Posted Aug 27th 2008 3:20PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, The Office, Reality-Free
You read it correctly.
The Office is headed to the big screen. Except that it's not the American version. Nor is it the original British version. The German version, called
Stromberg,
is getting the movie treatment.
It will be an interesting experiment. If it is successful, I wonder if we'll see other franchises of
The Office hit the big screen? Gervais and Merchant wrapped up the storylines of the British version quite nicely in the final special, so I don't see that version hitting the theaters (but since no story ever truly ends, I could be proven wrong).
The stars of the NBC version, however, are currently movie stars in their own right (Yes, I am counting
The Rocker) and could possibly carry a movie version. However, at this stage a movie version would just interfere with the television version (much like
Steven Moffat said about Doctor Who) so I don't see a movie of the U.S. version anytime soon.
Posted Aug 25th 2008 12:41PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
Steven Moffat, the upcoming showrunner for the hit Brit sci-fi television series, has hinted
at a big-screen version of Doctor Who. Upon review of the article, I can only conclude that someone took an offhand statement made by Mr. Moffat and ran with it. Perhaps they're just mentioning it to gauge fan interest in such a project.
Rumors will fly, of course.
Doctor Who movies have been attempted since the days of Tom Baker as the lead role. Two out-of-continuity movies were made in the 1960s (based on William Hartnell episodes of the program) in which the Peter Cushing Doctor fought his greatest enemies, the Daleks.
If I had my druthers, I'd want to see a Paul McGann movie that fills in some of the gap between the 1996 movie and the Christopher Eccleston Doctor, but that's just me. Given the logistics of arranging such a thing, I'd put the odds of that happening somewhere between diddly and squat. Still, a movie about the Last Great Time War would be nice.
Posted Aug 5th 2008 2:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
We all know that studios go ga-ga for big screen movies based on TV shows. Even if they tank, there seems to be an unending appetite to bring a beloved (or even semi-beloved) TV show to a theater near you:
The Fugitive,
Charlie's Angels,
Transformers,
The Beverly Hillbillies,
Serenity (
Firefly),
The Simpsons,
South Park,
The Flintstones,
The Jetsons...the list is endless. Now Den of Geek has a list of
23 shows that studios are planning to bring to the big screen.
But this list is really incomplete in so many ways. We've all heard that
Magnum, P.I. might get the movie treatment, but this list only says that Matthew McConaughey might star and doesn't mention other people who have been rumored to have been attached to it in the past, including Ben Affleck and George Clooney.
Continue reading Coming to the big screen: Magnum, Wonder Woman ... and V?
Posted Aug 1st 2008 3:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Animation, Reality-Free
Why do I think this is going to be really bad?
Warner Brothers has decided to make a
big screen feature based on the Martin The Martin character, the little black and green guy who wanted to destroy Earth and/or Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in several cartoons. Now, a feature film based on the character wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but here's the sentence that sends a shiver down my spine:
Project will blend live action and CGI.*Ugh. They can't just do a straight animated movie, they have to have some sort of live element that just ruins it? The plot will have Marvin coming to Earth to destroy Christmas, only to get stuck in a box. Producers say the movie will be aimed at families and people who like movies that kinda suck. Of course, I truly hope I'm wrong. Marvin is a great, classic cartoon character.
*Another reason to hate that sentence: the idiotic writing style that
Variety uses.
Posted Jul 21st 2008 3:06PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Retro Squad, The X-Files, Reality-Free
Oh, I'll be there, probably on opening weekend, but something about the new X-Files flick makes me nervous as hell.
Maybe it's the fact that it has been ten years since the last movie, and I wonder if people are still interested in it enough to make it a hit (and push another movie into production). I also worry about the plot, since nothing much has been leaked about what the film is about, other than it involves snow, mysterious happenings, and Billy Connolly bleeding from the eyes.
No, the real reason I'm worried is that the movie has a "standalone" plot and is not part of the mythology arc from the show and the first movie. I think this could be a mistake.
Continue reading Why I'm nervous about the new X-Files movie
Posted Jul 18th 2008 4:26PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series
Since it's Star Trek Week here at TV Squad (the original series, that is), I thought I'd post the first official teaser poster ads for the movie that show what Chris Pine and Zachery Quinto look like as James. T. Kirk and Spock.
Now, it's wrong to judge a book by its cover, or in this case a movie from a teaser poster. But if we can judge the movie on the casting of one of the major parts and/or the makeup used on that actor, then this movie looks awesome. Quinto (Sylar on Heroes) is a terrific choice to play a younger Spock. I say "younger" and not "young" because Quinto is only a few years younger than Leonard Nimoy was when he debuted as Spock on NBC in the 60s. There's not a lot of info about the plot of the movie, only that it takes place before the original show and involves Starfleet, so I'm not sure exactly how young Kirk and Spock are supposed to be (plus we're talking about a half Vulcan here so getting into those details are probably pointless).
But what about the guy playing Kirk?
