# After SuperHeroes , What Do You Think Will be the Next Big Thing in The Movies?



## BAYLOR

Superhero films are popular now but once they fade front he scene what do you think will take their place? What do you think will be the next popular movie trend?


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## Vladd67

Pulp fiction characters out of copyright.


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## BAYLOR

Vladd67 said:


> Pulp fiction characters out of copyright.



There must be more then a few of those.


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## Rodders

Will they fade? I mean, Superheroes have been around for a long time.


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## BAYLOR

Rodders said:


> Will they fade? I mean, Superheroes have been around for a long time.



For everything there is a season.


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## J Riff

Even stupider stuff?


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## Rodders

I'm interested to see where Marvel will go. With this current batch of movies, they're bound to get too big and complex. I wonder what the reset will be?


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## Dave

As the line between animation/cgi and live-action is getting more blurred I think Anime will become more mainstream for western audiences. There are also great Graphic Novels that have not yet been tapped.

Baylor is right, these things do come in cycles. I don't think that is coincidence, I think studios say X is making a alien invasion movie so we need one too, why don't we get Y in to do it. Marvel-type comics may have been incredibly popular, but apart from _Superman_, films based upon them were never blockbusters like they are now and hence were very low budget. Rodders is probably correct that at some point they will stop making money and a studio will make a huge loss, which will signal the end.

We haven't had many disaster movies for a while - some, but not the glut that there used to be with towering infernos above endlessly sinking passenger liners.


Vladd67 said:


> Pulp fiction characters out of copyright.


There hasn't been a _Tarzan_ film for a long time. What about the old skool horror movies? I see _The Mummy_ and _Frankenstein_ are being remade yet again, but what about the _Werewolf,_ _Dracula_ and _The Invisible Man_. The problem is that when you update them you lose a lot of the charm, but if you make them retrospective then they seem dated for a young audience.

The new _Star Wars _trilogy may bring along more Space Opera.

That's as far as my crystal ball can see.


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## WaylanderToo

BAYLOR said:


> For everything there is a season.



indeed  a time to be born, and a time to die - just like the western. In the 50s and 60s you couldn't move for westerns now......


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## BAYLOR

Dave said:


> As the line between animation/cgi and live-action is getting more blurred I think Anime will become more mainstream for western audiences. There are also great Graphic Novels that have not yet been tapped.
> 
> Baylor is right, these things do come in cycles. I don't think that is coincidence, I think studios say X is making a alien invasion movie so we need one too, why don't we get Y in to do it. Marvel-type comics may have been incredibly popular, but apart from _Superman_, films based upon them were never blockbusters like they are now and hence were very low budget. Rodders is probably correct that at some point they will stop making money and a studio will make a huge loss, which will signal the end.
> 
> We haven't had many disaster movies for a while - some, but not the glut that there used to be with towering infernos above endlessly sinking passenger liners.
> There hasn't been a _Tarzan_ film for a long time. What about the old skool horror movies? I see _The Mummy_ and _Frankenstein_ are being remade yet again, but what about the _Werewolf,_ _Dracula_ and _The Invisible Man_. The problem is that when you update them you lose a lot of the charm, but if you make them retrospective then they seem dated for a young audience.
> 
> The new _Star Wars _trilogy may bring along more Space Opera.
> 
> That's as far as my crystal ball can see.



In the case of Tarzan , I think there is a new film that will be coming to the theaters soon.


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## BAYLOR

WaylanderToo said:


> indeed  a time to be born, and a time to die - just like the western. In the 50s and 60s you couldn't move for westerns now......



Westerns lost their popularity in the 70's and with some notable exceptions have never regained their popularity.


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## Old_Man_Steve2016

Well, Star Wars and Star Trek are kinda 'in' these days. So, sweeping sci-fi epics are in style at the same time as the superhero stuff. 
The overseas markets also influence Hollywood movie choices- to what degree I am not certain but I know it comes up. For example, the Red Dawn movie changed the villainous country to North Korea in order to get into China's lucrative box office. 

Looking forward to: paranormal westerns, epic world adventures (Blue lagoon, Indy etc), future war movies 
Not looking forward to: raunchy college movies (Van Wilder, etc), plain westerns, musicals, depressing overwrought WWII movies (those are gonna rebound soon).


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## NbDawn

Considering how things seem to be going in the media nowadays, I'm kinda in a post-apocalyptic mood right now. Maybe it'll catch on.


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## BAYLOR

NbDawn said:


> Considering how things seem to be going in the media nowadays, I'm kinda in a post-apocalyptic mood right now. Maybe it'll catch on.



They had the post apocalyptic cycle about 10 years ago, but considering the state of the world , those kinds of films could come back into vogue.


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## Foxbat

Remakes, re-imaginings, reboots, resets...anything with _re _as a prefix.


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## WaylanderToo

Foxbat said:


> Remakes, re-imaginings, reboots, resets...anything with _re _as a prefix.



well I found out a day or 2 ago that they've re-made Ben Hur


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## BAYLOR

WaylanderToo said:


> well I found out a day or 2 ago that they've re-made Ben Hur



Ive seen the Trailer and have to ask my self this question . Why?!


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## TheDustyZebra

If I knew the answer to that question (what will be the next big thing), I'd be working harder on a movie script.


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## BAYLOR

J Riff said:


> Even stupider stuff?



Given the nature of Hollywood , that is a very distinct  possibility.


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## BAYLOR

TheDustyZebra said:


> If I knew the answer to that question (what will be the next big thing), I'd be working harder on a movie script.




Space Operas


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## TheDustyZebra

Well, Jo's got that sewed up, then.


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## Overread

Well ignoring what might well happen here's what I'd like to see happen

Serious fantasy films and some "arny" style action flicks.

At present fantasy is sitting in two camps; one is films for kids and the other is that its kind of replaced action flicks with the typical wartime action flick now being far more serious. I'd like to see almost a return to the 80-90s kind of era where we have Arny style war films being the action flicks and seeing fantasy return to being a little more serious (even if when we look back many of those films seem less serious by todays' standards).

I'd really love to see some other serious fantasy films other then Lord of the Rings. We've got the technology now (although I'd argue animation always had it but the West keeps lumping animation in for kids...) so I'd like to see some better scripts get into fantasy. I want it to mature from quick fire action flicks and get some substance to it.




Sadly that's mostly a pipe dream until Hollywood resolves its writing problems


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## Dave

Overread said:


> I'd really love to see some other serious fantasy films other then Lord of the Rings. We've got the technology now (although I'd argue animation always had it but the West keeps lumping animation in for kids...) so I'd like to see some better scripts get into fantasy. I want it to mature from quick fire action flicks and get some substance to it.



I just had an terrible thought... If Peter Jackson did _Dune! _

How many films would the original book alone run to? Then once he started on the sequels...


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## Vladd67

Dave said:


> I just had an terrible thought... If Peter Jackson did _Dune! _
> 
> How many films would the original book alone run to? Then once he started on the sequels...


How about Peter Jackson's Wheel of Time? At least a decades worth of films there.


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## the_evil_ted

The studio system will stagnate, pumping their money into Super Heroes and Space Operas, pulling highly regarded directors and other talent from the pool to claim their pay check episode.

Then hopefully we'll see an indie renaissance, something like the early seventies. They'd need to be cheap, but kids are making special affects in their bed-room these days and you can shoot a film on your phone so as long as technology keeps racing toward the singularity we should have this.

Peter Jackson, fore-mentioned: believes that the next big jump in cinema will be the merger of computer games and film - the interactive play where you pick the character you're going to play and enjoy the show from their POV. That's not a genre of course, but an interesting view none the less. 

LotR is the only main stream Fantasy film series I can think of and if they'd not done the Hobbit, I'd say it was a shoe in now the technology allows more directors to produce fantasy. But since we've Science Fiction, which is an extension of the Super Hero genre (the other way around if you're not a current movie producer), that is what I think we'll be watching for the next ten to fifteen years. 

We'll see more computer game cross overs. Serious ones, no more Super Mario Brothers. Assassin's Creed is set to be a winner, Activision have set up/setting up a film production arm to make Call of Duty - will wait an see on that, but those games are if nothing else - cinematic. 



Dave said:


> I just had an terrible thought... If Peter Jackson did _Dune! _



If Peter Jackson did Dune, it would be at least 18 hours long. 

I'd like to see David Fincher do Dune.
Speilberg to do Many Coloured Land.
Chris Nolan to do a Bond Movie worth watching again.
And Tarantino do a Disney Movie.


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## Dave

the_evil_ted said:


> And Tarantino do a Disney Movie.


Well, the start of _Bambi_ is very Tarantino already.

However, his remake of _The Jungle Book_ wouldn't leave any wild animals left standing.

This idea could be a whole new thread on it's own!


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## the_evil_ted

Balloo voiced by John Travolta, Bageera voiced by Sam L. Jackson - the script writes itself!

I think Snow White is the perfect engine for him.

A princess on the run in Mexico, a group of tenacious if not short Mexican miners. Dressed in Sombreros and Bandoleers... Wait, this may be better for Robert Rodriguez...



Dave said:


> Well, the start of _Bambi_ is very Tarantino already.
> 
> However, his remake of _The Jungle Book_ wouldn't leave any wild animals left standing.
> 
> This idea could be a whole new thread on it's own!



I will stop here - or there will be a thread intervention.


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## BAYLOR

the_evil_ted said:


> Balloo voiced by John Travolta, Bageera voiced by Sam L. Jackson - the script writes itself!
> 
> I think Snow White is the perfect engine for him.
> 
> A princess on the run in Mexico, a group of tenacious if not short Mexican miners. Dressed in Sombreros and Bandoleers... Wait, this may be better for Robert Rodriguez...
> 
> 
> 
> I will stop here - or there will be a thread intervention.




*Snow Fiction *?


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## the_evil_ted

Haha - but we all know it will end with Pulp White... 

But to get back on track before someone shouts at me (I'll start a new thread of what if QT made...) - I also watched Screamers a couple of days ago. Surprisingly not as bad as thought it was going to be. Well at least Peter Weller's performance anyway.


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## Overread

Tarantino, whilst a big fan of bloody films, I think is one of the few good directors left. Certainly when he builds a team around him he uses a lot of classic movie telling methods and he's also good at telling a visual story without words or action. In his take on Django when they scroll through the house of the dog handlers/escaped slave catchers, he introduces a series of characters to us and even builds mystery around one or two - all that is done with very little spoke dialogue. 

It's a scene very much like the spaghetti westerns where you have to WATCH the film rather than just stare at it or listen to it. 


He's a quirky guy; but part of me would like to see him do something less bloody just to see what he produces.


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## BAYLOR

Overread said:


> Tarantino, whilst a big fan of bloody films, I think is one of the few good directors left. Certainly when he builds a team around him he uses a lot of classic movie telling methods and he's also good at telling a visual story without words or action. In his take on Django when they scroll through the house of the dog handlers/escaped slave catchers, he introduces a series of characters to us and even builds mystery around one or two - all that is done with very little spoke dialogue.
> 
> It's a scene very much like the spaghetti westerns where you have to WATCH the film rather than just stare at it or listen to it.
> 
> 
> He's a quirky guy; but part of me would like to see him do something less bloody just to see what he produces.



I just can't see him ever doing a nice romantic comedy that doesn't involve the use of guns and martial arts.


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## the_evil_ted

I'm a fan. Other than Death Proof, I've enjoyed every one. He's going to do one more western, so he says. Then maybe another Kill Bill, but he keeps saying he's going to quit soon, wanting to write and critique etc. 

Digital has a large part to play, he's fanatical about film: sleepwalks film literacy, as Overread says - you have to watch his films rather than stare and listen to them. They are not television, as most movies are now. There's so much going on at any one moment and he never wastes a shot. He doesn't do deleted scenes for that reason, what he films is what's in the film. That's his word of course, but I for one believe it. 

He's one of the greatest and watching Hollywood Reporter's round table with Ridley Scott, I got the feeling he want's to be seen on that level. He won't, not until he's dead. Then everyone, including his critics will turn around and say he was one of the greats. The closest to romance would have to be True Romance and yes, lots of guns and swearing and a young, stoned couch potato: Brad Pitt.

He won the Palm D'or for Pulp Fiction and lost the Oscar to Forrest Gump. Gump had some awesome special affects and in itself a very good film, but Fiction is a masterpiece of cinema. Affects all in camera, a clever story, a break from conventional 3 act structure, it's got dancing, romance, fighting, even a gimp. What else could you ask for?

And every actor/actress he pulls from the discard pile gets a new lease of life. Because he picks his cast just as well as he picks his soundtracks..

Rambling now... must stop.


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## BAYLOR

the_evil_ted said:


> I'm a fan. Other than Death Proof, I've enjoyed every one. He's going to do one more western, so he says. Then maybe another Kill Bill, but he keeps saying he's going to quit soon, wanting to write and critique etc.
> 
> Digital has a large part to play, he's fanatical about film: sleepwalks film literacy, as Overread says - you have to watch his films rather than stare and listen to them. They are not television, as most movies are now. There's so much going on at any one moment and he never wastes a shot. He doesn't do deleted scenes for that reason, what he films is what's in the film. That's his word of course, but I for one believe it.
> 
> He's one of the greatest and watching Hollywood Reporter's round table with Ridley Scott, I got the feeling he want's to be seen on that level. He won't, not until he's dead. Then everyone, including his critics will turn around and say he was one of the greats. The closest to romance would have to be True Romance and yes, lots of guns and swearing and a young, stoned couch potato: Brad Pitt.
> 
> He won the Palm D'or for Pulp Fiction and lost the Oscar to Forrest Gump. Gump had some awesome special affects and in itself a very good film, but Fiction is a masterpiece of cinema. Affects all in camera, a clever story, a break from conventional 3 act structure, it's got dancing, romance, fighting, even a gimp. What else could you ask for?
> 
> And every actor/actress he pulls from the discard pile gets a new lease of life. Because he picks his cast just as well as he picks his soundtracks..
> 
> Rambling now... must stop.




Or he'll be forgotten .


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## the_evil_ted




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## BAYLOR

the_evil_ted said:


>



The reason I say this is because you can be famous one day and not even a memory the next. A good example of this is Hugh Herbert who was a comedian  and very famous and in his day, a household name.  After he died, he quickly faded way  . Now the only time you see him is as parodied in warner brothers cartoons.


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## Rodders

Alien Invasion. 

Personally, I'd like Hollywood to go back to good old fashioned post apocalyptic movies.


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## Dave

Rodders said:


> Personally, I'd like Hollywood to go back to good old fashioned post apocalyptic movies.


Well, you just had _Mad Max: Fury Road_ and it didn't do too badly at the box office, so maybe they will. However, there are a lot of books they could film with much deeper ideas and bigger canvases than the rather superficial motorbike leather gangs with tanks and bazookas that we get. Possibly those books are just "too celebral" for Hollywood.

If we are asking what we would like, as opposed to what we will get, then I'd like to see return to those distopian futures of 1970's films where the world was now ruled by corporations (since that has now come to pass for real.)


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## BAYLOR

Minecraft  feature films?


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## Judderman

We are getting saturated with Superhero movies now. I think they will keep coming out but in a couple of years all but the biggest fans will be sick of them and we will be passed the rapid production of them as good ideas and enthusiasm runs lower. Comic influence could continue with live action Manga making a return.

An increase in Dystopian futures or other Mad Max-alikes (including wild costumes) is definitely possible. I'm hopeful of an increase in fantasy and Sci-Fi. Though Sci-Fi has generally been steadily released over the last several decades. Superheroes is a smaller niche so for example in Sci-Fi I think the rise of AI related films will continue. I quite enjoyed the one with Johnny Depp last year (Transcendence), and the film where folks "date" AI. Sadly I think a lot of the Sci-Fi output will be increasingly CGI focused. Along with more CGI filled remakes like of Sinbad or Jason and the Argonauts. An increase in Westerns or Spaghetti Westerns is a good call too. The Revenant may spur the release of some gritty films set in harsh landscapes.

The high quality of TV series (along with the above mentioned virtual reality/immersive type movie) may curtail interesting big budget movies. Despite that there is always room for some good stories, including those based on historical fact.


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## the_evil_ted

I would love a Sinbad! As long as it doesn't turn out like Clash of the Kittens.

The director of Goosebumps just got the gig for the next D&D movie...


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## BAYLOR

the_evil_ted said:


> I would love a Sinbad! As long as it doesn't turn out like Clash of the Kittens.
> 
> The director of Goosebumps just got the gig for the next D&D movie...



Sinbad done right could be a great film franchise.


