberance? Naive hope? He was replacing Rob Bowman, and had a script that went through tons of revisions and tons of screenwriters. That's not really a solid base to start from. Oh well. No big franchise for him. However, he does have the Creature from the Black Lagoon in development, but that news just makes me wish that Sahara had done well. I don't want anyone touching my beloved monster movie!
Sahara Author Blames Producers for Film's Failure
Filed under: Action », Paramount », Celebrities and Controversy », Scripts »
I've always thought that the $64,000 question in the movie business is who's to blame when you make a flop? Ropes of Silicon reported that the author of the best-selling Dirk Pitt adventure novel Sahara, Clive Cussler, has decided to place the blame squarely on the producers. Sahara starred the permanently mellow Matthew McConaughey as Pitt and Penélope Cruz as possibly the most glamorous UN investigator in history. Budgeted at $145 million, the film failed to ignite the franchise that everyone was hoping for. Cussler is suing the producer Philip Anschutz (and his company Crusader Entertainment) for violating his rights of approval over the script and other elements of the film. Anschutz is counter-suing, claiming that Cussler bad-mouthed the film in the press and made racial slurs during production (Cussler denied these allegations).
Jury selection is already underway and the trial is expected to begin later this week. An article in the LA Times back in December quoted Cussler as saying "They deceived me right from the beginning. They kept lying to me ... and I just got fed up with it." Between the thousands of pages of emails, memos, and affidavits that allegedly show the production spiraling out of control and a witness list that includes McConaughey and the film's director Breck Eisner; it looks like there's going to be plenty of blame to go around.
Review: Failure To Launch
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », New Releases », Paramount », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters »
Anyone who enjoys movies keeps a secret tally of any movie's strengths and weaknesses. Like an Olympic judge rating an athlete's performance, the final score determines whether a movie rates a recommendation or is forgotten as an also-ran.
As far as formula fare goes, one could do worse than the above-middlin' romantic comedy Failure To Launch starring Matthew McConaughey as a 30-something who still lives with his folks (Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw) until they hire a motivationalist (Sarah Jessica Parker) to help him fly the nest. Naturally and against all odds, McConaughey's and Parker's completely artificial relationship blossoms into something more. Here's how I broke it down:
First, it's funny. Not just an occasional giggle, sit-com kind of funny but infused throughout funny. TV vets Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, who are attached to this year's Steve Carell update of Get Smart, may be green as screenwriters, this being their first project produced, but with that inexperience comes a kind of hunger. Of course, most first-timers become well-fed and lazy after a taste of success like this, but for now, proof of their talent is apparent. Each character is created with a specific purpose, as is every scene, sequence and act. It's all very textbook, but it works. Mark one in the "plus" column.
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