The unnecessary reboot/remake of the week thread

[Jayson1]

I never SAW the appeal of those movies!

 

[Aragorn]

Dragon's Lair, the video game that wasn't really a video game -- it was a bunch of animated scenes and you had to move the joystick the right direction or press the correct button in order to not die and advance in the story -- is getting a live-action movie at Netflix and “Muppets Most Wanted” director James Bobin is reportedly in talks to direct. Ryan Reynolds is still attached to star.

 

[Starkers]

Dragon's Lair, the video game that wasn't really a video game -- it was a bunch of animated scenes and you had to move the joystick the right direction or press the correct button in order to not die and advance in the story -- is getting a live-action movie at Netflix and “Muppets Most Wanted” director James Bobin is reportedly in talks to direct. Ryan Reynolds is still attached to star.

God I hated that game in the arcade, never lasted more than 30 seconds on it!

 

[Aragorn]

God I hated that game in the arcade, never lasted more than 30 seconds on it!

There wasn't really anything you could do. It was either press the exact right thing at the right time or die. Space Ace and Cliff Hanger (which was actually Lupin III footage) were the other two games like Dragon's Lair.

 

[Set Harth]

ED 209, as long as there are no stairs.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Without googling, can I take it that Dark Horse has done Terminator v Predator?

There were some videogames too, although I'm surprised they haven't done a movie , especially seeing as the Alien franchise has already crossed over with Predator.

 

[the G-man]

There were some videogames too, although I'm surprised they haven't done a movie , especially seeing as the Alien franchise has already crossed over with Predator.

Would Cameron have to sign off on something like that?

 

[137th Gebirg]

I doubt it. To my recollection, he was pissed how Alien 3 wrecked his previous story and characters, essentially killing them all off. He had no more say in the direction of the franchise than Ridley Scott did after the first film. I suspect only the suits at 20th Century Fox have approval/veto powers of that scope. I could be completely wrong and 100% talking out my ass, but this is what I recall having been the case those many years ago.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I doubt it. To my recollection, he was pissed how Alien 3 wrecked his previous story and characters, essentially killing them all off. He had no more say in the direction of the franchise than Ridley Scott did after the first film. I suspect only the suits at 20th Century Fox have approval/veto powers of that scope. I could be completely wrong and 100% talking out my ass, but this is what I recall having been the case those many years ago.

I’m guessing @the G-man meant over the Terminator link rather than Alien.

 

[the G-man]

I’m guessing @the G-man meant over the Terminator link rather than Alien.

Presactly

 

[137th Gebirg]

Ah. Got it.

I suspect that it may be a similar situation, though. My knowledge of Terminator franchise history isn't as clear, so I did a Google search on it, "Was James Cameron involved in all the Terminator movies?" and its AI responded:

No, James Cameron was not involved in all the Terminator movies. He directed and co-wrote the first two films, The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). However, he had no direct involvement in the subsequent sequels: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), and Terminator Genisys (2015). He did return as a producer for Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), which served as a direct sequel to T2 and ignored the events of the intervening films.

However, this is, curiously, in direct conflict with what the general Terminator Wiki which says he did, in fact, have arguably-direct involvement with other projects:

Cameron was consulted for the 2015 film Terminator Genisys, a reboot branching off from the timeline of the original film. It was negatively received and performed poorly at the box-office. Cameron had a larger role as a producer of the 2019 film Terminator: Dark Fate, a direct sequel to T2 that ignores the three preceding films. Genisys was intended as the first installment in a planned trilogy, as was Dark Fate; however, both planned trilogies were cancelled due to the initial films' poor box-office performances.

Outside of the films, Cameron co-directed T2-3D: Battle Across Time, a 1996 theme park attraction. It was produced as the original sequel to T2 and reunited its main cast. A television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, was developed without Cameron's involvement and aired from 2008 to 2009. It was also produced as a T2 sequel, taking place in an alternate timeline that ignores the third film and subsequent events. Terminator Zero, an anime series, premiered in August 2024. The franchise has also inspired several lines of comic books since 1988, and numerous video games since 1991. By 2010, the franchise had generated $3 billion in revenue.

The general rule is that the company owns everything, but maybe he does have some contractually-codified allowance for creative input. I honestly don't know.

Update:

So, further reading of the Wiki says this:

Before the first film was created, director James Cameron sold the rights for $1 to Gale Anne Hurd, his future wife, who produced the film, under the strict provision that he be allowed to direct it. Hemdale Film Corporation also became a 50-percent owner of the franchise rights, until its share was sold in 1990 to Carolco Pictures, a company founded by Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released a year later. Carolco filed for bankruptcy in 1995 and its library was subsequently acquired by StudioCanal, which continues to own the franchise today. However, the rights to future Terminator films were ultimately put up for auction. By that time, Cameron had become interested in making a Terminator 3 film. The rights were ultimately auctioned to Vajna in 1997, for $8 million. Vajna and Kassar spent another $8 million to purchase Hurd's half of the rights in 1998, becoming the full owners of the franchise. Hurd was initially opposed to the sale of the rights, while Cameron had lost interest in the franchise and a third film.