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## WaylanderToo

the_evil_ted said:


> ...the next D&D movie...









and I'm saying that as a D&D fan... the three 'movies' were an abomination, I just shudder to think what else they can ruin


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## Dave

Well, they just made _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, _which I think was a graphic novel first, and so was played seriously rather than as a spoof (I have only seen the trailer) so, thinking creatively...

The Ingenious Gentleman _Don Quixote_ of La Mancha, and Werewolves.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and his sentient AI.
Anna Karenina and the being of pure Energy.
The Great Gatsby and his army of Clones.
War and Peace and post-apocalyptic world government.


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## BAYLOR

Dave said:


> Well, they just made _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, _which I think was a graphic novel first, and so was played seriously rather than as a spoof (I have only seen the trailer) so, thinking creatively...
> 
> The Ingenious Gentleman _Don Quixote_ of La Mancha, and Werewolves.
> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and his sentient AI.
> Anna Karenina and the being of pure Energy.
> The Great Gatsby and his army of Clones.
> War and Peace and post-apocalyptic world government.




They could do an adaption of War of the Worlds with Zombies.  There is such book , Ive seen it.


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## Old_Man_Steve2016

Doctor Zhivago: The Last American Hero
The Grapes of Wrath Part 3: Revenge of the Okie
Lolita and Alien spidermen- a Scify channel exclusive!
A Passage to India; now with Graboids- a Scify channel exclusive!


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## BAYLOR

Old_Man_Steve2016 said:


> Doctor Zhivago: The Last American Hero
> The Grapes of Wrath Part 3: Revenge of the Okie
> Lolita and Alien spidermen- a Scify channel exclusive!
> A Passage to India; now with Graboids- a Scify channel exclusive!



 Re-imagined classics.


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## Old_Man_Steve2016

You know Scify would pick up any of those zany ideas- you just KNOW it!


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## BAYLOR

Old_Man_Steve2016 said:


> You know Scify would pick up any of those zany ideas- you just KNOW it!



The  Sharknado saga comes to mind. 


Im still waiting for* Snakes in a Plane *the tv series.


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## Heir

Overread said:


> I'd like to see some better scripts get into fantasy. I want it to mature from quick fire action flicks and get some substance to it.


I believe the Kingkiller books are going to be adapted into movie, tv, _and_ get a video game, which sounds a bit much, and I'm not sure how they're exactly going to pull it off. But apparently it's in talks and might be a thing. Given that those books are not focused on grand scale battles, it would be interesting to watch how they pull it off. The drama and conflict points aren't what a general audience expects of Fantasy, but maybe that's changed with Game of Thrones. Shannara has been out since January on MTV as a show, but I've not watched that. Of course, Game of Thrones is considerably responsible for this. Everyone wants to have their own Game of Thrones, meaning people making grimdark fantasy have a decent chance of having their work selected for adaptation. There's also a YA fantasy called 'An Ember in the Ashes' which might be getting a movie too, so young-adult might shift from dystopia/sci-fi movies into the fantastical... MAYBE. And we all know YA loves to milk itself and churn out trite.

Speaking of sci-fi, it looks like anything related to AI is a big thing right now, especially because that's what's trending in technology at the moment. Everyone's talking about AI and what the ramifications will be, which is probably why they're making more new Terminator films. I also see the space operas coming back to follow in the trail of the hugely successful Star Wars film. I mean, Star Wars alone is going to give you space operas every single year, so that's basically covered anyway.

I'm not sure what else might get made... I guess alien invasions might become a thing again. I'd like to see some more fantasy, because besides LOTR there's not been any well-known epic fantasy movies. I mean, they made that movie 'Seventh Son' which was literally one of the worst movies I've ever watched. It was ridiculously cliché, and I don't understand why in this day and age they would make that rather than something more modern that fits the standards an audience expects. Maybe one day when Fantasy has become so edgy it cuts itself, we can reminisce about the old, farm boy classics, but until then, we need films that show Fantasy can be more than that. 

Yeah, that's essentially my thoughts.


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## Tulius Hostilius

I am a bit tired of super hero movies. And it begins to annoy me that they are considered Science Fiction Movies. In the last 8 to 10 years we have too many and they dry resources for other types of “Science fiction”. Besides I think that Super heroes are more an US trend than a European one. In Fiction, in Europe we usually just have heroes or anti-heroes.


As for new trends… I would like to see more Historical/Mythological epics… like we had in the 1950’s and 1960’s or more recently with Gladiator, Alexander or Troy… but for other timelines and not just the Ancient period. Today I still like to see: 55 days in Peking, Zulu Dawn, Zulu, Khartoum, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery… and many others…


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## WaylanderToo

I rather suspect that with the success of GoT the studios are eagerly awaiting the box office for Warcraft and see if GoT has (in conjunction with LOTR) softened people up for the 'next big thing'... fantasy


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## BAYLOR

WaylanderToo said:


> I rather suspect that with the success of GoT the studios are eagerly awaiting the box office for Warcraft and see if GoT has (in conjunction with LOTR) softened people up for the 'next big thing'... fantasy




Fantasy seems to never get old.


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## Dave

Regarding both superheroes and fantasy, which (shock, horror, <faints>) I'm not the greatest fan of, my favourite fantasy film would be Guillermo del Toro's _Pan's Labyrinth. _Critically acclaimed, box office success, cult following, three Oscars won, and yet where are all the low-budget copies, sequels and films in the same style? Is it because it was Spanish? _Hellboy_ is a much greater commercial success because it is a kind of superhero film, and that's what the mass audience wants. And del Toro then goes on to make something as puerile as _Pacific Rim_! I guess that when you reach the pinnacle, the only way is down.


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## J Riff

It gets hard to dumb down much further than comic books for adults, but I bet they can do it. )
I'm waiting to see how the next wave of SF goes, Aliens, etc.
The worst movies of all, in my somewhat jaded opinion, are biographies of famous people, a virtual playground of fantasy and lies in most cases, from what I can see. I'd like to see a remake of King Kong, where the ape wins.


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## WaylanderToo

J Riff said:


> It gets hard to dumb down much further than comic books for adults, but I bet they can do it.



a little unfair TBH - take Cap'n A for example a childish film or a thought provoker about how much power the government should have and be allowed to exercise over its citizens?


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## Cli-Fi

BAYLOR said:


> Superhero films are popular now but once they fade front he scene what do you think will take their place? What do you think will be the next popular movie trend?



I can't really predict these things because the nature of pop culture changes so much and it is influenced by a lot of outside factors including technology which is vastly changing the landscape for this sort of thing. However Marvel will go strong until about 2030 because by then the timeline just becomes one big literal blur regarding all the time travel and mystical things that happens.

I am not so sure how well star wars will do. I am very nervous about the franchise. Star Wars VII was fun, nostalgia and not much else. Disney's real test with Star Wars will come with Rouge One, and depending on how well that does, they can have unlimited resources for stories. So that is probably as close to the next big thing as you can predict surely right now. Rouge One success = tons of star wars films and possible phases in the star wars universe. Rouge One Failure = up to Star Wars IX and possibly a few more flicks but that's it. There will always be that fan base that loves the original series and nothing else!  Which hurts it.

There seems to be a market for top notch directors who want to world-build. That means that Avatar and Warcraft are here to stay.
The Fast and Furious franchise does not seem to be dying out anytime soon and has seemed to actually ramp up production after one of the real death's of one of the main actors so that franchise will be here to stay for years to come.
Cult Classic remakes are here to stay. Sorry but that's the truth. Universal has invested deep into the monster movie business
I think the Lego Movie started a new fun kooky movie trend which we saw with Angry Birds (although not very good) this year and Tetris Movie as well as an Emoji movie in development...

I think that shared universes are going to be huge for awhile in hollywood even after Marvel, Star Wars, Monsters et al. There could come a point in time where you go to the theater and everybody is familiar with at least one character in each movie that is showing at any given time! Mostly because the origin stories have already been made into movies. Though I could even be talking about the present day, at certain times of the year, namely Christmas and summer.

That being said, the shared universe concept combined with all the top talent converging onto those worlds, leaves little room for big hit surprises. This is just the beginning of Shared Universes and with Television now getting into the mix, there is no stopping this train for the next twenty-five years or so. It's safe and makes money and that's good enough for any business model.


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## BAYLOR

Warcraft hasn't done well with the critics and it s box office could be better. I doubt this one will be the beginning of a new franchise .


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## Cli-Fi

BAYLOR said:


> Warcraft hasn't done well with the critics and it s box office could be better. I doubt this one will be the beginning of a new franchise .


But it is HUGE Overseas particularly SE Asia and they are becoming a really powerful voice in Hollywood.


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## BAYLOR

Cli-Fi said:


> But it is HUGE Overseas particularly SE Asia and they are becoming a really powerful voice in Hollywood.



It's doing well overseas? Oh in that event it might garner a sequel or two.


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## Eric Zeigler

Warcraft is doing well it has already made enough money to recoup its budget. Most people I know who have seen the movie, along with myself, have enjoyed it.

I would remember superheroes didn't really catch on for several decades before the 1989 batman. Then comics had a number of flops before batman 2005. I think video games have gotten much better with their world building. I think that what they need to do to make video game based movies. Comics aren't close to done yet. When they are though I think we will have enough trial and error with the video game world to do well made video game based movies.

I think the coming years are going to be very interesting.


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## WaylanderToo

BAYLOR said:


> Warcraft hasn't done well with the critics and it s box office could be better. I doubt this one will be the beginning of a new franchise .




let's be honest here, who really cares what a critic thinks?


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## Cathbad

WaylanderToo said:


> let's be honest here, who really cares what a critic thinks?



Actually, I used to listen to Siskel and Ebert, to find out what I should go see - anything they hated!


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## BAYLOR

WaylanderToo said:


> let's be honest here, who really cares what a critic thinks?



Most movie goers don't seem to .


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## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Actually, I used to listen to Siskel and Ebert, to find out what I should go see - anything they hated!



They were both great . It's too bad neither of them are with us anymore.


----------



## Cathbad

I hated their "expertise".  I watched an episode where they were reviewing drive-in style movies.  They introduced one by saying it was purposely aimed at the middle aged drive-in crowd - then trashed it for being a movie only the middle aged drive-in goers would like!  Um... doesn't that mean they hit their target demographic??

Every episode was the same.  One movie would get Siskel's thumbs up and Ebert's thumbs down, the next they would reverse the thumbs, there would be an American movie they both hated, which would inevitably do well in theaters, and there would be one - usually French - they'd both love.

They had the best clips, though!


----------



## J Riff

I won't even watch TV previews. When the new Independence Day clips come on, I look away and hum DoodeeDooo and drown them out. Reviews are for later, then you can decide which of the reviewers are idjuts, based on what they think of movies that you know are great/terrible. That's turnin' the tables on them, by jingo.


----------



## Vladd67

Cathbad said:


> Actually, I used to listen to Siskel and Ebert, to find out what I should go see - anything they hated!


I used to do the same with Barry Norman.


----------



## Dave

Vladd67 said:


> I used to do the same with Barry Norman.


Equally true, he never liked any science fiction, but he loved those kind of arty films that no one else watches.


----------



## Cathbad

It's ok to watch reviews up until the movie is out.  Then, for some inexplicable reason, the reviewers think it's ok to show the endings.


----------



## Tulius Hostilius

As was already said here the game industry will probably influence even more Hollywood in the future.


In this matter I think that I would like to see a Fallout movie… with a good script and not just some special effects movie.


----------



## Judderman

Tulius Hostilius said:


> with a good script and not just some special effects movie.


I think that good script part is going to be a big challenge with computer game based movies for a long time to come.


----------



## Cathbad

Judderman said:


> I think that good script part is going to be a big challenge with computer game based movies for a long time to come.



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Vladd67

A Skyrim film could, if done right, be perhaps interesting.


----------



## Cli-Fi

Judderman said:


> I think that good script part is going to be a big challenge with computer game based movies for a long time to come.



Yeah I am not a big gamer, but it seems odd to insert movie characters/actors into video games such as first person shooters etc... Where YOU are technically the main character and that character is basically nothing but a ghost story with a few bits and pieces filled in just to move the story along, but the big franchises don't exactly have a lot of main characters. I mean, if they can't get Halo right, then I don't know any video game universe that can be adapted successfully, but Warcraft is a little different in that it is a world where you can easily create your own characters and I don't think the fanbase would care all that much. As long as they see the world and the creatures. They are happy. So perhaps hollywood will start there.


----------



## BAYLOR

Historical dramas?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Historical dramas?



Ewww


----------



## BAYLOR

Adaptations of Musical revival off broadway comedies ?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Adaptations of Musical revival off broadway comedies ?



YAY!


----------



## Dave

BAYLOR said:


> Adaptations of Musical revival off broadway comedies ?


I certainly think there is a place for SFF Musicals - but less comedy/tongue-in-cheek like _Little Shop of Horrors_ and _Rocky  Horror Picture Show_ and more serious like _War of the Worlds_.


----------



## BAYLOR

Universal is rolling out reboots of its classic monster movies


----------



## BAYLOR

Conspiracy Newsroom dramas?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Conspiracy Newsroom dramas?




Shhh.... you want _them_ to hear?!


----------



## FeedMeTV

Tulius Hostilius said:


> As was already said here the game industry will probably influence even more Hollywood in the future.



They have to get the game films right at some point, surely? Whatever happened to the Halo film? They've dabbled in online series' etc which went down well with fans I believe so a feature-length looks likely to happen one day.


----------



## BAYLOR

FeedMeTV said:


> They have to get the game films right at some point, surely? Whatever happened to the Halo film? They've dabbled in online series' etc which went down well with fans I believe so a feature-length looks likely to happen one day.



We're never getting it.


----------



## BAYLOR

Feature films based on tv commercials ? The commercials tend to have better writing.


----------



## Cathbad

How about anything that hasn't already been done?

Or, am I over-imagining Hollywood's imagination?


----------



## Rodders

So, how long do you think the superhero genre will remain popular?


----------



## BAYLOR

Rodders said:


> So, how long do you think the superhero genre will remain popular?



TI think the superhero phase has another 5 years to go before it beings to significantly tail off.  Inevitably it will lose steam.


----------



## Cathbad

I think the genre will remain a very long time.


----------



## FeedMeTV

We're trapped because they're all so interconnected; if we miss one film then we're suddenly out of the loop for the next one. Damn you clever marketing people. I agree that they'll be around - and successful - for a little while yet.


----------



## Old_Man_Steve2016

FeedMeTV said:


> They have to get the game films right at some point, surely? Whatever happened to the Halo film? They've dabbled in online series' etc which went down well with fans I believe so a feature-length looks likely to happen one day.





BAYLOR said:


> We're never getting it.



Yes we did. I saw it. Actually, I've seen 3 Halo movies. 
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Halo Legends - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




 (Fall of Reach)

I've also seen the eminently bad Dead Rising movie. My brothers and I could have made a better movie in the backyard.


----------



## Frost Giant

After superheroes....?  Maybe pornography will finally become popular.


----------



## Vladd67

Frost Giant said:


> After superheroes....?  Maybe pornography will finally become popular.


Finally? Being as its a multi billion dollar industry in the US alone points to it being fairly popular. But socially acceptable? That's a different story.


----------



## Frost Giant

Just jokin', Vlad. Lighten up.


----------



## Vladd67

Maybe it's time for a Flesh Gordon reboot?


----------



## Frost Giant

That's the spirit!


----------



## BAYLOR

Vladd67 said:


> Maybe it's time for a Flesh Gordon reboot?



Absolutely, but then again how can you improve upon the 1980 film?


----------



## Tulius Hostilius

Cathbad said:


> I think the genre will remain a very long time.



I hope not. Today I saw the “The Avengers” (2012) for the first time while waiting for the EURO 2016 final. I almost slept during the movie. It was boring with some intentioned funny moments. The dialogs were really bad.



BAYLOR said:


> Absolutely, but then again how can you improve upon the 1980 film?



I would't beg for a new Flesh… but I really would like to see another Flash Gordon movie. Well… unless it would be based on the latest SyFy series.


----------



## BAYLOR

Tulius Hostilius said:


> I hope not. Today I saw the “The Avengers” (2012) for the first time while waiting for the EURO 2016 final. I almost slept during the movie. It was boring with some intentioned funny moments. The dialogs were really bad.
> 
> 
> 
> I would't beg for a new Flesh… but I really would like to see another Flash Gordon movie. Well… unless it would be based on the latest SyFy series.



The SYF Flash Gordon series was a  godawful travesty . If they make film based on the wretched series it will bomb at the box office.


----------



## Dave

I heard SYF are "re-imagining" Lost in Space next.


