Moviefone Editorial

Tag: tv-adaption

  • ‘The Wicker Man’ TV Series in the Works

    Christopher Lee in Robin Hardy’s 'The Wicker Man' (1973).
    Christopher Lee in Robin Hardy’s ‘The Wicker Man’ (1973). Courtesy: Rialto Pictures/ Studiocanal.

    1973’s ‘The Wicker Man’ has long been seen as a horror classic, featuring memorable performances from Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee and some of the most famous iconography in the scary movie genre.

    The 2006 remake, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage, is more remembered for awful reviews and this meme moment.

    Putting a new spin on such a respected film is always a risk, then, which has you feeling for the team behind a new TV adaptation.

    In case you’re unaware, Robin Hardy’s film finds Woodward as Police Sergeant Neil Howle, who journeys by seaplane to the remote Hebridean Island of Summerisle off the coast of Scotland to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.

    The devout Christian is dismayed to find the Islanders (led by Lee’s Lord Summerisle) paying homage to the pagan Celtic gods of their ancestors and all hell breaks loose, ending in fiery tragedy…

    Andy Serkis’ The Imaginarium and Urban Myth Films are teaming up to produce the new TV take on the story, ready to put a new spin on the story, set in contemporary Britain.

    Nicolas Cage stars as Edward Malus in 2006's 'The Wicker Man.'
    Nicolas Cage stars as Edward Malus in 2006’s ‘The Wicker Man.’

    Howard Overman, who created British comedy drama ‘Misfits’ and a recent TV adaptation of ‘War of the Worlds’ (and is a partner in Urban Myth) is spearheading the writing for the new show. Overman says that the series will differ from the original, but “explore the same themes of sacrifice, superstition and ritual that were at its core.”

    The writer has shown a talent for delivering classic stories with new ideas, including an adaptation of Douglas Adams’ ‘Dirk Gently’ and the ‘Black Mirror’-esque ‘The One’, about a matchmaking service that uses DNA profiles to help people find their perfect match.

    According to Imaginarium co-founder Jonathan Cavendish, Overman has “created a bold, shocking and unique series, pulling the themes and terrifying power of the original ‘Wicker Man’ into a thrilling modern setting.”

    This is far from the first time that someone has explored the idea of a follow-up or new version of the tale.

    In 2000, ‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2’ director Joe Berlinger was announced as directing the remake, before LaBute took over. Christopher Lee expressed skepticism about the idea to Scotland’s ‘The Daily Record’: “I don’t believe in remakes. You can make a follow-up to a film, but to remake a movie with such history and success just doesn’t make sense to me.” Talk about prescient.

    And StudioCanal has been entertaining ideas for a new show since acquiring the rights in 2014. ‘It’s a Sin’ producer Red Production Company explored a deal previously, but now The Imaginarium and Urban Myth are actually moving forward.

    It’s very early days for this one, and the producers are about to start pitching the concept to broadcasters. So we’ll see if this one ends up on a traditional network (like the UK’s BBC or Channel 4) or one of the streaming services.

    A scene from 1973's 'The Wicker Man,' directed by Robin Hardy.
    A scene from 1973’s ‘The Wicker Man,’ directed by Robin Hardy.
    555 26232

  • Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters’ First Trailer

    We’ve had plenty of peeks at Rob Zombie’s movie adaptation of ‘The Munsters’ 1960s TV series, as the director has been posting plenty of images and making casting announcements as work as continued on the film.

    Now we have our first proper look at the movie as Zombie has put it up on YouTube.

    The original show, a satire of the sort of idealized American family life chronicled in the sitcoms of the era, it ran on CBS for 2 seasons between 1964 and 1966. It followed the Transylvanian-American family who reside at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights.

    Though it didn’t run too long, it was rebooted in the 1990s and spawned a few TV movies.

    Fred Gwynne starred as Herman, a Frankenstein’s Monster-style character, who is the breadwinner but doesn’t always make the smartest decisions. Yvonne De Carlo played his vampire wife Lily, who often sets her husband straight, while Al Lewis is Lily’s Dracula-alike father Grandpa, who longs for the good old days in Transylvania.

    This unusual – but friendly – clan is completed by Butch Patrick’s Eddie, the werewolf son of Herman and Lily and the family’s niece Marilyn, played by Pat Priest, who is a regular human and considered the “ugly duckling”.

    Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman, and Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa in director Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters.'
    (L to R) Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman, and Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa in director Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters.’ Photo courtesy of robzombie.com.