Continue reading Some new teaser posters for the Star Trek movie
Posted Jul 17th 2008 7:57AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TV on DVD, TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Reality-Free
I've never interviewed
Babylon 5 creator
J. Michael Straczynski and don't know him personally, but he sure seems like one classy guy. He recently posted a note on
his web site, giving readers his thoughts on more
Babylon 5 DVDs.
In short, he's against it. He feels that offerings like the TV movie,
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, and the straight-to-DVD story,
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, take away from the strength of the original TV series.
He writes that
The Lost Tales was commissioned at a $2 million budget, and they did the best they could with it. Apparently, the studio wasn't sure there was an audience for
Babylon 5. Silly studio.
Continue reading Straczynski: It's a Babylon 5 feature film or nothing
Posted Jul 16th 2008 11:24AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Reality-Free
Yet another BBC series is being adapted to American audiences. Only this time, it sounds like it's going to be a movie.
Universal Pictures
will be adapting the 1999 BBC series Second Sight which launched the career of Clive Owen. It will be produced by Angry Film's Don Murphy and Susan Montford. The story is about a homicide detective named Ross Tanner who suffers from a degenerative eye illness that leads to blindness and hallucinations. As a result, he must rely more on his intuition to solve crimes.
There have certainly been any number of American adaptations of British shows over time. Some are good and some are utter crap.
Second Sight does sound like a good premise (I've never seen the show), but I think the movie would have more credentials if they made sure to involve members of the original crew. I wonder if they'll get Clive Owen to reprise his role?
Posted Jul 12th 2008 10:34AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Lorenzo Semple Jr., the pilot writer of the
Batman television show of the 1960's (and writer of such movies as
Three Days of the Condor),
has written an article for Variety sharing his opinion of the Batman movie franchise. In it, he discusses the origins of the
Batman TV show.
Semple has a very enjoyable, erudite writing style. Here's an example: "...I am often asked what I think of the string of
Batman features which has followed. My answer disappoints. Truth is, I think only rarely about Warner's big-screen charades, for they are related to our antique effort in little beyond the eponymous title."
As one can guess, he doesn't really dig the new franchise. But Bob Kane,
Batman's creator, didn't really understand Frank Miller's famous
Batman comic book
The Dark Knight Returns, so I guess it's a generational thing.
The article is also a good history lesson regarding how the business of television worked at the time. Recommended reading.
Posted Jul 10th 2008 6:56PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Industry, TV on the Bigscreen, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
During the HBO's panel at the TCA Press Tour, executives Richard Plepler, Co-president, and Michael Lombardo, President of Programming and West Coast Operations, said they'd be interested in doing a
Sopranos movie and a second
Sex and the City movie. Plepler said that Warner Bros. and New Line are definitely interested in doing another
Sex and the City movie. They are trying to put something together, but there's no timeline. "Everyone associated with the project was really heartened by the fans and by the new fans to the show," Plepler said.
As far as a
Sopranos feature goes, Lombardo says HBO would be delighted to take part in it. He says that series creator David Chase is in France on vacation right now but, "If David wants to do it, we'd be delight to explore that."
When the executives were pressed about
Mad Men (rumors are abound that HBO turned down the show and AMC snatched it up), Lombardo said only this, "Heres the bottom line, it's a wonderful show and I wish it were on HBO. Matt [Weiner is] an extraordinary talent and I hope that one day, he'll do something for us."
Would you see another
Sex and the City movie? How about a
Sopranos movie?
Posted Jul 9th 2008 8:42PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
Last week,
the rumors about the Friends movie were shot down by Warners. Now, you can put
The Sopranos feature in the dead zone, too. Who's the voice of authority with the lowdown on what's really going on in David Chase's fevered mind? A psychiatrist, of course.
Okay, seriously, he's not a shrink, he just played one on
The Sopranos.
Director-actor Peter Bogdanovich was asked about a possible big-screen Sopranos and he said it's not going to happen.
"I spoke to David Chase a month ago, and he said no. He said he thought about it, and he can't figure out a way to do it. So I don't think it will ever happen. I don't think you can ever say never, but my hunch is it won't happen."
Bogdanovich should know. He played Dr. Melfi's psychiatrist, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg, and he spoke directly to Chase. No middle men, the big enchilada himself, the creator of
The Sopranos himself, told it to him straight.
Continue reading That Sopranos big screen movie? Fuggeddaboutit
Posted Jul 7th 2008 10:01AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: TV on DVD, TV on the Bigscreen, Contests and Giveaways, The X-Files, Reality-Free
Another giveaway today! This time we've got five copies of
The X-files: Revelations on DVD for five lucky, random commenters. The DVD is available in stores starting Tuesday.
To enter, leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, July 11 simply telling us how good you think the new
X-Files movie will be. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating how good/bad you think the new X-Files movie will be.
- The comment must be left before July 11, 2008 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Five winners will receive a The X-Files: Revelations on DVD (valued at $22.98).
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
Click
here for complete Official Rules.
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