----------



## Vladd67

Dave said:


> I heard SYF are "re-imagining" Lost in Space next.


I thought that was Netflix or Amazon


----------



## Vladd67

Dave said:


> I heard SYF are "re-imagining" Lost in Space next.





Vladd67 said:


> I thought that was Netflix or Amazon


It's Netflix
‘Lost in Space’ Reboot Ordered to Series by Netflix


----------



## Dave

Vladd67 said:


> It's Netflix
> ‘Lost in Space’ Reboot Ordered to Series by Netflix


Okay, my apologies to SYF.


----------



## Rodders

With Star Trek a long time gone from our TV screens, I think that a "re-imagining" of Lost in Space would make this a pretty decent exploration show. 

As an aside, I watched a few Marvel movies over the weekend and was pretty impressed by the interconnectedness of them all. I don't think audiences will tire of the Superhero franchises any time soon and judging by their release schedule, they have a plan for their storylines. However, when Marvel has to hit that reset switch i think audiences will switch off.


----------



## BAYLOR

Reboots of popular classic movies?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Reboots of popular classic movies?



Since Hollywood has a complete lack of imagination, I guess this is a good way to go.  Lord knows, they haven't done much new stuff in a couple decades.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Since Hollywood has a complete lack of imagination, I guess this is a good way to go.  Lord knows, they haven't done much new stuff in a couple decades.



The Hollywood mantra  "Originality and creativity are a no no "


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> The Hollywood mantra  "Originality and creativity are a no no "



Even in the comic book genre.  What have there been, four Punisher movies?  And every one of them about his becoming the Punisher.

How many Batman and Spiderman reboots have we suffered through, _despite_ the success of these franchises??

~smh~


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Even in the comic book genre.  What have there been, four Punisher movies?  And every one of them about his becoming the Punisher.
> 
> How many Batman and Spiderman reboots have we suffered through, _despite_ the success of these franchises??
> 
> ~smh~



As long as they can make a buck there will be reboots.


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> As long as they can make a buck there will be reboots.



But why reboots???  Move on in the storyline!  Even if it's a new company starting in on the franchise, there's no need for a reboot!  We all know Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, Bruce Wayne watched his parent's murder, and that Punisher guy's family was gunned down.  It's utter laziness and a lack of imagination to do a reboot!


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> But why reboots???  Move on in the storyline!  Even if it's a new company starting in on the franchise, there's no need for a reboot!  We all know Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, Bruce Wayne watched his parent's murder, and that Punisher guy's family was gunned down.  It's utter laziness and a lack of imagination to do a reboot!



Given how much money is involved in the production and marketing of a film, Executives tend to be risk averse because failure means loss of job and end of career. They would rather do a film with built-in audiences that will give them box office .  They do the same thing over and over because they know that the built in audiences will keep coming  .


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> They do the same thing over and over because they know that the built in audiences will keep coming .



Stoopid Audiences.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Stoopid Audiences.



Indeed.


----------



## Allen Teasdale

Vladd67 said:


> It's Netflix
> ‘Lost in Space’ Reboot Ordered to Series by Netflix



I'm not sure how I missed this, but it makes me happy.   I always wanted LIS to be something great, and it really could be.    Or there could be talking carrots.


----------



## BAYLOR

Allen Teasdale said:


> I'm not sure how I missed this, but it makes me happy.   I always wanted LIS to be something great, and it really could be.    Or there could be talking carrots.



If they do it right , it could be a fun and entreating series.


----------



## Cathbad

Allen Teasdale said:


> I'm not sure how I missed this, but it makes me happy.   I always wanted LIS to be something great, and it really could be.    Or there could be talking carrots.



Cool!  Talking carrots!

Wait...


----------



## Rodders

I wonder if DC and Marvel are concerned about oversaturation? There's a heck of a lot of superhero tv shows as well as movies at the moment. 

Also, can we get some 2000AD movies and TV shows out there?


----------



## Vladd67

How about a Bioshock movie or series, I read an Ebook about the building and final collapse of the underwater city that would make a great mini series.


----------



## Dulahan

Rodders said:


> I wonder if DC and Marvel are concerned about oversaturation? There's a heck of a lot of superhero tv shows as well as movies at the moment.
> 
> Also, can we get some 2000AD movies and TV shows out there?



For the most part Marvel has stuck the Big Screen and DC to the small.  Avengers, X-Men, DeadPool and so on for Marvel while DC has held pretty strong with Arrow, Flash, and the numerous Animated titles. Really, they have only lightly ventured into each others space with stuff like Daredevil (netflix) and The Dark Knight (films). I think Marvel is the stronger brand right now but DC keeps trying to get a film franchise going. 

All of this stuff comes and goes in cycles. The 30's were the Universal Monsters, The 50's saw the Western Era, The 70's Exploitation films, The 90's were full of cliche Action/Buddy-Cop Dramas, and in the 2010's we've come to the Superhero era. Who knows whats next, they just throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks.


----------



## Overread

I'm hoping for the super fantasy era to hit!


----------



## Rodders

I must confess that although i do enjoy these movies, i am starting to get a little bored of them.


----------



## Parson

I have no idea what the next* big thing* in movies is going to be, but I am very sure of what it is not going to be.

It is not going to be about ordinary people who struggle hard to make a living day by day, who grab a few minutes of joy as they visit their parents, and who show respect to those who are different than them.

It is not going to be about a woman or a man who goes to work every day, so that s/he can feed his/her family and counts it a pleasure to worship with other believers on Sunday.

It is not going to be about a grandmother who sacrifices much personal time so that she can take care of her grandkids when their mother needs a break.

In short the next "big" thing is not going to be a real thing, it is going to be some other "unreal" thing, much like super powers and the people who wield them in titanic struggles.


----------



## Old_Man_Steve2016

Parson said:


> I have no idea what the next* big thing* in movies is going to be, but I am very sure of what it is not going to be.
> 
> It is not going to be about ordinary people who struggle hard to make a living day by day, who grab a few minutes of joy as they visit their parents, and who show respect to those who are different than them.
> 
> It is not going to be about a woman or a man who goes to work every day, so that s/he can feed his/her family and counts it a pleasure to worship with other believers on Sunday.
> 
> It is not going to be about a grandmother who sacrifices much personal time so that she can take care of her grandkids when their mother needs a break.



Those plots tend to be how the movie starts, unless it's a...

Lifetime movie- the husband/boyfriend starts beating the main female character 

Scify movie- the main grandmother has to save her grandkids by fighting off a twister full of alligators/sharks/chainsaws

Werner Herzog movie- the main female character flashes back to when she was an adventurer/cripple

Michael Bay movie- the main female character's chest is 4 sizes too big to be natural and she fights robots who are attacking her church

Spike Lee movie- the main character keeps saying racial slurs until something makes him change his mind or he/she gets shot

Quentin Tarantino movie- the main characters are talkative and friendly but they feed their family by killing tons of people, or maybe they have a torture chamber underneath their house. And they swear too much

Ridley Scott movie- the ordinary people were all veterans of some grisly alien vs human war. 

Steven Spielberg movie- the grandmother has death camp tattoos, and the kids are off doing god knows what with some non-human ally/friend. 

George Lucas movie- the church is attacked by Nazi expys and there are lightsabres or macguffins in the podium/relequiry/holy water

Martin Scorsese movie- the working man is a mafiosi or corrupt businessman. 

Uwe Boll movie- The grandmother is a bitter asshole so the grandkids leave and fight robot hookers or something. It was supposed to be based off of Katamari Damancy but something happened in pre-production.


----------



## BAYLOR

Definitely an interesting list


----------



## BAYLOR

Monster movies?


----------



## BAYLOR

Historical dramas?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Historical dramas?



Let's hope not.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Let's hope not.



How about historical superhero dramas then?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> How about historical superhero dramas then?



~loads shotgun~


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> ~loads shotgun~



So you are of the belief  that the next trend in Hollywood will be  Historical Superhero Hunting Dramas? Ok.


----------



## Cathbad

Be vewwy vewwy quiet...

I'm hunting Baylors...


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Be vewwy vewwy quiet...
> 
> I'm hunting Baylors...



Oh cool. A live action Elmer Fudd feature film !     If they do that  film I want  Anthony Hopkins in the lead role.


----------



## Cathbad

And Brad Pitt as the Baylor?


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> And Brad Pitt as the Baylor?


----------



## BAYLOR

How about superhero dance dance party movies?  


You know? I never realized just how versatile the  Superhero genre truly is .


----------



## Cathbad

You are succeeding... in tuning me off future Superhero movies.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> You are succeeding... in tuning me off future Superhero movies.



How about *Mr Stark Goes to Washington* ?


----------



## Cathbad

~pumps shotgun, aims~


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> ~pumps shotgun, aims~



And it can be a film about gun control.


----------



## Cathbad




----------



## BAYLOR

Or lack thereof .


----------



## BAYLOR

The next trend could be Musicals 

How about a Star Trek Musical.   *Trekside Story 
*


----------



## Cathbad

~reloads shotgun~


----------



## BAYLOR

*Batman the Musical* a Joel Schumacher film.


----------



## BAYLOR

Yes there are so many possibilities here.


----------



## Alex The G and T

BAYLOR said:


> *Batman the Musical* a Joel Schumacher film.



Duhn na duhn na duhn na duhn ah, 
Duhn na duhn na duhn na duhn ah,   *Batman!*


----------



## Cathbad

It wasn't already a musical??


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> It wasn't already a musical??



I'd go see it.


----------



## Cathbad

There are literally a million writers out there - several frequenting this site - who are constantly coming up with new and original stories.

So why does Hollywood continue to make and remake the same movies, over and over?


----------



## Vladd67

Because the studios are run by risk adverse accountants not film makers.


----------



## Cathbad

Vladd67 said:


> Because the studios are run by risk adverse accountants not film makers.



A sad truth.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> There are literally a million writers out there - several frequenting this site - who are constantly coming up with new and original stories.
> 
> So why does Hollywood continue to make and remake the same movies, over and over?



Because the risk averse executives who run Hollywood lack vision.


----------



## Vaz

After Suicide Squad I want more stories focused on the Villains. Give The Joker his own movie that focuses more on him and shows The Batman as the bad guy. Make Romulans look like rebels against the might of Starfleet.

I want more nuanced stories, basically.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vaz said:


> After Suicide Squad I want more stories focused on the Villains. Give The Joker his own movie that focuses more on him and shows The Batman as the bad guy. Make Romulans look like rebels against the might of Starfleet.
> 
> I want more nuanced stories, basically.



I wonder if there ever be a sequel.

How about a big screen Sharknado film ? I bet if they did that , it would be a hit  Good god what am I saying ???!!!!


----------



## Vince W

Sharknado. Ugh. How very dare you mention the idea.

I'm hoping Villeneuve pulls off a miracle and makes an outstanding Dune film(s), thus opening the way for more great science fiction to be adapted properly.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Sharknado. Ugh. How very dare you mention the idea.
> 
> I'm hoping Villeneuve pulls off a miracle and makes an outstanding Dune film(s), thus opening the way for more great science fiction to be adapted properly.



Im just not convinced that its possible to do justice to Dune in 2 hour format.


----------



## Vince W

Not in two hours, but I'm hoping they treat it like Jackson did LotR. A film for each book and each clocking in at around 2.30.


----------



## Vaz

If anyone can Villeneuve can. Fingers crossed.

v


----------



## BAYLOR

Message pictures?


----------



## BAYLOR

More three Stooges films.


----------



## Cathbad

We need new stooges.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> We need new stooges.



Yes, more three Stooges please.


----------



## Cathbad

The last stooges movie wasn't in the classic stooges style.  Who will be the new stooges?


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> The last stooges movie wasn't in the classic stooges style.  Who will be the new stooges?



I thought the three guys that played  the parts  in the 2012 film all did a great job.

In that movie, The scene that cracked me up the most was Moe Howard on the The Jersey shore. That was a tragedy of epic proportions ! (LOL)


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Not in two hours, but I'm hoping they treat it like Jackson did LotR. A film for each book and each clocking in at around 2.30.



Three movies for book one of Dune? That would work.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Three movies for book one of Dune? That would work.



It would suit me fine.


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Three movies for book one of Dune? That would work.



It's certainly big enough!


----------



## BAYLOR

Boring nature  documentaries ? Those got really unpopular in the 1970s.


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Boring nature  documentaries ? Those got really unpopular in the 1970s.



The 70s is when I started watching them!


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> The 70s is when I started watching them!



SOme of those documentaries were decent ,some were  dire.


----------



## BAYLOR

Beach party movies ?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Beach party movies ?



No.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> No.



How about Zombie apocalypse  beach party movies ?


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> How about Zombie apocalypse  beach party movies ?



No.


----------



## Parson

I'd take the beach party movies before the Zombie apocalypse ideas. I'm so sick of Zombies and apocalyptic stories. What I want to be the next big thing is uplifting stories that have strong uplifting sacrificial heroes who win with strength of character and the friends that they make along the way.


----------



## AstroZon

Hollywood is suffering from it's accountant driven and formulaic films.  Box office revenues are the lowest in 15 years.  So the opposite of CGI is Realism.  We may see a return to simpler, plot driven stories.  Unfortunately, SciFi films may suffer because of it. However, it could also benefit - less visual eye-candy but more character development and sophisticated plots.


----------



## Parson

I think it will be interesting to see how "Murder on the Orient Express" fairs. It might be a bit of a bellwether as to whether CGI, impossible stunts, and "zoom and boom" movies have peaked.


----------



## Vince W

Parson said:


> I think it will be interesting to see how "Murder on the Orient Express" fairs. It might be a bit of a bellwether as to whether CGI, impossible stunts, and "zoom and boom" movies have peaked.



I don't know. There are some top grade actors in this, but there are also some I generally loathe. I'm keen to see it, but I'm not holding out for any improvement over the 1974 version.


----------



## Parson

My point is that this movie is going to be plot driven and somewhat on the sedate end of the spectrum. It would seem to be pretty much the polar opposite of Super Hero movies.


----------



## Cathbad

Parson said:


> I think it will be interesting to see how "Murder on the Orient Express" fairs. It might be a bit of a bellwether as to whether CGI, impossible stunts, and "zoom and boom" movies have peaked.



Oh, woe oh woe!

Why??  Finney 's performance can't be topped!!

Are we doomed to see another of Christie's books assassinated?  Will there be assassins dropped from helicopters?  Explosions and 10,000-bullet shootouts?  A runaway train??

Please... can't they just cancel this one, rather than "modernize" the story??


----------



## Parson

????? As far as the previews show there are no assassins, explosions, shootouts, or a runaway train. ---- The thing looks period the whole way so I don't think any "modernization" is in the works.


----------



## Cathbad

Parson said:


> ????? As far as the previews show there are no assassins, explosions, shootouts, or a runaway train. ---- The thing looks period the whole way so I don't think any "modernization" is in the works.



Glad to hear that!

When I did a search (I hadn't heard about the movie), I saw this line:  *A Modern Hercule Poirot in a New 'Murder on the Orient Express'*

So it had me worried.


----------



## Vince W

They just swear a lot more in this version. 'There's been an effing murder on this effing train and ever effing one of you is an effing suspect.'


----------



## Cathbad




----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Oh, woe oh woe!
> 
> Why??  Finney 's performance can't be topped!!
> 
> Are we doomed to see another of Christie's books assassinated?  Will there be assassins dropped from helicopters?  Explosions and 10,000-bullet shootouts?  A runaway train??
> 
> Please... can't they just cancel this one, rather than "modernize" the story??



Agatha Christie books tend to play very well with audiences.


----------



## Parson

Vince W said:


> They just swear a lot more in this version. 'There's been an effing murder on this effing train and ever effing one of you is an effing suspect.'



Sigh!! Really?  One of the great things about period pieces is that profanity is very rare and only used when absolutely necessary. I was planning on watching this. Now not at all sure.


----------



## Vince W

Parson said:


> Sigh!! Really?  One of the great things about period pieces is that profanity is very rare and only used when absolutely necessary. I was planning on watching this. Now not at all sure.



I was joking about the profanity. It's just one of the ways a lot of 'remakes and reboots' make themselves more 'modern'. Apparently no one can form a complete sentence unless it's peppered with liberal amounts of swearing. Am I *bleep* right?


----------



## Vladd67

I hear Poirot’s moustache had its own trailer to curl up in between takes. That is some serious facial hair.


----------



## Cathbad

What the <bleep> is that on Poirot's chin!?

No, no, and DOUBLE-NO!!


----------



## Parson

Cathbad said:


> What the <bleep> is that on Poirot's chin!?
> 
> No, no, and DOUBLE-NO!!



A kind of ugly gray beard? Like certain other people claim to have?


