Disney to Remake/ Reboot The Rocketeer

[Christopher]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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^I'm not under any illusions that it will happen, simply that it would be nice to see it happen if it did (the 'Pulp-verse, for want of a better expression).

Yeah, I know. I was just trying to find some way to comment on the subject that would be more substantial than just "Yeah, that'd be cool." And since I'm an analytical fellow, my reaction was to think about the logistics of making such a thing happen.

[Captaindemotion]

^Fair enough. And it saved me having to google the rights issue myself.

[Samurai8472]

Harvey wrote:

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Hopefully this will mean a decent Blu-Ray release of the original with some extras.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Ro.../28926/#Review


Well we got one last year for the 20th anniversary

I don't see a 25th anniversary blu ray being any different

[Dream]

DigificWriter wrote:

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Christopher, I guess I see a new Rocketeer film the same way that a lot of people saw The Amazing Spider-Man. I just don't see the point. However, I should probably take a wait-and-see approach, out of practicality, and stop complaining sight-unseen.

Yeah, I wouldn't be interested in another remake that spends the first hour on the origin that much. Why do just do a sequel to the original?

[Harvey]

Everyone is too old for a sequel to the original.

[Dream]

Harvey wrote:

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Everyone is too old for a sequel to the original.

They should just recast all the characters.

[Harvey]

The movie came out 21 years ago, and was a box office disappointment. Disney isn't doing another film to cater to the small audience that remembers the original (which includes me, but I have no illusions about my importance to the Hollywood studios).

[Christopher]

The original was 21 years ago -- and the new film would be at least a year from now, maybe longer. And again, the original film was not a success. It cost $40 million to make and only made $47 million domestically -- which makes it a pretty big flop. It's only at 61% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.3/10 on IMDb. I personally liked it well enough, but it's not some world-famous, timeless classic like Psycho, where you could come back decades later and do a direct sequel. It's a relatively minor film from a generation ago, and though it has its loyal fans, it isn't hugely popular or well-known among modern moviegoing audiences as a whole. So of course they're going to start over from scratch rather than doing a sequel.

EDIT: Or, what Harvey said.

[gblews]

They damn well better keep the "Randolph Scott" styled leather jacket -- one of the coolest things about the original.

[Professor Zoom]

DigificWriter wrote:

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I have just one question: why? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There's absolutely no reason to do this unless they plan on making it significantly different from the original.

$$$$$$$

That's the reason to do ANYTHING in Hollywood. And in this case, I'm GLAD they see $$ potential in the Rocketeer. I LOVED, ADORED the first movie and was disappointed it didn't do better. So, I look forward to this new one. Hopefully it will be similar in spirit.

And there's a a big difference between THIS remake and the Amazing Spiderman... 21 years difference.

[Christopher]

The Amazing Spider-Man is actually a very good movie, just what I wanted from a reboot -- something that took the concept in a different and fresh direction, that complemented the previous film series, that built on the elements of the comics that the previous films didn't make use of (like the mechanical webshooters) or handled poorly (like Gwen Stacy). Something that was comparably good in a very different way.

And I'd be happy to see a new Rocketeer movie that did the same, approaching the source material from a different angle and drawing on different aspects of it. The '91 film emphasized the action-adventure elements which were actually secondary to the comics, and downplayed the aspects tying into pulp literature and vintage Hollywood celebrity culture. So it certainly would be possible to do a version of the story that complemented the Johnston film in much the same way that Marc Webb's Spider-Man complements Sam Raimi's. Although I don't really expect that; more likely they'll just go the same action-adventure route and still avoid the pulpy stuff and the sexy stuff.

[Dream]

I think the big question will be will they get Johnston back as the director? Disney obviously has a working relationship with him since they hired him for Captain America.

[Gaith]

New Rule: anyone who thinks they're at all likely to pay to see a Rocketeer reboot, thus encouraging Hollywood to reboot/remake even more properties, is hereby disallowed from b****ing about the notion that we might get a Rocketeer reboot.

Corollary: anyone who paid to see the Spider-Man reboot is likewise totally banned from b****ing about this prospective one.

Remakes and reboots happen, people. Perceived lack of originality in entertainment =

[Christopher]

Dream wrote:

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I think the big question will be will they get Johnston back as the director? Disney obviously has a working relationship with him since they hired him for Captain America.

Why hire the same director to do a reboot? And would Johnston even want to revisit a property he last handled over two decades ago? Creators grow and change, you know. Sure, maybe he might like the opportunity to revisit it and try to make it work better this time, but he might not want anything more to do with it because it was from a different time in his life and career and he doesn't want to move backward.

And I wouldn't make any assumptions about his relationship with Disney, considering that they didn't hire him to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier. (He's currently making a thriller for Oren Peli's production company, for release by Universal, and he's rumored to be in line to direct Jurassic Park IV, which would be from Amblin and Universal.)

[Harvey]

Considering Johnston said this before the first movie opened:

Joe Johnston wrote:

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I told the Marvel guys that there is a character that I’m really interested in called ‘The Winter Soldier’ and that if, ‘you guys decide to make that picture I would definitely be interested.’ It’s the ‘Bucky’ Barnes story.

I'd say the fact that Disney is moving ahead with exactly this movie without Johnston involved doesn't indicate a great relationship between the two. Of course, it might just be a scheduling conflict...