After the 2003 release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the franchise rights were sold in 2007 for about $25 million to The Halcyon Company, which produced Terminator Salvation in 2009. Later that year, the company faced legal issues and filed for bankruptcy, putting the franchise rights up for sale. The rights were valued at about $70 million. In 2010, the rights were sold for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund that was Halcyon's largest creditor. In 2012, the rights were sold to Megan Ellison and her production company Annapurna Pictures for less than $20 million, a lower price than what was previously offered. The low price was because of the possibility of Cameron regaining the rights in 2019, as a result of new North American copyright laws. Megan's brother David Ellison and Skydance Productions produced Terminator Genisys in 2015.

Cameron worked together with David Ellison to produce the 2019 film Terminator: Dark Fate. As the film neared its release, Hurd filed to terminate a copyright grant made 35 years earlier. Under this move, Hurd would again become a 50-percent owner of the rights with Cameron and Skydance could lose the rights to make any additional Terminator films beginning in November 2020, unless a new deal is worked out. Skydance responded that it had a deal in place with Cameron and that it "controls the rights to the Terminator franchise for the foreseeable future".

So, this is quite a bouncy ride on the rights of the franchise. This thing has changed more hands than a 19th century gold-rush boom town hooker. Looks like Skydance hold the rights currently, but under agreement with Cameron, and the dumpster fire with his ex-wife, Gale Anne Hurd, seems to have muddied the waters a bit.

One potentially cool thing - if the Paramount/Skydance merger goes through, it might possibly clear the way for a Trek/Terminator crossover.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Would Cameron have to sign off on something like that?

I'm guessing he would have the final say, yes, given that he's the creator of the Terminator series and all that. And if he wanted to, I'm sure he could even direct it.

 

[oktay]

Dave Bautista Circling ‘Road House 2’

Dave Bautista has an offer to appear in 'Road House 2,' but talks for the actor to join the Amazon MGM Studios sequel haven't begun yet.

deadline.com

 

[oktay]

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This film series is a reboot/remake of the 2008 film The Strangers, filmed as a trilogy.

and the first trailer is said to be released tomorrow.

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[oktay]

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[137th Gebirg]

Traditional cinema has been on life support since COVID. 20 years is generous, IMO. Which is fine with me, honestly. Instead of being more financially competitive with streaming services by lowering prices (what a concept!), they've only ballooned out of control, driving more people away who simply can't afford it anymore. The ticket prices by themselves aren't terribly egregious, but the snack/drink prices are patently absurd and have always outpaced baseline inflation growth. If the industry finally does collapse in on itself, they have only themselves to blame.

 

[Nerys Myk]

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This film series is a reboot/remake of the 2008 film The Strangers, filmed as a trilogy.

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There was a Chapter 1?

 

[oktay]

There was a Chapter 1?

Yes, it came out last year. It was originally written as a single 3.5 hour movie. But since 3.5 hours was too long for a horror movie, they decided to make 3 movies of 90 minutes each in a single script. All the movies were shot in 2022. Lionsgate makes movies's. The lead role is Madelaine Petsch from the Riverdale TV show. The first movie made $48 million at the box office with a budget of $8.5 million.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yes, it came out last year. It was originally written as a single 3.5 hour movie. But since 3.5 hours was too long for a horror movie, they decided to make 3 movies of 90 minutes each in a single script. All the movies were shot in 2022. Lionsgate makes movies's. The lead role is Madelaine Petsch from the Riverdale TV show. The first movie made $48 million at the box office with a budget of $8.5 million.

Flew under my radar. But it doesn't sound like my cup of tea anyway.

 

[oktay]

Traditional cinema has been on life support since COVID. 20 years is generous, IMO. Which is fine with me, honestly. Instead of being more financially competitive with streaming services by lowering prices (what a concept!), they've only ballooned out of control, driving more people away who simply can't afford it anymore. The ticket prices by themselves aren't terribly egregious, but the snack/drink prices are patently absurd and have always outpaced baseline inflation growth. If the industry finally does collapse in on itself, they have only themselves to blame.

Ticket prices in Türkiye have increased to 320-400 TL due to the bad economy. Consider that you pay 320-400 dollars for a movie in the USA, the situation is that bad and while ticket prices were more affordable in Turkey in 2018 and 70 million tickets were sold, last year it dropped to 30 million tickets.