----------



## logan_run

Horror  will be next big thing.


----------



## Cathbad

Parson said:


> A kind of ugly gray beard? Like certain other people claim to have?




Hercule Poirot was EXTREMELY particular about his appearance - especially his facial hair.  No true Christie fan liked Peter Ustinov's portrayal, because he was so... _unkempt!_ 

Poirot would _never_ have chin hair!!  And this - like Ustinov's - mustache looks far from waxed!  In fact, instead of curled ends, it looks like this monstrosity goes far too far to the sides!  His hair is too long, and...

_My God!!_ His tie is... _loosened!!_

And he's too skinny.

Maybe this isn't Poirot, but one of the other train-mates?


----------



## HareBrain

Could it be one of those train-riding hobos?


----------



## Cathbad

HareBrain said:


> Could it be one of those train-riding hobos?



Let's hope so.


----------



## Judderman

Cathbad said:


> Maybe this isn't Poirot, but one of the other train-mates?


Perhaps he is the murderer, and also an imposter of Poirot. The real Poirot emerges from a hidden passage and puts his hand on the murderer's shoulder in the final scene..


----------



## Vince W

I hear Tom Cruise is the voice of the moustache.


----------



## BAYLOR

How about If Michal Bay and Roland Emmerich  do a film together  What do you suppose we can call it ?

*Transmageddon*. 

*The Day After The Last Knight *


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> I hear Tom Cruise is the voice of the moustache.



Why wasn't Tom Cruise offered the role of Poirot ?


----------



## Cathbad

Just watched a trailer on Twitter for *Murder On the Orient Express*.  It was obviously made to showcase the big names involved, rather than give a glimpse into the movie.  But what disturbed me came at the end:  *This movie has a PG-13 Rating*.

Are you kidding me??  An Agatha Christie tale requiring that rating??

Sorry, but the more I hear about this version, the less I want to see it!!


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> Why wasn't Tom Cruise offered the role of Poirot ?



Do I need to go on another Baylor Hunt??


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Do I need to go on another Baylor Hunt??



Tom Cruise was very convincing in his brief stint as  Austin Powers, therefore he can play Hercule Poirot too.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Just watched a trailer on Twitter for *Murder On the Orient Express*.  It was obviously made to showcase the big names involved, rather than give a glimpse into the movie.  But what disturbed me came at the end:  *This movie has a PG-13 Rating*.
> 
> Are you kidding me??  An Agatha Christie tale requiring that rating??
> 
> Sorry, but the more I hear about this version, the less I want to see it!!



It's visually reimagined classic for modern audiences.


----------



## Cathbad

BAYLOR said:


> It's visually reimagined classic for modern audiences.



Meaning, of course, they've added blood, gore and sex.


----------



## Overread

Cathbad PG 13 is basically an upgrade of PG rating. Both are Parental Guidance, just that PG13 might contain some more adult themes than a PG, but not enough to make it a full 15 rating. So its got an age rating, but its not that serious. There shouldn't be blood, sex or gore. 

Cadfieal - Morse - Sherlock Holmes - Frost - all of those carry a 15 age rating. So on that score its doing better than a lot of crime dramas.


Don't forget certain things push an age rating up automatically - swear words might push it up instantly; dealing with death or seeing a dead body might also be another thing that automatically jumps an age rating up a level.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Why wasn't Tom Cruise offered the role of Poirot ?



Who said he wasn't? He was probably just too busy wrecking other intellectual properties to do it.


----------



## Vladd67

Overread said:


> Cathbad PG 13 is basically an upgrade of PG rating. Both are Parental Guidance, just that PG13 might contain some more adult themes than a PG, but not enough to make it a full 15 rating. So its got an age rating, but its not that serious. There shouldn't be blood, sex or gore.
> 
> Cadfieal - Morse - Sherlock Holmes - Frost - all of those carry a 15 age rating. So on that score its doing better than a lot of crime dramas.
> 
> 
> Don't forget certain things push an age rating up automatically - swear words might push it up instantly; dealing with death or seeing a dead body might also be another thing that automatically jumps an age rating up a level.


I remember watching the pilot episode of Airwolf on video back in the 80s that was an 18 for some reason.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004IZDV9A/?tag=brite-21


----------



## Parson

Parents Guide - IMDb This shows that "Murder on the Orient Express" received the PG 13 rating largely because of the intensity of the movie. --- No nudity, 1 F bomb, a scene where someone is attacked with a fireplace poker. All in all sounds like a bare 13 rating. The site lists other countries rating and most rate it inappropriate for anyone under 12.


(Remember that some years ago a Billy Graham movie received a PG rating because .... wait for it .... "Strong religious content." .... well like Duh! it's a movie done by a strongly religious organization anyone should be able to discern that.)


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> Meaning, of course, they've added blood, gore and sex.



Exactly


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Who said he wasn't? He was probably just too busy wrecking other intellectual properties to do it.



Have they thought about casting him in the role of Sherlock Holmes ?


----------



## BAYLOR

It would seem that the super hero movie trend is not abating anytime soon.


----------



## Vince W

Until people tire of the fantasy fulfillment superhero films provide, we can expect to see many more.


----------



## Onyx

Is it time to remake the Matrix, yet?


I would like to see some non-dystopian SF movies made.


----------



## Parson

Onyx said:


> Is it time to remake the Matrix, yet?
> 
> 
> I would like to see some non-dystopian SF movies made.



Amen! I'll bet I'd go to a Honor Harrington movie at least 3 times.


----------



## Onyx

Parson said:


> Amen! I'll bet I'd go to a Honor Harrington movie at least 3 times.


Right! Upbeat military combat with optimistic mass decompression deaths!

(Sorry - couldn't help myself. But I was thinking something along the lines of exploration and adventure like _Contact _or _2010_ rather than _non-dystopian_ war.)


----------



## BAYLOR

Parson said:


> Amen! I'll bet I'd go to a Honor Harrington movie at least 3 times.



I would love to see them and Honor Harrington film or 10.


----------



## Parson

Onyx said:


> Right! Upbeat military combat with optimistic mass decompression deaths!
> 
> (Sorry - couldn't help myself. But I was thinking something along the lines of exploration and adventure like _Contact _or _2010_ rather than _non-dystopian_ war.)



Sorry, I misunderstood. I enjoyed "Passengers." Perhaps the lack of hype helped.


----------



## Onyx

Parson said:


> Sorry, I misunderstood. I enjoyed "Passengers." Perhaps the lack of hype helped.


Thinking about it, any drama is going to have it's dark side that provides the central problem for the protagonists. Star Wars is another optimistic war story, in a sense, as is the Fifth Element. But I would really like to see a future depicted that is more good than bad and the central problem isn't necessarily life and death, and that problem is truly speculative in nature - like the Arrival. SF is too often used to provide new types of horror rather than wonder. We could use some realistic future wonder on the big screen.


----------



## Cathbad

Onyx said:


> Thinking about it, any drama is going to have it's dark side that provides the central problem for the protagonists. Star Wars is another optimistic war story, in a sense, as is the Fifth Element. But I would really like to see a future depicted that is more good than bad and the central problem isn't necessarily life and death, and that problem is truly speculative in nature - like the Arrival. SF is too often used to provide new types of horror rather than wonder. We could use some realistic future wonder on the big screen.


It wouldn't fly.  Movie Goers want intense conflict and Special Effects.


----------



## Onyx

Cathbad said:


> It wouldn't fly.  Movie Goers want intense conflict and Special Effects.


Are you saying the Arrival didn't fly?


----------



## Cathbad

Arrival made just over $200m... not the figures movie houses are looking for today.  And, can you name a second?


----------



## Onyx

Cathbad said:


> Arrival made just over $200m... not the figures movie houses are looking for today.  And, can you name a second?


A second profitable positive SF movie? Do you mean besides Contact and 2001? Monsters, The Martian, Wall-E, Upstream Color, The Time Traveler's Wife,  The Abyss, Primer.

Movie houses put out films at a variety of budgets and expected box office grosses - comedies, historicals, dramas, etc. They just don't want to spend $500 million and lose money. Science fiction movies don't have to be expensive blockbusters, and they don't have to be wars or horror films when they are higher budget. 

Movie goers don't just want conflict. Titanic was one of the most profitable movies of all times - a romance. Minions, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, etc all grossed over $1 billion. Lots of ways to make a buck.


----------



## Onyx

Along the same lines, Jurassic Park, Solaris, Close Encounters, E.T., Tron, Hitchhiker's Guide, Cloud Atlas, Inner Space, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Real Steel, Inception, A.I., Bicentennial Man, Iceman and Her.


----------



## Cathbad

Most of those you two mentioned had a lot of conflict, and special effects.  No, not war, but still, they are examples of what I said!


----------



## Onyx

Cathbad said:


> Most of those you two mentioned had a lot of conflict, and special effects.  No, not war, but still, they are examples of what I said!


I'm not sure what you're getting at. I said that I'd like to see SF movies made that aren't distopian or horrifying. All works of fiction have conflict, and most films of all genres have special effects. If my examples were 2001, Contact and The Arrival, why do you think that I'm talking about movies with no SFX?


----------



## millymollymo

Folk tales, witches and 'folk horror', all coming your way.


----------



## Cathbad

Onyx said:


> I'm not sure what you're getting at. I said that I'd like to see SF movies made that aren't distopian or horrifying. All works of fiction have conflict, and most films of all genres have special effects. If my examples were 2001, Contact and The Arrival, why do you think that I'm talking about movies with no SFX?


*shrugs*  I was working off what _I'd_ said.

mea culpa.


----------



## Cathbad

What I'd _like_ to see, and what _will be_, I understand, are two completely different things.  What will follow Superheroes?  The next billon-dollar genre.  And until that pops up, expect to see more and more Superhero movies.

The studios aren't going to give up on billion-dollar franchises - and nothing I'd _like_ to see is going to generate that kind of income.


----------



## M. Robert Gibson

Well it won't be anything original, and it'll be something where special effects and CGI will feature heavily, preferably something out of copyright.

How about Mythology?

There are still plenty of unfilmed stories from Greek and Roman.  
And what about Norse (I want to see 800 warriors abreast emerging from 500 doors of Valhalla at Ragnarok) 
Or Germanic (Siegfried slaying Fafnir)
Or Celtic (Fin MacCool and the Fenians; Cuchulainn in his battle-frenzy appearance)

And that's just the Europeans.  

There are plenty more to be plundered from Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas


----------



## Vladd67

Chinese Myths and Legends, Netflix already have an Australian Further adventures of Monkey.


----------



## Harpo

Vladd67 said:


> Chinese Myths and Legends, Netflix already have an Australian Further adventures of Monkey.


I've read the book. It's exactly like the TV series. 100 chapters in the full version entitled "Journey To The West". Ripe for a film franchise, yep.

Before Marvel give up entirely I'd love to see them tackle Groo The Wanderer, but it'll never happen.

How about maybe other _2000AD _characters getting their own franchise?
My top choices there would be Strontium Dog, Bad Company, and Flesh.


----------



## Overread

Honestly Judge Dredd is still quite under-used when you consider how he's really only had 2 films with a long gap between them. He's ripe for a trilogy of films or a long TV series for adults.


----------



## Onyx

Overread said:


> Honestly Judge Dredd is still quite under-used when you consider how he's really only had 2 films with a long gap between them. He's ripe for a trilogy of films or a long TV series for adults.


Why keep making disappointing Judge Dredd films when there are all those other stories and characters that haven't had a single film? How about Wildcats, Tom Strong, Biomega, etc?

I really don't think Dredd's satire of comic heroes and caricatured aesthetics translates to live action very well.


----------



## Overread

Onyx because Judge Dredd is probably the most widely known of all the 2000AD characters. Like it or not many of the others are just not well known. I'd use JD to launch the 2000AD as a franchise for films and then bring in the others; much in the same way that Super Hero films have used a selection of their most iconic heroes to push other heroes into the lime light. They don't even have to be in the same films, just the same franchise behind the film (same as how Pixar has built a name for itself).


----------



## Onyx

Overread said:


> Onyx because Judge Dredd is probably the most widely known of all the 2000AD characters. Like it or not many of the others are just not well known. I'd use JD to launch the 2000AD as a franchise for films and then bring in the others; much in the same way that Super Hero films have used a selection of their most iconic heroes to push other heroes into the lime light. They don't even have to be in the same films, just the same franchise behind the film (same as how Pixar has built a name for itself).


I mean no disrespect when I say that I don't think the 2000AD franchise is something that many people are really aware of, outside of Dredd. I've been reading comics in the US since the early '80s and 2000AD has never been on my radar, despite seeking out a lot of alternative stuff. I think French Heavy Metal stuff has a better shot, like Valerian. But anything that seems like parody or satire isn't going to do unless it goes all the way over to full-blown comedy.

For comics to become movies they either need to be major pop-culture figures or the source material has to be so good that it could have been just a script in the first place.


----------



## Judderman

That is true. As great as 2000 AD was it isn’t gigantic world war. And even UK many people won’t know it. Definitely potential for more films but I don’t see them being huge.


----------



## Judderman

For 


Harpo said:


> I've read the book. It's exactly like the TV series. 100 chapters in the full version entitled "Journey To The West". Ripe for a film franchise, yep.
> 
> Before Marvel give up entirely I'd love to see them tackle Groo The Wanderer, but it'll never happen.
> 
> How about maybe other _2000AD _characters getting their own franchise?
> My top choices there would be Strontium Dog, Bad Company, and Flesh.


I think that Into the Badlands AMC series is based on Journey to the west.


----------



## BAYLOR

Maybe if they could get the right actor ,they could revive the Ernest franchise.


----------



## BAYLOR

More Pacific Rime sequels ?


----------



## Parson

I assume you mean Pacific Rim sequels.


I hope they aren't the next big thing.


----------



## Vince W

Pacific Rim, no thanks. Battletech/Mechwarrior, oh, please, please, please!


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Pacific Rim, no thanks. Battletech/Mechwarrior, oh, please, please, please!



Aren't they contemplating a Robotech film?


----------



## Overread

Pacific Rim is good but its more in the cult grouping than mainstream I think. Big budget for a cult, but its still not really got that something that makes it mainstream (and sometimes I think that something is just smothering advertising everywhere)


----------



## Overread

BAYLOR said:


> Aren't they contemplating a Robotech film?



I think there's some legal issues with the Mechwarrior/Battletech/Robotech franchises in the western market due to a company that originally brought them over and which has now tried to claim all sorts of random things under the licence even though its questionable if their licence is even as valid as they think it is. 

It would be a ripe universe to adapt to the big screen once more (accepting that it had its hay day back in the days of anime and animation


----------



## Vince W

In the beginning some Robotech designs were licensed by FASA for Battletech, but the license expired and now they are off limits. Catalyst (the current owners of Battletech/Mechwarrior) have been working to acquire those designs again. As long as those designs aren't used Catalyst can do what they want.


----------



## Onyx

But there is a Robotech script being written.


----------



## BAYLOR

Onyx said:


> But there is a Robotech script being written.



From the sound of things, this one may end up stuck in limbo.


----------



## BAYLOR

Overread said:


> Pacific Rim is good but its more in the cult grouping than mainstream I think. Big budget for a cult, but its still not really got that something that makes it mainstream (and sometimes I think that something is just smothering advertising everywhere)



I think this one might take the place of Transformers.


----------



## BAYLOR

Giant Prehistoric Shark movies?


----------



## Parson

BAYLOR said:


> Giant Prehistoric Shark movies?



Baylor, wherever did you get that idea? Who would believe a megalodon in the twenty-first century? Too far out. No one would go see such a movie.


----------



## BAYLOR

Parson said:


> Baylor, wherever did you get that idea? Who would believe a megalodon in the twenty-first century? Too far out. No one would go see such a movie.



Yep , your  right Im being silly


----------



## Vince W

Would it be too much to think that the next big thing will be story driven films with writing that focus on the characters and not CGI mumbo-jumbo? Nah. Prehistoric shark films are more likely I think.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Would it be too much to think that the next big thing will be story driven films with writing that focus on the characters and not CGI mumbo-jumbo? Nah. Prehistoric shark films are more likely I think.



Yes, that CGI Shark in Megladon should be considered for the category of best actor.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Yes, that CGI Shark in Megladon should be considered for the category of best actor.


Well, if Nicholas Cage can win one, why not?


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Well, if Nicholas Cage can win one, why not?



Its too bad we never got the proposed Superman film with Nicholas cage it was supposed titled.titled *Leaving  Metropolis*.


----------



## BAYLOR

Ecological  disaster movies?


----------



## Vince W

Nerd films. Films where smart people do smart things.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Nerd films. Films where smart people do smart things.