    For the movie, Zombie has recruited some of his regular players, including wife Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman and Daniel Roebuck playing Grandpa.

    The cast includes Sylvester McCoy as Igor, Catherine Schell as Zoya Krupp, Jorge Garcia as Floop and Tomas Boykin as Lester.

    Writer/director Zombie has also found room for some of the original cast, with Butch Patrick and Pat Priest both showing up. Horror icon Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson will also show up along with Richard Brake and Jeremy Wheeler.

    It’s somewhat surprising to see Zombie – the rocker-turned-filmmaker who is more known for the gruesome likes of ‘House of 1000 Corpses’, ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ and the 2007 reboot of ‘Halloween’ going the family friend comedy horror route.

    Still, he’s gone on record as saying that this is an idea he’s been chasing for 20 years, and it certainly appears from this trailer that Zombie has fully embraced the wackiness of the original series, with its campy style. He’s even given it a full-color make-over to ensure it’s even more vibrant.

    This trailer promises “the greatest love story ever told” featuring some origin material of how Herman and Lily Met (looks like she once dated Nosferatu, but it didn’t work out) and riffs on the show’s opening credits to keep the story going.

    Will the loose style put some people off? It’s possible and this is sure to be divisive, but we doubt Zombie will care since he’s finally gotten his passion project to screens.

    ‘The Munsters’ should be in theaters this September.

    Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters’ is scheduled for release in September 2022.
    Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters’ is scheduled for release in September 2022. Photo courtesy of robzombie.com.
    zi3GuBsX5ILYsx4GimyLZ4

  • Ryan Gosling Starring in ‘The Fall Guy’

    Ryan Gosling in 'The Gray Man.'
    Ryan Gosling in ‘The Gray Man.’ Photo: Paul Abell/Netflix © 2022. © 2022 Netflix, Inc.

    Given that he’s already played a stuntman twice before on screen – in 2011’s ‘Drive’ and 2012’s ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ – you might figure that Ryan Gosling would want to skip future movies about those who fling themselves into cinematic danger.

    Yet he’s ready to do it again, with Variety reporting that he’s set to lead an adaptation of the 1980s TV classic ‘The Fall Guy,’ featuring a character played by Lee Majors using his film set skills to fight crime.

    And David Leitch, a man who has spun a career as a successful stuntman into an even more impressive run of directing action movies, will be behind the camera for the new movie. He’ll bring his own experience to the idea, having spent years doubling the likes of Brad Pitt and Jean-Claude Van Damme before making movies such as ‘John Wick’, ‘Atomic Blonde’, ‘Deadpool 2’ and more.

    The original show, which was created by prolific TV producer Glen A. Larson (who also brought the world series such as ‘Buck Rogers’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Knight Rider’), ran between 1981 and 1986, and starred Majors as Colt Seavers.

    When his movie work starts to dry up Seavers pivots to become a bounty hunter, using all the know-how he’s acquired to craft film action to track down and defeat swindlers, thieves, bikers, conmen, fugitives, and corrupt officials. It’s essentially Larson taking his basic show concept and giving it another new twist.

    Majors starred alongside Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas as Colt’s colleagues Howie Munson and Jody Banks, who helped him out on his missions. Though the show was often a giant slab of ‘80s cheese TV, the concept clearly has legs.

    Heather Thomas and Lee Majors
    (L to R) Heather Thomas and Lee Majors in ‘The Fall Guy.’ Photo courtesy of IMDB.

    Dwayne Johnson was attached to star in a version back in 2013, which had McG on board to direct and a script from Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller.

    Word about Gosling and Leitch teaming up first broke back in 2020, though the movie was then simply listed as ‘untitled stuntman action drama’.

    We still don’t know all that much about how the new movie will channel the show. When Leitch and Gosling were first attached to the film, there was mention of Leitch’s ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ writer Drew Pearce (who also worked on ‘Iron Man 3’ and directed ‘Hotel Artemis’) tackling the screenplay, but Variety’s story doesn’t mention him.

    ‘The Fall Guy’ is all coming together partly because the Australian government is offering $45 million in incentives to have the movie shoot in Sydney.

    Leitch has ‘Bullet Train’ pulling into theaters on August 5th, while Gosling will next be seen in ‘The Gray Man’, the new action movie from directors Joe and Anthony Russo, which will be on limited release in theaters on July 15th, before landing on Netflix on July 22nd.

    He’s also been busy filming ‘Barbie’, which stars Margot Robbie and will be out on March 21st next year.

    8h5mgoemPd75xtMYvTgDR4