the trip Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Small Soldiers 2' Being Written For Dreamworks
Filed under: Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Dreamworks », Remakes and Sequels », War »
At the end of an article announcing Master Mind, The Hollywood Reporter slipped in some news that screenwriters Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons are busy working on a sequel to Small Soldiers for DreamWorks. This is a bit of a surprise since the original film wasn't quite the 'big movie' the studio's had hoped it would be. There isn't much revealed with this news, but let us hope that Joe Dante is brought to direct. He showed us with Gremlins 2: The New Batch that he can make a sequel even better than the original by giving it just the right amount of self-parody and satire. He also seems like he could use the work. As a huge fan of Dante's work, I think it is a tragedy how little movies he's been able to put out, especially recently. Still, I was a huge doubter of Small Soldiers, maybe because of how dumb it looked filtered through the Burger King ads, and didn't even finally see the movie until about two years ago. Of course, I loved it, and I regretted not seeing it in the theater. But now my low expectations extend to the sequel, because if Dante isn't allowed to do it, the result will probably be as dumb as I had thought the original was going to be. I am already a bit worried about the unproven screenwriting duo, though I have to remember that Gremlins 2 had a different writer than Gremlins and it worked out brilliantly.
Others that I'd want to return for the sequel are Jay Mohr and David Cross and all the actors who provided their voices for The Commando Elite (hurry, some of the Dirty Dozen guys are getting up there) and The Gorgonites. The rest of the cast, especially Kirsten Dunst, are not required. Dante is supposedly currently working on The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes, a film about his old boss, Roger Corman, and the making of the 1967 film The Trip. But since he isn't going to be involved with Gremlins 3 (such a shame, if it happens that way), he can follow up Kaleidoscope with Small Soldiers 2.
Joe Dante On the Comeback Trail with Kaleidoscope Eyes
Filed under: Drama », Independent », RumorMonger », DIY/Filmmaking », Remakes and Sequels »
Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly -- a girl with kaleidoscope eyes. Ok, well not quite. Instead, we've got Joe Dante's The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes. But I should back up. In 1967 there was a Lovely Sort of Death cult film called The Trip. Written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman, the film was pretty much a precursor to Easy Rider -- it teamed Nicholson up with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. While the film lacked a cohesive plot, it was the story of a TV commercial director (Fonda) who indulges in his first dose of LSD after getting divorced from his adulterous wife (Susan Strasberg). Fast-forward to now -- Joe Dante, who has been completely out of the spotlight except for Gremlins rumors, is gearing up to film a movie that is based on the making of the famous drug feature. According to Time Out, Kaleidoscope Eyes will be a fictional account of the shoot, diving into the drug counterculture that it was immersed in. Corman is said to have dropped acid as research for the film, so I'm sure it will mean many high shenanigans and drug-fuelled diatribes. It will be a cheap feature, coming in $7 million, but the cameos will be anything but. If everything works out, you can expect to spot directorial greats -- Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and my personal favorite, John Sayles. While I've been itching for more Innerspace, I can't complain. What do you think? Will this finally be the return of Joe Dante?
[via CHUD]
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