A reboot of *Revenge of the Nerd*?


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> A reboot of *Revenge of the Nerd*?


 Hardly.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Hardly.



In Hollywood what Old become new again . Whether we like it or not.


----------



## Vince W

I was thinking something smarter. But if you want comedy, the cast from *Real Genius* could be brought back together for a new story.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> I was thinking something smarter. But if you want comedy, the cast from *Real Genius* could be brought back together for a new story.



In the current polical climate , this one rebooted would definitely find an audience.


----------



## Vince W

Not a reboot. A proper sequel. With the same cast. Which it should've had in the first place.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Not a reboot. A proper sequel. With the same cast. Which it should've had in the first place.



They should done a follow up years ago.


----------



## Cathbad

Vince W said:


> Hardly.


Oh, they wll.  Remakes, reboots and sequels.  That's all we have to look forward to in this creativeless Hollywood phase.


----------



## Vince W

Cathbad said:


> Oh, they wll.  Remakes, reboots and sequels.  That's all we have to look forward to in this creativeless Hollywood phase.


Very


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Very



We're getting a new Halloween film.


----------



## Al Jackson

Denis Villeneuve seems to have ? the backing for his two Dune movies?


----------



## BAYLOR

Al Jackson said:


> Denis Villeneuve seems to have ? the backing for his two Dune movies?



There are alot of story elements in Dune . I think a trilogy would be a better idea here .


----------



## Vince W

I think three films for Dune is too long for the general public. I would love it, but there are a number of elements from the book that wouldn't interest most people.


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> There are alot of story elements in Dune . I think a trilogy would be a better idea here .


 I read a news item that  Villeneuve is casting and will start production in March. 
You know one thing that Blade Runner 2049 showed is that he has an eye for production design. Like Ridley Scott and  Guillermo del Toro so I am very curious to see what this , these?, films will look like.
I mean the pluses of the Lynch version was the cast and costumes and sets.


----------



## Al Jackson

Three Heinlein novels have been in development hell for the last 8 years,* The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress,* a reboot of *Star Ship Troopers* and* Have Space Suit Will Travel*. 
I think *Have Space Suit Will Travel* would make a great mini series , if done full blown budget, for Netflix or Amazon or even HBO.


----------



## Cathbad

OR... someone in Ollywood can be brave and work with an entirely new story?


----------



## Vince W

Film execs and drones are not known for their bravery these days.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Film execs and drones are not known for their bravery these days.



One of the prerequisites for being a studio executive in Hollywood is that you can't display even the slightest hint of  imagination otherwise  they  won't hire you.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> One of the prerequisites for being a studio executive in Hollywood is that you can't display even the slightest hint of  imagination otherwise  they  won't hire you.


That and having their spine removed.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> That and having their spine removed.



Considering the money involved , they will take the safe bet.


----------



## Al Jackson

Cathbad said:


> OR... someone in Ollywood can be brave and work with an entirely new story?



Dunkirk did well at the boxoffice last year and that was different.
Alas, Blade Runner 2049 did not do so well and it was way different, then Blade Runner also did poorly in first release. I was much entertained by both those films.


----------



## BAYLOR

Al Jackson said:


> Dunkirk did well at the boxoffice last year and that was different.
> Alas, Blade Runner 2049 did not do so well and it was way different, then Blade Runner also did poorly in first release. I was much entertained by both those films.



I never got to see Dunkird but have heard enough good thing about to rent it.

as for Blade Runner , I saw that when it first came out , It was amazing then , It. still looks pretty amazing .       As to the follow up 2049 , equally good film. I wish it could have been a hit

I wonder what PDK would think of theses two films ?


----------



## Vince W

Dick died only a couple of months before the release of Blade Runner, so I think he probably had some idea of what the film be like, although I don't know if he said or wrote anything about it. I think he would have approved of it.

As for 2049, I'm sure he would have been impressed.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Dick died only a couple of months before the release of Blade Runner, so I think he probably had some idea of what the film be like, although I don't know if he said or wrote anything about it. I think he would have approved of it.
> 
> As for 2049, I'm sure he would have been impressed.



It would've been nice if he could have seen Blade Runner .


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> I never got to see Dunkird but have heard enough good thing about to rent it.
> 
> as for Blade Runner , I saw that when it first came out , It was amazing then , It. still looks pretty amazing .       As to the follow up 2049 , equally good film. I wish it could have been a hit
> 
> I wonder what PDK would think of theses two films ?



Scott heard that Dick was unhappy with what he knew about Blade Runner so during post production Scot put together about 20 min. of what he had and invited Dick to see it. Dick was pleased , and liked it, so Scott thinks Dick would have liked the film.


----------



## Al Jackson

I would like to see another good 'ancient history' movie. I liked Gladiator and it did well, but that was 17 years ago. There were a couple of odd smaller budget Rome films set in Roman Briton that were not bad but smaller scale.
Back in 1998 George Clooney bough  the option on Steve Pressfield's *Gates of File* (the battle of  Thermopylae    ) but could not get financing. Zack Snyder did  Frank Miller adolescent comic book rework of the battle as *300*. That did well so blocked Clooney and Michael Mann.* Gates of Fire* is a terrific historical novel and done right it would be great to see *300'*s alternate universe put to shame! It would be an expensive movie but one that adults would not feel insulted going to!

Here is terrific illo Stanley Meltzoff did for the Battle of Thermopylae :


----------



## Al Jackson

I was watching the Coen's *True Grit* the other day (I like the John Wayne version , but they did a better one). I was thinking I would like a good Western. 
I didn't see where the recent *Magnificent Seven* was any improvement on the original. I have watched about a third of Hostiles and was not taken by it, maybe I need to see the rest. Maybe someone could do a *Magnificent Seven* that was NOT a Hollywood Dude Western, something that looked in-period authentic like the original *Seven Samurai*. (The Coen's True Grit had that more authentic feel to it.)

Tho… the western I can think of that is totally original and way different than any , even on the page, is* Blood Meridian* by Cormac Mccarthy. Tho how that could be make as a not-NC17 will be take some effort , if one is to keep the feel of the novel.


----------



## Vince W

I would seriously love to see the Battletech Universe brought to life. The Pacific Rim films are extremely weak in comparison to the depth of this property. If you know what an AS7-S is, you understand.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> I would seriously love to see the Battletech Universe brought to life. The Pacific Rim films are extremely weak in comparison to the depth of this property. If you know what an AS7-S is, you understand.



Battletech , yes.  This one would make a great film franchise.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Battletech , yes.  This one would make a great film franchise.


I'm surprised no one in Hollywood hasn't jumped all over this. It's simple and easy to market. Giant fighty robots kicking the mother-loving sh*t out of each other. What's not to love?


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> I'm surprised no one in Hollywood hasn't jumped all over this. It's simple and easy to market. Giant fighty robots kicking the mother-loving sh*t out of each other. What's not to love?



Hollywood is known for being oblivious to good ideas.


----------



## Cathbad

I've played - and ran - Battletech.  But I'd be unlikely to go see a Battletech movie.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> I've played - and ran - Battletech.  But I'd be unlikely to go see a Battletech movie.



Disappointing.


----------



## Vince W

Cathbad said:


> I've played - and ran - Battletech.  But I'd be unlikely to go see a Battletech movie.


Did you read any of the books? Some of them weren't half bad.


----------



## Cathbad

I tried to  read one - one of the first ones.  Poorly written - but, that doesn't mean they didn't get better!


----------



## Overread

The thing is if Hollywood got hold of Battletech the only thing they'd take away is the big robots bit. The lore and background and even designs of mechs might well get drastically altered. 

And you don't need battletech for that you just need a budget for a big stompy robot film.


----------



## Vince W

Overread said:


> The thing is if Hollywood got hold of Battletech the only thing they'd take away is the big robots bit. The lore and background and even designs of mechs might well get drastically altered.
> 
> And you don't need battletech for that you just need a budget for a big stompy robot film.


You're most probably correct.


----------



## BAYLOR

What about a Robotech movie ?


----------



## picklematrix

We need more animatronics and puppets. I need more at least.


----------



## BAYLOR

picklematrix said:


> We need more animatronics and puppets. I need more at least.



Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet ?


----------



## Vince W

Thunderbirds are GO!


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Thunderbirds are GO!



I have a soft spot fit Thunderbirds and Captain  Scarlet , Ive seen episodes for from both CGI  reboots and I liked what I saw.


----------



## Edward M. Grant

Yeah, I watched about half of the _Thunderbirds_ and _Captain Scarlet _CGI series, and they both seemed like reasonable modern reimaginings of the shows. Unlike the god-awful movie.


----------



## Edward M. Grant

BAYLOR said:


> Considering the money involved , they will take the safe bet.



If that was true, they wouldn't have screwed up _Star Wars_ as badly as they did. They didn't even have to write new movies, they could just have adapted the existing books and watched the money roll in.

The problem is that, when they don't take the safe bet, they take the batcrap crazy bet ('come on, the fans will love us killing off all the old characters for no good reason. And they can never get enough Death Stars').


----------



## BAYLOR

Edward M. Grant said:


> Yeah, I watched about half of the _Thunderbirds_ and _Captain Scarlet _CGI series, and they both seemed like reasonable modern reimaginings of the shows. Unlike the god-awful movie.



The 2004 film had the right look, buts thats all it had.


----------



## BAYLOR

Edward M. Grant said:


> If that was true, they wouldn't have screwed up _Star Wars_ as badly as they did. They didn't even have to write new movies, they could just have adapted the existing books and watched the money roll in.
> 
> The problem is that, when they don't take the safe bet, they take the batcrap crazy bet ('come on, the fans will love us killing off all the old characters for no good reason. And they can never get enough Death Stars').



I actually like the Abraham Star Wars film andI liked Rogue one and Solo  way  better then then those crappy CGI driven Prequel monstrosities that Lucas did.


----------



## Edward M. Grant

BAYLOR said:


> The 2004 film had the right look, buts thats all it had.



If I remember correctly, the director said he'd never even seen the TV show when he made the movie.


----------



## Edward M. Grant

BAYLOR said:


> I actually like the Abraham Star Ward film andI liked Rogue one and Solo  way  better then then those crappy CGI driven Prequel monstrosities that Lucas did.



Now that's what I call damning with faint praise .


----------



## BAYLOR

Edward M. Grant said:


> If I remember correctly, the director said he'd never even seen the TV show when he made the movie.



The actors looked the parts, the Ships looked correct , the overall story stunk .


----------



## BAYLOR

Edward M. Grant said:


> Now that's what I call damning with faint praise .



I know there is a significant portion of Star Wars fandom  that don't the latest films.  I have enjoyed the new Star Wars film.


----------



## Vince W

What we need is a Space: 1999 film series.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> What we need is a Space: 1999 film series.



Space 1999 could actually be salvaged and made viable. if they changed a few things.


----------



## Vince W

Space: 2099. There's your change.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Space: 2099. There's your change.



Thats the first thing. As to  the moon , what if the explosion  caused the moon to phase out of orbit and travel down hyper space and reappear near star systems,  The space around the moon is quantumly   unstable so   the moon can only in remain in normal  space for few days before it gets  dragged back into hyperspace and  sent somewhere  else, The people on Moon Base Alpha can predict when this will happen and calibrate  their exploration on a time table. That would solve  major problem right there.  The base would be much much larger  with tens  of thousands  of people even some aliens who join up and yes families .


----------



## Cathbad

No.  Please, no.


----------



## BAYLOR

Cathbad said:


> No.  Please, no.



And there will be transformers in it .


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> And there will be transformers in it .


Monster.


----------



## BAYLOR

The fact that we're getting a Bumble Bee movie tells me that the Transformer franchise might still have life left in it . Heaven help us.


----------



## BAYLOR

Endless reboot of things we've seen before.


----------



## Narkalui

If the music industry was anything like the movie industry, all we'd get is covers


----------



## Vince W

Misread that.


----------



## L D Warne

Narkalui said:


> If the music industry was anything like the movie industry, all we'd get is covers



Agree.  I think that's why we're getting so many reboots of the more common franchises..

How many different actors have we seen for Batman, Spiderman, Hulk, Superman etc. recently?

It's also interesting how many movies are now based on books - I'm not sure if the figure has ever been this high, or just whether it's always been that way and I'm just noticing more nowadays.


----------



## Parson

L D Warne said:


> It's also interesting how many movies are now based on books - I'm not sure if the figure has ever been this high, or just whether it's always been that way and I'm just noticing more nowadays.



Interesting question! My first instinct is to say "no" because books were always important sources for movie scripts ---- But I have no evidence one way or the other.


----------



## Jeffbert

Just read a few Sword & Sandals film reviews from the film thread. Maybe the two genres will alternate or merge.


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> Superhero films are popular now but once they fade front he scene what do you think will take their place? What do you think will be the next popular movie trend?


I don't go to any super hero movies anymore , not because they are bad, some are very good, but because it is to much been-there-done-that. (I must admit that last years Wonder Woman was framed so differently that I found that very entertaining except for the ending.) 
I am more entertained by films that engage me , in recent years that would be a film like* Dunkirk* , last year, or say *The Big Short* in 2015.... saw one just last week* The Ballad of Buster Scruggs*... love out of the ordinary stuff.

One kind of film I would lay down money for is the *good* ancient history film. 
Last really really good one was* Gladiator* in 2000, 18 years ago!
*Troy *(2004) was ok , tho no cigar.
Directors cut of *Kingdom of Heaven* (2005) was ok.
*300 *trashed a perfectly good piece of history The Battle of Thermopylae , I hate that movie.
There is an instance of comic-booking up a story turned it into trash.

HBO's *ROME* is an example of a beautiful and enthralling presentation of ancient history.


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> Space Operas


Good Space Opera like *The Expanse*!!


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> Superhero films are popular now but once they fade front he scene what do you think will take their place? What do you think will be the next popular movie trend?


You know Amazon is doing a Lord of the Rings 'show' , they paid a bundle for Tolkien Middle Earth stuff, think it will succeed even if done well??


----------



## BAYLOR

Al Jackson said:


> You know Amazon is doing a Lord of the Rings 'show' , they paid a bundle for Tolkien Middle Earth stuff, think it will succeed even if done well??



I think there will definite be audience for an LOTR tv show and it will be good.


----------



## Al Jackson

BAYLOR said:


> I think there will definite be audience for an LOTR tv show and it will be good.


It will be interesting to see, you know I did not expect Game of Thrones to succeed , the story is really Adult , even tho George spins a good story it is a bit complicated.  
Tell ya tho, Benioff and Weiss, besides being good writers, have an eye for the kind of artistic density and attention to detail that sets GoT apart, not only does the cast give import but the production values are so well done that the milieu is compelling. I mean Peter Jackson had the same sensibilities , that may be the make or break ingredients of Amazon's attempt.


----------



## BAYLOR

With the latest Godzilla film and next Years Kong vs Godzilla  well ......


----------



## Narkalui

Next year Godzilla will have actual bells and whistles. With knobs on.


----------



## L.L.Lotte

I honestly dont think the superhero fad will ever be over. Once they have used up all suitable superheroes they will just start over and reboot them.

After all, they have already rebooted Spider-Man several times, and batman... And others...


But thanks to game of thrones, epic fantasy adaptions might become more popular. We have both Wheel of Time and Magician coming.

I would love to see an adaption of Steven Erikson's Malazen books. Or Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. 

But you know what would be perfect? Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards. The Lies of Locke Lamora would make a fantastic adaption


----------



## Overread

Honestly I'm surprised that Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter didn't' spark a bigger fantasy era, but I put it down to those films being just too dominating; or the executives only walked away with "long running series are popular" rather than "Mature fantasy is popular." 

I'm sure that super heroes will vanish, but it might well prove to be one of the longer running trends a bit like how at one time everything was westerns.


----------



## Vince W

Narkalui said:


> Next year Godzilla will have actual bells and whistles. With knobs on.


I don't think anyone wants to see a knob on Godzilla.


----------



## Parson

Vince W said:


> I don't think anyone wants to see a knob on Godzilla.



Hopefully it's an off button!!


----------



## Judderman

L.L.Lotte said:


> I honestly dont think the superhero fad will ever be over. Once they have used up all suitable superheroes they will just start over and reboot them.
> 
> After all, they have already rebooted Spider-Man several times, and batman... And others...


Yeah I was somewhat surprised to see the Joker character is being rebooted yet again, though not so surprised seeing as how quickly Spiderman was rebooted again.


----------



## L.L.Lotte

Judderman said:


> Yeah I was somewhat surprised to see the Joker character is being rebooted yet again, though not so surprised seeing as how quickly Spiderman was rebooted again.



I suppose the pitch would have been something along the line of wouldn't it be great to see the story from the Joker's PoV as the protagonist.


----------



## Judderman

Yeah maybe supervillains is the new thing. Some of the superheroes and popular mutants do have a bad side.


----------



## L.L.Lotte

Titans did portray a very dark side to Robin.


----------



## BAYLOR

Narkalui said:


> Next year Godzilla will have actual bells and whistles. With knobs on.



That one will be an epic monster movie for the ages.


----------



## Jeffbert

L.L.Lotte said:


> I suppose the pitch would have been something along the line of wouldn't it be great to see the story from the Joker's PoV as the protagonist.


Perhaps what Grendel did for Beowulf might actually inspire a villain's PoV super hero story.


----------



## Vince W

Isn't that what they're doing with The Joker?


----------



## Laura R Hepworth

I stopped watching the superhero films a while ago. They may be well done, but they start to all be the same after awhile.  Like Mr. Incredible said: "I feel like the maid; 'I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes!'" No idea what the next 'big thing' will be when they finally tire of superheros, but I'd love to see more Steampunk film done.


----------



## Vince W

I'm hoping that the Dune film is amazing and that starts a flood of top-quality science fiction/space opera films with real stories.


----------



## MikeAnderson

Documentaries about people in Iceland making that nasty a$$ shark cheese. (hakarl)

Watch yourselves, Avengers:Endgame. Once people see how they ferment that fish in IMAX, y'all losing that biggest box-office hit off all time title.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> I'm hoping that the Dune film is amazing and that starts a flood of top-quality science fiction/space opera films with real stories.



There are new editions of not only the Dune books but some Frank Herberts non dUne books as well. Also included in the reissue are the Dune books by Brian Herbert as well. I’ve a couple of Brian herberts Dune novels and Ilike dthem.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> There are new editions of not only the Dune books but some Frank Herberts non dUne books as well. Also included in the reissue are the Dune books by Brian Herbert as well. I’ve a couple of Brian herberts Dune novels and Ilike dthem.


I don't understand. Frank wrote only six Dune novels. There are no others.


----------



## Cathbad

I heard in the new Dune, Wonder Woman comes to stop a sandworm attack?


----------



## Cathbad

From:  Order of Dune Books - OrderOfBooks.com



Dune(1965)Dune Messiah(1969)Children of Dune(1976)God Emperor of Dune(1981)Heretics of Dune(1984)Chapterhouse: Dune(1985)Hunters of Dune(2006)Sandworms of Dune(2007)Paul of Dune(2008)The Winds of Dune(2009)The Sisterhood of Dune(2012)Mentats of Dune(2014)Navigators of Dune(2016)

*Publication Order of Dune: House Trilogy Books*





House AtreidesHouse HarkonnenHouse Corrino

*Publication Order of Legends Of Dune Books*





The Butlerian Jihad(2002)The Machine Crusade(2002)The Battle of Corrin(2004)

*Publication Order of Dune: Red Plague Books*




Dune: Red Plague(2016)

*Publication Order of Dune Collections*





Songs of Muad'dib(1992)The Road to Dune(2005)Tales of Dune(2011)

*Publication Order of Dune Chapbooks*




Fremen Justice(2011)

*Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books*




The Notebooks of Frank Herbert's Dune


----------



## Vince W

Cathbad said:


> From:  Order of Dune Books - OrderOfBooks.com
> 
> 
> 
> Hunters of Dune(2006)Sandworms of Dune(2007)Paul of Dune(2008)The Winds of Dune(2009)The Sisterhood of Dune(2012)Mentats of Dune(2014)Navigators of Dune(2016)
> 
> *Publication Order of Dune: House Trilogy Books*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> House AtreidesHouse HarkonnenHouse Corrino
> 
> *Publication Order of Legends Of Dune Books*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Butlerian Jihad(2002)The Machine Crusade(2002)The Battle of Corrin(2004)
> 
> *Publication Order of Dune: Red Plague Books*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dune: Red Plague(2016)
> 
> *Publication Order of Dune Collections*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Songs of Muad'dib(1992)The Road to Dune(2005)Tales of Dune(2011)
> 
> *Publication Order of Dune Chapbooks*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fremen Justice(2011)
> 
> *Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books*


The orthodox Herbertian doesn't allow for Apocrypha.


----------



## Vladd67

Is that the sound of a barrel being scraped I can hear?


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> The orthodox Herbertian doesn't allow for Apocrypha.



I consider  the Brain Herbert Dune books to be part of the Dune Canon.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> I consider  the Brain Herbert Dune books to be part of the Dune Canon.


----------



## Rodders

I read Brian Herbert’s House and Legends Trilogies. They were a good way to pass the time and easy to read. It made them good for my commute. 

They weren’t anything special though.


----------



## Parson

I stopped reading them at *Chapterhouse. *Even if Frank had written more I wouldn't have read them, for me they steadily deteriorated after Dune. All the plotting and counter plotting etc. became very tedious to me.


----------



## Narkalui

I've only read Dune. I did start Messiah, but I didn't think it was as good. Perhaps it's time I have it another go...


----------



## Vince W

Messiah is great _after_ you've read Children of Dune.


----------



## Cathbad

Excuse, please, but can I borrow a cup of Spice?


----------



## Vince W

You can't afford it.


----------



## Venusian Broon

BAYLOR said:


> I consider  the Brain Herbert Dune books to be part of the Dune Canon.


They are certainly in my Dune Cannon.

I intend to fire them as far away as possible.


----------



## BAYLOR

Venusian Broon said:


> They are certainly in my Dune Cannon.
> 
> I intend to fire them as far away as possible.



I don't see the problem here.  I think Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson are both very good writers.


----------



## Venusian Broon

BAYLOR said:


> I don't see the problem here.  I think Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson are both very good writers.



Woosh! 

Sorry, I just fired something over your head   

Seriously, just my opinion, my dear boy, just my opinion. You have yours too and that's fine and dandy.

However I for one will not be getting 'Janitors of Dune' or whatever they come up with next.


----------



## BAYLOR

Venusian Broon said:


> Woosh!
> 
> Sorry, I just fired something over your head
> 
> Seriously, just my opinion, my dear boy, just my opinion. You have yours too and that's fine and dandy.
> 
> However I for one will not be getting 'Janitors of Dune' or whatever they come up with next.



And what's wrong with a Dune novel with a story perspective of the cleaning and maintenance  staff ? 

Or  better yet , why  not a *The Sewage Farm Attendants of Dune* novel ?


----------



## Venusian Broon

BAYLOR said:


> And what's wrong with a Dune novel with a story perspective of the cleaning and maintenance  staff ?
> 
> Or  better yet , why  not a *The Sewage Farm Attendants of Dune* novel ?


I might be tempted if they did a gritty kitchen sink novel - 'Manicurists of Dune' about the struggle of Glossu Rabban's ill-fated attempt to run a nail salon, his dream, while he was in charge of Arrakis. 

All goes well till a rival shop, Fremen Femme Beautique, opens across the street, run by a mysterious man called Paul...


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> You can't afford it.



How about a Dune novel written by Danielle Steel?


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> How about a Dune novel written by Danielle Steel?


Now you're taking the mick. Although to be fair, if she really understood the setting and respected Frank's work and vision, she would probably do better than bobo and the hack.


----------



## Parson

Vince W said:


> Now you're taking the mick. Although to be fair, if she really understood the setting and respected Frank's work and vision, she would probably do better than bobo and the hack.



Don't hate the writer simply because of the genre. She could likely buy and sell the whole lot of us. She's obviously doing something right.


----------



## Vince W

Parson said:


> Don't hate the writer simply because of the genre. She could likely buy and sell the whole lot of us. She's obviously doing something right.


Oh, I don't hate her. I can't. I've never read a word of hers. She clearly appeals to a large audience, just not me.


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> Oh, I don't hate her. I can't. I've never read a word of hers. She clearly appeals to a large audience, just not me.



Ive never had a desire to read her . She's been adapted to the small screen a number of times.


----------



## HU_Nathan7

I think, based on Disney’s new trend, we’re going to see a lot more ‘remastered” adaptations of old films.


----------



## BAYLOR

HU_Nathan7 said:


> I think, based on Disney’s new trend, we’re going to see a lot more ‘remastered” adaptations of old films.



They're remaking all of their animated films into live action .* Mulan* is next up . Ive seen a preview trailer for that one. It looks quite good.

There is talk about them doing a remake *The Black Hole*.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> There is talk about them doing a remake *The Black Hole*.


They had better not touch *The Black Hole!*


----------



## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> They had better not touch *The Black Hole!*



No film is safe from the remake wrecking ball.  In a about 20 or 30 years, there will pobably be remakes of the Hobbit and LOTR.


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> No film is safe from the remake wrecking ball.  In a about 20 or 30 years, there will pobably be remakes of the Hobbit and LOTR.


Of course there will, but by then there will be genetically created Hobbits and Elves to play the parts.


----------



## Cathbad

Vince W said:


> Of course there will, but by then there will be genetically created Hobbits and Elves to play the parts.


There aren't already!?


----------



## Vince W

Cathbad said:


> There aren't already!?


There are, but PJ keeps them isolated in NZ.


----------



## HU_Nathan7

BAYLOR said:


> No film is safe from the remake wrecking ball.  In a about 20 or 30 years, there will pobably be remakes of the Hobbit and LOTR.



I wouldn’t even give it that long. It seems like we’re hitting a point where they’re remaking movies as short as 4 years apart. 10 maximum.


----------



## Rodders

Thing is, a remake will introduce stories to a newer generation. I think that's pretty important.


----------



## Narkalui

I can see Di$ney remaking the original Star Wars trilogy, just in time for the 50th anniversary


----------



## Vince W

Narkalui said:


> I can see Di$ney remaking the original Star Wars trilogy, just in time for the 50th anniversary


----------



## Parson

Narkalui said:


> I can see Di$ney remaking the original Star Wars trilogy, just in time for the 50th anniversary



You do realize that the original will be 50 years old in 2027? ---- I can hardly wait!


----------



## Narkalui

Yep. Not long...


----------



## Overread

Starwars - the only story where they started in the middle; then told the first; then the end and then started again with the middle! 

Honestly if they were to reboot it I'd rather they started right at the beginning with an epic script written in 9 parts for the 9 films as a unified collection. Thus allowing them to setup long plot arcs that might skip many films before returning and achieve some sense of unity between them. Of course 9 films is a massive order; even just keeping the actors at the right ages would be tough!


----------



## BAYLOR

Overread said:


> Starwars - the only story where they started in the middle; then told the first; then the end and then started again with the middle!
> 
> Honestly if they were to reboot it I'd rather they started right at the beginning with an epic script written in 9 parts for the 9 films as a unified collection. Thus allowing them to setup long plot arcs that might skip many films before returning and achieve some sense of unity between them. Of course 9 films is a massive order; even just keeping the actors at the right ages would be tough!



I doubt Lucas initially had any plans for sequels or prequels.


----------



## Vince W

Overread said:


> Starwars - the only story where they started in the middle; then told the first; then the end and then started again with the middle!
> 
> Honestly if they were to reboot it I'd rather they started right at the beginning with an epic script written in 9 parts for the 9 films as a unified collection. Thus allowing them to setup long plot arcs that might skip many films before returning and achieve some sense of unity between them. Of course 9 films is a massive order; even just keeping the actors at the right ages would be tough!


I think there's been enough fiddling with Star Wars. The original three should be restored to their original cinematic releases and left alone. Instead, they should look for some seriously great new stories to tell. Preferably not involving any of the original characters or themes. It's time to move on from George Lucas and explore new horizons.


----------



## Vladd67

BAYLOR said:


> I doubt Lucas initially had any plans for sequels or prequels.


People say this but I can remember reading, when Star Wars first came out, Lucas saying he had come up with the three sections of the story and that he had picked the middle one because he liked those characters best.


----------



## Parson

Vladd67 said:


> People say this but I can remember reading, when Star Wars first came out, Lucas saying he had come up with the three sections of the story and that he had picked the middle one because he liked those characters best.




I also remember this clearly. I guess there could be some question as to how developed they were, (and I suspect that they were altered a lot as both he and the technology changed) but I don't think that there is any doubt that he had a 9 part series in mind.


----------



## BAYLOR

Hard to say.


----------



## Guttersnipe

I think that movie-makers will turn more and more to non-superhero comics and graphic novels, like Fables, for instance.


----------



## Droflet

As long as they're well scripted, I'll be happy. Please, studios, no more b rated horror flicks.


----------



## Bick

Period dramas of classic novels, with quality character actors next please... I can live in deluded hope!


----------



## Judderman

Bick said:


> Period dramas of classic novels, with quality character actors next please... I can live in deluded hope!


Not a film but we were quite enjoying Anne with an E recently (Anne of Green Gables). Perhaps a little on the childish side, but more fun than a lot of period dramas and very well acted. Especially the first two of the three seasons. And still in a reasonably traditional style, unlike Bridgerton which is taking a modern twist a bit too far.


----------



## BAYLOR

More Monsterverse movies?


----------



## Vladd67

BAYLOR said:


> More Monsterverse movies?


Sadly the greed and ego of Tom Cruise killed off the Universal monster revival before it got started.


----------



## therapist

BAYLOR said:


> More Monsterverse movies?


It makes sense there will be alot more of this, not just monsterverse, but movies that allow for multiple additions in the same universe. Especially after the success of Marvel. Hopefully this means adapting fantasy book series. Or maybe even creating something new (that's probably unrealistic tho).


----------



## Rodders

Trouble is, it's difficult to put a new spin on a big monster movie and there is only really one story to tell. I think people would get bored with it quite quickly. 

After the lockdown, people are going to get into TV in a big way. It wouldn't surprise me if we started seeing some big movies based on TV shows just to entice the audience back to the cinema.


----------



## Judderman

Godzilla vs Kong is out now. So they are still steaming on with the monster movies for a while.


----------



## BAYLOR

Judderman said:


> Godzilla vs Kong is out now. So they are still steaming on with the monster movies for a while.



I wouldn't mind that one bit.


----------



## BAYLOR

More Superheroes ?


----------



## Harpo

BAYLOR said:


> More Superheroes ?


Shang Chi looks like it’ll be a big success. But perhaps we should think about inventing our own superheroes - Spam-Man, The Credible Human, Captain Local, and of course Annoia, the goddess of stuck drawers.


----------



## BAYLOR

Harpo said:


> Shang Chi looks like it’ll be a big success. But perhaps we should think about inventing our own superheroes - Spam-Man, The Credible Human, Captain Local, and of course Annoia, the goddess of stuck drawers.



Or the superhero  luminary known as *The Amazing Sparking Man.   *


----------



## Vince W

Big budget DIY films. Birdhouse. Birdhouse 2: The Finchening. Dog House Day. Fort Apache: The Garden.


----------



## Harpo

Vince W said:


> Big budget DIY films. Birdhouse. Birdhouse 2: The Finchening. Dog House Day. Fort Apache: The Garden.


Not many DIY filmmakers have enough money for big budget anything.


----------



## BAYLOR

Historical fantasy movies?


----------



## Valtharius

Hope that peaks as soon as I finish my historical fantasy book.


----------



## Valtharius

Parson said:


> I also remember this clearly. I guess there could be some question as to how developed they were, (and I suspect that they were altered a lot as both he and the technology changed) but I don't think that there is any doubt that he had a 9 part series in mind.


Hamill has said Lucas told him he wanted to do 12 films! The quote is buried somewhere in the archives of Wikipedia, I can find it if you want.


----------



## Elckerlyc

I seriously hope that there *won't* be a Next Big Thing. I demand diversity! 
Diversity, with more attention to the Story and less to Implausible Action. Movies that require a functioning brain to watch, not one that needs you shutting it down.


----------



## Parson

BAYLOR said:


> Historical fantasy movies?



Isn't that an oxymoron "Historical Fantasy Movies?"


----------



## BAYLOR

Parson said:


> Isn't that an oxymoron "Historical Fantasy Movies?"



Good point .


----------



## BAYLOR

Maybe Beach Party movies will make a comeback.


----------



## BAYLOR

Epic Space sagas?


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Epic Space sagas?


----------



## BAYLOR

Big buget wide screen Infomercials.


----------



## Parson

BAYLOR said:


> Big buget wide screen Infomercials.


Big Thumbs Down. But it's entirely possible. (sigh!)


----------



## Vince W

BAYLOR said:


> Big buget wide screen Infomercials.


We've had those for decades. Product placement is a key element of filmmaking.


----------



## Fiberglass Cyborg

The next big thing will be the Charles Dickens Cinematic Universe (CDCU). After making films of all the actual novels, the studios will come up with sequels. "2 Much 2 Expect: Great Expectations 2." "A Tale of Four Cities." "Copperfield Hard With a Vengeance." "Little Dorritt 2: Electric Boogaloo." "Oliver Fakeout."


----------



## Fiberglass Cyborg

BAYLOR said:


> Big buget wide screen Infomercials.





Vince W said:


> We've had those for decades. Product placement is a key element of filmmaking.



Come to think of it, the single most ground-breaking work of modern cinema, the film that paved the way for everything to follow, was.....(drumroll)

...."Transformers: The Movie" (1986).


----------



## Venusian Broon

While waiting for _Dune_ this afternoon I saw the trailer for _The Eternals. _

Even although my heart sank and I vowed not to go and see it...

...we're never leaving the Superhero genre as the big thing in cinema, are we. 

(At least it feels like it.)


----------



## BAYLOR

Fiberglass Cyborg said:


> Come to think of it, the single most ground-breaking work of modern cinema, the film that paved the way for everything to follow, was.....(drumroll)
> 
> ...."Transformers: The Movie" (1986).



I can't disagree with that.


----------



## BAYLOR

Venusian Broon said:


> While waiting for _Dune_ this afternoon I saw the trailer for _The Eternals. _
> 
> Even although my heart sank and I vowed not to go and see it...
> 
> ...we're never leaving the Superhero genre as the big thing in cinema, are we.
> 
> (At least it feels like it.)


When I saw the trailer for * Eternals*, I kept thinking *Power Rangers .*


----------



## Justin Swanton

After superheroes, antisuperheroes, i.e. characters with great powers but no sense of great responsibility who are morose, cynical, jaded, unstable and who don't save the world but make things worse and who end up stumbling or flying erratically into the sunset asking themselves "What's it all about anyway?" In their wake diverse non-binary characters clean up their mess and project the Message.

Oh, wait, that's already happened to Star Wars.


----------



## AllanR

Vince W said:


> We've had those for decades. Product placement is a key element of filmmaking.


Decades isn't enough --https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56758376?fbclid=IwAR1DlX0R0uoB06VIYcYHi__Tw-UPNV9PdcqdHYveJOEd8MkSu7g1s1ZT7bc


----------



## BAYLOR

Justin Swanton said:


> After superheroes, antisuperheroes, i.e. characters with great powers but no sense of great responsibility who are morose, cynical, jaded, unstable and who don't save the world but make things worse and who end up stumbling or flying erratically into the sunset asking themselves "What's it all about anyway?" In their wake diverse non-binary characters clean up their mess and project the Message.
> 
> Oh, wait, that's already happened to Star Wars.



The Black Adam film with Dwayne Johnson might fit the antihero type of film.


----------



## BAYLOR

Well , we  are getting a 5th Indiana Jones film.


----------



## CupofJoe

BAYLOR said:


> Well , we  are getting a 5th Indiana Jones film.


And there is no truth in the rumour that is entitled "Indiana Jones and the Golden Walking Frame"


----------



## Thomasmariel

I think that fan films, especially on YouTube seem to be the new trend. There's a lot of Terminator fan films, and Transformers fan films, and of course, back in 2016, there was the Darth Maul fanfilm, which perhaps was the reason why so many fan films have since been made (just a guess)


----------



## BAYLOR

CupofJoe said:


> And there is no truth in the rumour that is entitled "Indiana Jones and the Golden Walking Frame"



I think at one point the working title was  *Indiana Jones and the Assisted Living House of Doom* .


----------



## Anthony Grate

I can't say I'm expecting this, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Hollywood execs move from comic book inspired material to older, animated source material. Already we've seen Smurfs films, G.I. Joe films, Transformers, etc. But there is soooo much content still untapped.


----------



## BAYLOR

Anthony Grate said:


> I can't say I'm expecting this, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Hollywood execs move from comic book inspired material to older, animated source material. Already we've seen Smurfs films, G.I. Joe films, Transformers, etc. But there is soooo much content still untapped.



Blackhawk


----------



## Anthony Grate

BAYLOR said:


> Blackhawk


Did you mean Blackstar?


----------



## BAYLOR

Anthony Grate said:


> Did you mean Blackstar?



 Blackstar The 1980's Filmation Sci fantasy tv series ? No,  Blackkawk is DC Comic series started 1941 elite  Air Pilots squadron , The series is still on going .


----------



## KGeo777

Politicians as superheroes.


Biden: The Man of Steal

etc


----------



## BAYLOR

KGeo777 said:


> Politicians as superheroes.
> 
> 
> Biden: The Man of Steal
> 
> etc



Fortunately ,Ive got lots of dvds  I can watch.


----------



## BAYLOR

Anthony Grate said:


> Did you mean Blackstar?



I know im quoting you again but something occurred to me .* Blackstar * actually would make a great feature film .


----------



## BAYLOR

There  are so many more bad tv shows that would make really good feature films  that have yet to be adapted.


----------



## Harpo

BAYLOR said:


> There  are so many more bad tv shows that would make really good feature films  that have yet to be adapted.


Especially old British sitcoms. The Dads Army film was remade a decade or so ago, it included the same vicar from the 1970s.
Many of those sitcoms had films made at the time, and if Dads Army can do it, why not Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge, etc etc.


----------



## BAYLOR

Harpo said:


> Especially old British sitcoms. The Dads Army film was remade a decade or so ago, it included the same vicar from the 1970s.
> Many of those sitcoms had films made at the time, and if Dads Army can do it, why not Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge, etc etc.



They did* Are You being Served  *The Movie in 1977 . The film wasn't bad.


----------



## BAYLOR

More Monsterverse movies?


----------



## Bramandin

Comic book movies are still going strong, or maybe I just saw a bunch of Spider-Man villains getting their own movies because the trailers were related.

I think they're going to stick to established characters, but they're probably going to go more mythology/historical after people get tired of the reboot/remake wagon.


----------



## BAYLOR

Bramandin said:


> Comic book movies are still going strong, or maybe I just saw a bunch of Spider-Man villains getting their own movies because the trailers were related.
> 
> I think they're going to stick to established characters, but they're probably going to go more mythology/historical after people get tired of the reboot/remake wagon.



I can think of lots of books that would make better films than what we're getting.


----------



## J-WO

More superheroes.
*Knocks back glass of scotch and stares at wall hopelessly*


----------



## BAYLOR

J-WO said:


> More superheroes.
> *Knocks back glass of scotch and stares at wall hopelessly*



It looks like this is going to be the trend for the next decade or two.


----------



## JunkMonkey

Harpo said:


> Especially old British sitcoms. The Dads Army film was remade a decade or so ago, it included the same vicar from the 1970s.
> Many of those sitcoms had films made at the time, and if Dads Army can do it, why not Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge, etc etc.



They _did_ make Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge films - and they were all pretty dire.


----------



## BAYLOR

JunkMonkey said:


> They _did_ make Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge films - and they were all pretty dire.



There was *Are Being Served The Movie*  in 1977  which I actually liked.


----------



## Bramandin

J-WO said:


> More superheroes.
> *Knocks back glass of scotch and stares at wall hopelessly*



I just watched some Youtuber rant about how bad Game of Thrones clones led to a slew of historical series about swordfighting where instead of low fantasy they made magic non-existent.  

What we need is something else that's breakout successful where bad clones are also going to be successful enough to keep the trend alive for awhile.  Didn't Star Trek manage to spawn a whole bunch of forgettable space operas like Andromeda?


----------



## BAYLOR

Bramandin said:


> I just watched some Youtuber rant about how bad Game of Thrones clones led to a slew of historical series about swordfighting where instead of low fantasy they made magic non-existent.
> 
> What we need is something else that's breakout successful where bad clones are also going to be successful enough to keep the trend alive for awhile.  Didn't Star Trek manage to spawn a whole bunch of forgettable space operas like Andromeda?



*The Iron King book series  *by  Maurice Druon A  7 book historical series was one the inspiration for game of Thones. It set in the Time of Phillip IV of France , He's  the King  who brought down the Templar Knights. The series spans seven books in All   and has been twice adapted for French television.


----------



## Harpo

JunkMonkey said:


> They _did_ make Steptoe, On The Buses, Porridge films - and they were all pretty dire.


You misunderstood, I was referring to the modern remake


----------



## JunkMonkey

By all accounts (I have not seen it) it was pretty dire too.   I've not seen it because I didn't like the original series in the slightest.  The trouble with adapting a 30 minute time slot British sitcom - is that, once you strip out the opening and closing credits, they probably only ran for 27 minutes - less for commercial TV which would have had an advert break in the middle:

I just pulled down a DVD of the first commercial TV sit com that came to hand.  Granada TV's Brass.  Episodes are 25: 22 minutes long opening credits are 36 seconds, end credits 1 minute. So 23: 46 scripted comedy.  Much as I love Brass a film version would be what 90+minutes? Four times the length.  Not sure the joke is sustainable for that long.  Most sitcoms are built to a pretty rigid structure and rely on stock situations and stock responses to them from their characters.  Fine once a week.  Stretched that out to feature length is always going to be difficult.

I think I can safely predict the Next Big Thing is NOT going to be film versions of out of date TV sitcoms.


----------



## Bramandin

JunkMonkey said:


> By all accounts (I have not seen it) it was pretty dire too.   I've not seen it because I didn't like the original series in the slightest.  The trouble with adapting a 30 minute time slot British sitcom - is that, once you strip out the opening and closing credits, they probably only ran for 27 minutes - less for commercial TV which would have had an advert break in the middle:
> 
> I just pulled down a DVD of the first commercial TV sit com that came to hand.  Granada TV's Brass.  Episodes are 25: 22 minutes long opening credits are 36 seconds, end credits 1 minute. So 23: 46 scripted comedy.  Much as I love Brass a film version would be what 90+minutes? Four times the length.  Not sure the joke is sustainable for that long.  Most sitcoms are built to a pretty rigid structure and rely on stock situations and stock responses to them from their characters.  Fine once a week.  Stretched that out to feature length is always going to be difficult.
> 
> I think I can safely predict the Next Big Thing is NOT going to be film versions of out of date TV sitcoms.



Was Coneheads a sitcom?  Or was that a skit in a larger show?  A-team wasn't a sitcom, again not familiar with the source but it made for a good movie.  I guess I don't watch many sitcoms other than Frasier and Big Bang Theory, neither of which seems like something I'd want a large dose of.


----------



## BAYLOR

Bramandin said:


> Was Coneheads a sitcom?  Or was that a skit in a larger show?  A-team wasn't a sitcom, again not familiar with the source but it made for a good movie.  I guess I don't watch many sitcoms other than Frasier and Big Bang Theory, neither of which seems like something I'd want a large dose of.



It was an ongoing series  sketched  on  Saturday Night Live doing the Belushi /Ackroyd  era . There alos exists ans animated Conehead tv special does years after  the original Conehead sketch's .


----------



## Christine Wheelwright

Interesting that the original question was posted in 2016.  And it is now 2022.  So, the answer appears to be that there is no 'next big thing'.  We are stuck with superhero movies and always will be.

In a way it makes perfect sense.  The public dutifully trots out to watch them.  Why would a studio take a risk and produce anything else when there is a guaranteed $200M takings on a movie that costs $100M to make?  They know it is guaranteed because that is exactly what the movie before made, and the one before that, and the one before that.  Why would they change?  Why take a risk?


----------



## BAYLOR

Christine Wheelwright said:


> Interesting that the original question was posted in 2016.  And it is now 2022.  So, the answer appears to be that there is no 'next big thing'.  We are stuck with superhero movies and always will be.
> 
> In a way it makes perfect sense.  The public dutifully trots out to watch them.  Why would a studio take a risk and produce anything else when there is a guaranteed $200M takings on a movie that costs $100M to make?  They know it is guaranteed because that is exactly what the movie before made, and the one before that, and the one before that.  Why would they change?  Why take a risk?



Westerns were popular for several decades and then, they weren't.


----------



## Parson

Christine Wheelwright said:


> Interesting that the original question was posted in 2016.  And it is now 2022.  So, the answer appears to be that there is no 'next big thing'.  We are stuck with superhero movies and always will be.
> 
> In a way it makes perfect sense.  The public dutifully trots out to watch them.  Why would a studio take a risk and produce anything else when there is a guaranteed $200M takings on a movie that costs $100M to make?  They know it is guaranteed because that is exactly what the movie before made, and the one before that, and the one before that.  Why would they change?  Why take a risk?


I agree, but there is likely more to it. Other things to consider. (1) the increasing polarization of the world today might make film makers worry about doing something too contemporary. (2) the increasingly more lifelike CGI special effects make comic book action and violence much easier to put on film. (3) Western audiences are so jaded about real life heroes and villains that only stereotypical stuff plays. (4) perhaps in our present day human psyche there's a subconscious dread about the world which has us believe that only something superhuman could help.

*Edit: *On some further contemplation. I think we also have to make some allowance for streaming. There are a ton of different and some really, really good stories being told there. And these are a ton easier to get made than tradition movies.


----------



## Christine Wheelwright

Parson said:


> I agree, but there is likely more to it. Other things to consider. (1) the increasing polarization of the world today might make film makers worry about doing something too contemporary. (2) the increasingly more lifelike CGI special effects make comic book action and violence much easier to put on film. (3) Western audiences are so jaded about real life heroes and villains that only stereotypical stuff plays. (4) perhaps in our present day human psyche there's a subconscious dread about the world which has us believe that only something superhuman could help.



I think you make four very good points there, Parson.


----------



## JunkMonkey

Bramandin said:


> Was Coneheads a sitcom?  Or was that a skit in a larger show?  A-team wasn't a sitcom, again not familiar with the source but it made for a good movie.  I guess I don't watch many sitcoms other than Frasier and Big Bang Theory, neither of which seems like something I'd want a large dose of.



The A-Team was a longer format - and was much more like a film to start with.  Sitcoms tended to be studio bound, recorded before a live audience, and using the same end-on sets week after week.  Much more like plays than films though they would often have filmed insets (I'm talking about British sitcoms here).  The A-Team got out - ok it was the same three bits of road in Bronson Canyon but they got out of the studio and it was shot like a movie.  The transition to a bigger screen was more natural.


----------



## JunkMonkey

Christine Wheelwright said:


> I think you make four very good points there, Parson.



Agreed but number 4 has ALWAYS been there.  The superhero stories of today fill the same need that the fireside tales of goddesses and demigods that Homer told.


----------



## Bramandin

JunkMonkey said:


> The A-Team was a longer format - and was much more like a film to start with.  Sitcoms tended to be studio bound, recorded before a live audience, and using the same end-on sets week after week.  Much more like plays than films though they would often have filmed insets (I'm talking about British sitcoms here).  The A-Team got out - ok it was the same three bits of road in Bronson Canyon but they got out of the studio and it was shot like a movie.  The transition to a bigger screen was more natural.



Would that make Fraggle Rock a sitcom?  Either way, I would either love or hate for that to be made into a movie.  I think the Sesame Street crew managed to do some longer things.



BAYLOR said:


> It was an ongoing series  sketched  on  Saturday Night Live doing the Belushi /Ackroyd  era . There alos exists ans animated Conehead tv special does years after  the original Conehead sketch's .



That would explain why I don't know Coneheads.  I was pretty young when I watched the cartoon and I'm not sure how old I was when I was in the room while the movie was playing.


----------



## BAYLOR

Bramandin said:


> Would that make Fraggle Rock a sitcom?  Either way, I would either love or hate for that to be made into a movie.  I think the Sesame Street crew managed to do some longer things.
> 
> 
> 
> That would explain why I don't know Coneheads.  I was pretty young when I watched the cartoon and I'm not sure how old I was when I was in the room while the movie was playing.



The Conehead while entertaining and funny in some  places and has a grain of a story . Its Didn't really translate as a film. It lacked  the comic genius of the tv sketches .


----------



## JunkMonkey

I was thinking about this thread last night while watching Season One Episode One of  _Batwoman_ - and realising with sinking dread that each and every person in it wasn't going to die before the end of the episode but become a recurring character  - and I thought,  "The next big thing in movies... Superheroes _without_ Daddy Issues!" 

Has it been tried?


----------



## BAYLOR

Interest in  superhero films  seems to waning a bit.


----------



## CupofJoe

There are two Pinnocio films coming out this year...








						Twin films: How two new Pinocchio movies reflect a Hollywood trend
					

It's the latest in a long line of two films coming out about the same subject in the same year.



					www.bbc.co.uk


----------



## BAYLOR

CupofJoe said:


> There are two Pinnocio films coming out this year...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Twin films: How two new Pinocchio movies reflect a Hollywood trend
> 
> 
> It's the latest in a long line of two films coming out about the same subject in the same year.
> 
> 
> 
> www.bbc.co.uk



Could these films  be setting the stage for the future film  *Pinocchio Multiverse of Madness*?


----------



## Overread

My gods no!
That said its not abnormal. I've often noticed that you get a wave of a couple of films that seem to share very similar themes and ideas. I figure when news of a studio doing one kind of story; another might well jump on board thinking its the next hottest thing and might at least generate them healthy money. So you get two projects that "ape" each other somewhat. This is just a more blatant example and likely just because the source material is in the public domain .


----------



## Harpo

The other day, actor James Earl Jones retired from voicing Darth Vader, instead the voice will be done by AI using archive recordings of Jones’ voice.

And just today, it’s announced that Bruce Willis is selling his likeness rights so that Deepfake versions of Bruce Willis can appear in future films.

These two big-name instances are probably only the start of a new trend, and therefore a forthcoming Next Big Thing.
Retired actors giving permission for the continued use of their image and voice.


----------



## KGeo777

I think it is a sign of dying culture policies.
They are stuck on old brands. The logical thing is to encourage a younger generation to create anew--but they don't want to do that.
So they will end up with corporate cartoon parodies.
Already Disney is showing this with their new muppets which Frank Oz said was like a parody of the original.

In sports, you have to practice to be a good athlete. Art is the same--but they treat it like its something manufactured.
Not only will Bruce Willis be a deep fake, but so will the director and writer (in fact--it is rumored Disney uses an AI to create scripts now--they have to follow political whims of the moment).
I just cannot believe how devoid of common sense they are, and yet we are supposed to believe they must be smart because they have all the money and platform control.
It would help if they didn't hate the public.
"We hate you but pay attention to what we say or sing."

Actually the recent story about the James Madison flute is another facet of this.
Babylon Bee had a hilarious spoof of it--their headline was: Not To Be Outdone By Lizzo, Beyoncé Performs Concert Wearing George Washington's Teeth


----------



## Jeffbert

Impressive; most impressive. But you're not a Jedi yet. 


Whatever sells, that is what they will make. Sometimes they just make crap.    Now that they have scrapped the movie BATWOMAN (or was it BATGIRL?) people actually want to see it, knowing how bad it is.


----------



## KGeo777

It doesn't matter if it sells because it is subsidized. It is not supply demand. That's why they can blow money on political statements that no one cares about.
If economic populism was being followed, a Ruth Bader Ginsburg biography would never have been made. No one wanted it.

They are the opposite of populists in their decision-making.
 The smaller companies that used to exist were always sharper when it came to knowing their audiences.
They weren't trying to preach fake morality screeds and certainly not trying to do it to masses.
It used to be a given that "you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time," now the goal seems to be to displease all of the people all of the time.
Merit is actively discouraged in commercial art practices.


----------



## Teresa Edgerton

KGeo777 said:


> It would help if they didn't hate the public.


 For myself, I would never assume malice where simple greed would suffice.


----------



## BEN JOK

Foxbat said:


> Remakes, re-imaginings, reboots, resets...anything with _re _as a prefix.



What do you thing about the movie 
"The Last Survivors" by Arnaud Toussaint ? 
Do you see the beasts in this movie ? 
What about this ? 
And why on Amazon Prime, 
This movie is forbidden to +18 ?

If someone know...

I would like know some answers...


----------



## Extollager

Bick said:


> Period dramas of classic novels, with quality character actors next please... I can live in deluded hope!


That might just be possible, though I doubt it very much.  But a case could be made along these lines:

It appears that economic conditions are going to worsen for much of the First World (is that expression still used, and usable?).  War is liable to spread in Eastern Europe.  The value of one's money may continue to decline.  And so on.  It may be expected that anxiousness will increase.  Thus there could be an increasing appetite for movies about families and the making of new families (love, romance, courtship, marriage) that form safe places even while the world is hard and dark.  A lot of Dickens's writing would fit into this, but I wonder if free adaptations of novels by Charlotte M. Yonge might be made, too; now hardly known, they were popular in the Victorian period.  Also I think stories with a humorous element about characters triumphing over adversity in a difficult but not hopeless world might be appreciated.  Here again Victorian fiction could provide material or at least inspiration. 

Really, I sure don't know, but I have read that Trollope's novels became popular again in Britain during the 1939-1945 war. 

But I wonder if radio drama and comedy could catch on.  Suppose some studio gambled that people would give it a try if name actors did the voices and the writing was good.  Might people find that something as weird as listening to the radio with the lights low was refreshing?  Obviously the shows would be playable at differing times on your computer, phone etc., but maybe for only a few days.

I make no predictions here.


----------



## KGeo777

Teresa Edgerton said:


> For myself, I would never assume malice where simple greed would suffice.


I used to accept that theory in my more innocent days but then I realized it is impossible. They are not interested in maximizing profits--if they were, they wouldn't be reducing variety and banning content themes and characters. Maybe they aren't aware they are showing contempt for heritages and cultures, but ..actually I would say if one wants to gauge what the new trends might be, study politics. It follows the same pattern as movies. Aged brands, false advertising, and big disappointments.


----------



## Teresa Edgerton

And here I thought at my advanced years I was past the age of innocence, too.

Anyway, as you probably know already,  we aren't going to discuss politics.


----------



## Jeffbert

Extollager said:


> ...
> 
> But I wonder if radio drama and comedy could catch on.  Suppose some studio gambled that people would give it a try if name actors did the voices and the writing was good.  Might people find that something as weird as listening to the radio with the lights low was refreshing?  Obviously the shows would be playable at differing times on your computer, phone etc., but maybe for only a few days.
> 
> I make no predictions here.


I listened to A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION from the early 1980s until Garrison Keillor retired. Really enjoyed the so-called radio dramas, since they were comedies. But-- I could not simply close my eyes, etc., I found that I needed something to engage my eyes, even though I was listening to the radio. Also bought a CD set of radio scifi some years ago; WAR OF THE WORLDS, etc. Ran it once, and forgot it was still there.


----------



## Teresa Edgerton

For some years now, it has been against the rules to initiate or engage in political discussion on this forum.  I hope I have said that clearly enough this time, because I really would hate to have to remove any posts.


----------



## Vladd67

Extollager said:


> That might just be possible, though I doubt it very much.  But a case could be made along these lines:
> 
> It appears that economic conditions are going to worsen for much of the First World (is that expression still used, and usable?).  War is liable to spread in Eastern Europe.  The value of one's money may continue to decline.  And so on.  It may be expected that anxiousness will increase.  Thus there could be an increasing appetite for movies about families and the making of new families (love, romance, courtship, marriage) that form safe places even while the world is hard and dark.  A lot of Dickens's writing would fit into this, but I wonder if free adaptations of novels by Charlotte M. Yonge might be made, too; now hardly known, they were popular in the Victorian period.  Also I think stories with a humorous element about characters triumphing over adversity in a difficult but not hopeless world might be appreciated.  Here again Victorian fiction could provide material or at least inspiration.
> 
> Really, I sure don't know, but I have read that Trollope's novels became popular again in Britain during the 1939-1945 war.
> 
> But I wonder if radio drama and comedy could catch on.  Suppose some studio gambled that people would give it a try if name actors did the voices and the writing was good.  Might people find that something as weird as listening to the radio with the lights low was refreshing?  Obviously the shows would be playable at differing times on your computer, phone etc., but maybe for only a few days.
> 
> I make no predictions here.


I listen to a lot of radio drama and comedies, only now they are called podcasts.


----------



## Judderman

Harpo said:


> The other day, actor James Earl Jones retired from voicing Darth Vader, instead the voice will be done by AI using archive recordings of Jones’ voice.
> 
> And just today, it’s announced that Bruce Willis is selling his likeness rights so that Deepfake versions of Bruce Willis can appear in future films.
> 
> These two big-name instances are probably only the start of a new trend, and therefore a forthcoming Next Big Thing.
> Retired actors giving permission for the continued use of their image and voice.


Cheaper/less talented actors with past stars faces could lead to some horribly poor films and disappointments.


----------



## BAYLOR

Judderman said:


> Cheaper/less talented actors with past stars faces could lead to some horribly poor films and disappointments.



Id like to see  film both  Gary Cooper and John Wayne. Neither ever did a film together.


----------



## Vince W

Extollager said:


> But I wonder if radio drama and comedy could catch on.  Suppose some studio gambled that people would give it a try if name actors did the voices and the writing was good.  Might people find that something as weird as listening to the radio with the lights low was refreshing?  Obviously the shows would be playable at differing times on your computer, phone etc., but maybe for only a few days.
> 
> I make no predictions here.


Some of my fondest memories are of sitting next to the stereo/radio with massive headphones on listening to HHGTTG, Star Wars, and other sci-fi programmes. I still watch out for any interesting things on Radio 4.

Strangely, though, I don't find podcasts all that engaging.


----------



## Christine Wheelwright

KGeo777 said:


> I used to accept that theory in my more innocent days but then I realized it is impossible. They are not interested in maximizing profits--if they were, they wouldn't be reducing variety and banning content themes and characters. Maybe they aren't aware they are showing contempt for heritages and cultures, but ..actually I would say if one wants to gauge what the new trends might be, study politics. It follows the same pattern as movies. Aged brands, false advertising, and big disappointments.


Well, they certainly make good profits from churning out the same garbage time after time.  Striving for excellence is hit and miss - could be great, could cost you your job.  So we rarely see it from major studios these days.  I don't subscribe to your theory that posturing is more important to them than making money.  I am open to the idea that they are trying to create (mold) a market rather than cater to one.  Somewhat like the fashion industry for example.  Tell your customers what they want (which is obviously the stuff you wish to produce).


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## Extollager

In the States, at least, perhaps elsewhere too, differences about morality, culture, etc. exist.  I'm more ignorant of the movies and television than most people here at Chrons, but my impression is that Hollywood caters mostly to one end of the spectrum.  If that's so, there could be a lot of money to be made if studios, theater chains, publicity mechanisms, etc. understood and attracted audiences of the other end of the spectrum too.  There was a flurry of movies of the type I have in mind around 40 years ago that were by no means contemptible artistically and that, if I'm not mistaken, performed reasonably well at the box office.  I'm thinking of *Chariots of Fire*, *The Mission*, *Tender Mercies*, perhaps a few others.  I haven't looked up information about them, so maybe movies of this type didn't earn well; even if that were so, it could be that times have changed and they'd do better now.  I don't mean that the movies would have an overt religious or cultural agenda but that they would be friendly to audiences who are somewhat ignored by Hollywood.  It seems to me there might be stories to be told cinematically that would not require profanity and vulgar language, gruesome imagery, edgy agendas, and so on.  If the industry wanted to move in this direction, however, it should be prepared to make serious investments beyond one or two movies.  It might even be that a theater chain could become identified with movies of this type, but it could take a while for the target audience to realize that and to learn to trust it as a source of enjoyable entertainment and even artistic achievement.

I'm trying to respond to the question posed for this thread, which seems to invite thoughts about audiences, even "underserved" audiences.  I've focused on audiences in the United States in the previous paragraph, but realize that movies may make a lot of money elsewhere too.  So consider the implications of possible audiences here:


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## KGeo777

Christine Wheelwright said:


> Well, they certainly make good profits from churning out the same garbage time after time.  Striving for excellence is hit and miss - could be great, could cost you your job.  So we rarely see it from major studios these days.  I don't subscribe to your theory that posturing is more important to them than making money.  I am open to the idea that they are trying to create (mold) a market rather than cater to one.  Somewhat like the fashion industry for example.  Tell your customers what they want (which is obviously the stuff you wish to produce).


Hollywood Accounting means lying about business. This is in the dictionary because it is just taken as a normal thing in Hollywood.  They do not tell the truth about their business dealings. And if one does pay attention to their business reports, they routinely contradict themselves. "The best box office since 1992."   "The worst box office since 1982." "China is the most important market for Hollywood."  "China is not a market for Hollywood."
The only way it could be so incoherent is if they channel money through subsidies. No doubt money is printed or the taxpayer is providing the corporations with operational costs.
That's the only reasonable explanation I can see for how a Ruth Ginsberg or MOVIE 43 got made. There's no demand at all for that. Throwing away money.
It's like a pen manufacturer hitting on the scheme to sell pens that have no ink.  You just pretend you can write with it. A big seller no doubt.

The fashion industry and Hollywood are linked--they do tend to overlap in ownership. Especially these days.
Clothing is functional though and there is only so much you can do it with it for preaching insincere message. And there are still many small business clothing stores. Not the case with cultural media. Logically there should be many small media companies to fill the void left by Hollywood's abandonment but nothing is coming on my radar.
Alternative media projects that are labelled alternative tend to be pretty lame too--I don't think most media consumers want to be reminded of politics in their entertainment especially during economic hardships.

"I was feeling terrible about money but boy this Hunter Biden movie really cheered me up?"

It is such a mad house of creative incompetence. It's so simple to see if you just step away from it and watch from a  distance.  

 Hollywood is kind of like a Titanic sinking, and they think they can get the enthusiasm of the passengers by  offering free buckets of ice for their drinks (which cost double).


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## Jeffbert

Interesting discussion!


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## Mr Cairo

I think Westerns will make a resurgance


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## BAYLOR

Mr Cairo said:


> I think Westerns will make a resurgance



That's  actually starting to happen ever so slowly .

By the way Mr Cairo  , have you  ever seen the tvseries the *Wild Wild West*? if not your in for a treat. It ran for 4 Years 1965 to 1969 It's stem punk science fiction Western punk science fiction western. It's fun to watch.


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## Wayne Mack

Just a wild guess, but I wonder if the Webb telescope will spawn some space opera movies?


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## Jeffbert

I just finished the _*WWW*_ on DVD several months ago. Very entertaining. What's more, you know how many commercial interruptions, because the program segments all have animated exits and intros. I think there were 4 in all. 51+ minutes of content; the good ol' days.


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## Judderman

Kgeo those movies you mention made far more at the box office than their budget cost. Seems like they weren’t bad ideas.


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## Judderman

Perhaps animated movies will more and more be the box office hits?


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## Wayne Mack

Judderman said:


> Perhaps animated movies will more and more be the box office hits?


I wonder if animation may become indistinguishable from live action movies? Images and voices can be altered after the fact, backgrounds can be created. Why pay for a skilled actor when anyone can be the character on the screen?


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## BAYLOR

Wayne Mack said:


> I wonder if animation may become indistinguishable from live action movies? Images and voices can be altered after the fact, backgrounds can be created. Why pay for a skilled actor when anyone can be the character on the screen?



They can almost do that now.


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## Mr Cairo

BAYLOR said:


> That's  actually starting to happen ever so slowly .
> 
> By the way Mr Cairo  , have you  ever seen the tvseries the *Wild Wild West*? if not your in for a treat. It ran for 4 Years 1965 to 1969 It's stem punk science fiction Western punk science fiction western. It's fun to watch.



I did see a few episodes on youtube a few years ago at the same time as I caught up with Space 1999, Planet of the Apes, Seaquest and the Man from Atlantis.

I wasnt a massive fan of the Will Smith film but it did have its moments, there was another TV series that I kind of recall starring Bruce Cambell and I think John De Lancie, it had very much wild wild west vibe but that was another I recall quite enjoying.


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## BAYLOR

Mr Cairo said:


> I did see a few episodes on youtube a few years ago at the same time as I caught up with Space 1999, Planet of the Apes, Seaquest and the Man from Atlantis.
> 
> I wasnt a massive fan of the Will Smith film but it did have its moments, there was another TV series that I kind of recall starring Bruce Cambell and I think John De Lancie, it had very much wild wild west vibe but that was another I recall quite enjoying.



*The Adventures of Brisko County Jr* .


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## Mr Cairo

BAYLOR said:


> *The Adventures of Brisko County Jr* .


That's the one I may have to dig around and find those.


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## BAYLOR

The Avatar sequels?


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## Judderman

Exactly. There could be other animated films like that, but hopefully less garbage storylines.


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## paeng

I think they will continue rehashing franchises or getting them from other media, regardless of genre, as long as they can be done with lots of CGI to make them look expensive.


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## Vince W

What the world needs is a glorious feature length film of Blake’s 7 with vastly inferior practical sfx.


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## BAYLOR

Vince W said:


> What the world needs is a glorious feature length film of Blake’s 7 with vastly inferior practical sfx.



Id pay to see it !


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## BAYLOR

Judderman said:


> Exactly. There could be other animated films like that, but hopefully less garbage storylines.



Pixar let few films have been somewhat lackluster.


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