What's next on the prequel gravy train?
September 20th 2008 13:56
GENERAL RAMBLINGS
George Lucas has started something, with prequel the buzz word in Hollywood right now.
Lucas made the idea popular in 1999 with his long-awaited follow-up to the smash hit Star Wars trilogy, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
While the movie was critically-panned, it made millions at the box-office purely because of the interest in Anakin Skywalker's transformation into the iconic evil-doer Darth Vadar.
But, you can go back 25-years to 1974 to find the preeminent prequel, Best Picture Oscar winner The Godfather: Part 2.
While it continued on from where Part 1 left off, Michael Corleone taking control of the family business, the movie featured considerable flashbacks to a young Vito Corleone (played in the original by Marlon Brando) and his rise through the mafia ranks.
Clammering movie producers are now seeing prequels as a way to breathe new life into waning franchises, whether they are directly related to the original series or not.
There's no better example than Batman Begins which wiped away the foul stench of 1997's Batman and Robin in one foul swoop in 2005.
It was a brilliant, fresh take on Bruce Wayne and how he came to be Batman - something that the earlier films, beginning with Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, never touched on.
Following director Christopher Nolan's lead with the Caped Crusader, a host of well-known characters have been and continue to be given a re-boot.
Notably, we've retraced the early steps of British spy James Bond in the slick Casino Royale (2006), with 007, played Daniel Craig, on his first mission.
Next year will see a newly-constructed USS Enterprise dock into cinemas in JJ Abrams' new Star Trek feature, with a young Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy Chekhov, Uhura and Sulu on board.
It's directed by JJ Abrams and stars relative unknown Chris Pine as the character made famous by William Shatner, as well as Eric Bana as the villain of the piece, a Romulan assasin named Nero.
The movie, to be released next May, will be the first Star Trek movie since Nemesis in 2002, the 10th in the series, and fourth featuring the second-rate Next Generation cast and characters.
While the movie itself may prove otherwise, it's a good move to try and reinvigerate a series that wasn't just tired, but looked dead and buried. I guess, it's kind of like the way Spock wasn't really dead at the end of The Wrath of Khan.
Following hot on the heels of that will be the first of many planned X-Men prequels, or origin stories as they are calling them, Wolverine, again starring Hugh Jackman as the clawed one, along with his sideburns. It's just rumour at this stage the sideys will be getting their own origin movie.
A stand-alone Megneto movie is also said to be in development.
The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit is also a goer with Mexian director Guillermo del Toro at the helm. It is in development, with a 2011 release expected.
Based on the book by JRR Tolkein, The Hobbit follows the early life of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's dear old uncle. He is thrown together with a bunch of dwarves as they try to take back treasure stolen by a dragon.
While there was just one book, apparently there will be two movies, with the second presumably including just how The Shire's favourite son came by that powerful, albeit evil, ring.
The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has co-written the screnplay.
While it won't have the same fanfare as the prequels previously mentioned, Fletch Won could be interesting. A prequel to Chevy Chase's cult comedy series of the 1980s about an investigative journalist who is a master of disguise has been mooted for a number of years now.
I personally loved the movies with Chase at his peak, but the way it's going its looking more and more like a straight-to-DVD kine of flick or worse still made-for-TV.
Scrubs' Zack Braff was rumoured to be in the running to play a young Fletch on his first big story, but the latest word is that Joshua Jackson, from Dawson's Creek, has the main part.
Other names bandied about have included Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Shia Labouff (Transformers), Dane Cook (Good Luck Chuck) and Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder).
Prequels, of course, don't always work though. A number have failed miserably in recent years, namely the promising but flawed Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), whose director Paul Schrader, was winched from the project near completion and replaced by Renny Harlin.
Then there was the under whelming Hannibal Rising, about everyone's favourite cannibal. Maybe there should be a remake of a prequel for that one.
So, discussion time. What's the best prequel? What's the worst?
Better still, what movie should have a prequel?
Lucas made the idea popular in 1999 with his long-awaited follow-up to the smash hit Star Wars trilogy, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
While the movie was critically-panned, it made millions at the box-office purely because of the interest in Anakin Skywalker's transformation into the iconic evil-doer Darth Vadar.
But, you can go back 25-years to 1974 to find the preeminent prequel, Best Picture Oscar winner The Godfather: Part 2.
While it continued on from where Part 1 left off, Michael Corleone taking control of the family business, the movie featured considerable flashbacks to a young Vito Corleone (played in the original by Marlon Brando) and his rise through the mafia ranks.
Clammering movie producers are now seeing prequels as a way to breathe new life into waning franchises, whether they are directly related to the original series or not.
There's no better example than Batman Begins which wiped away the foul stench of 1997's Batman and Robin in one foul swoop in 2005.
It was a brilliant, fresh take on Bruce Wayne and how he came to be Batman - something that the earlier films, beginning with Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, never touched on.
Following director Christopher Nolan's lead with the Caped Crusader, a host of well-known characters have been and continue to be given a re-boot.
Notably, we've retraced the early steps of British spy James Bond in the slick Casino Royale (2006), with 007, played Daniel Craig, on his first mission.
Zachary Quinto as the new Spock
It's directed by JJ Abrams and stars relative unknown Chris Pine as the character made famous by William Shatner, as well as Eric Bana as the villain of the piece, a Romulan assasin named Nero.
The movie, to be released next May, will be the first Star Trek movie since Nemesis in 2002, the 10th in the series, and fourth featuring the second-rate Next Generation cast and characters.
While the movie itself may prove otherwise, it's a good move to try and reinvigerate a series that wasn't just tired, but looked dead and buried. I guess, it's kind of like the way Spock wasn't really dead at the end of The Wrath of Khan.
Following hot on the heels of that will be the first of many planned X-Men prequels, or origin stories as they are calling them, Wolverine, again starring Hugh Jackman as the clawed one, along with his sideburns. It's just rumour at this stage the sideys will be getting their own origin movie.
A stand-alone Megneto movie is also said to be in development.
The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit is also a goer with Mexian director Guillermo del Toro at the helm. It is in development, with a 2011 release expected.
Based on the book by JRR Tolkein, The Hobbit follows the early life of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's dear old uncle. He is thrown together with a bunch of dwarves as they try to take back treasure stolen by a dragon.
While there was just one book, apparently there will be two movies, with the second presumably including just how The Shire's favourite son came by that powerful, albeit evil, ring.
The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has co-written the screnplay.
While it won't have the same fanfare as the prequels previously mentioned, Fletch Won could be interesting. A prequel to Chevy Chase's cult comedy series of the 1980s about an investigative journalist who is a master of disguise has been mooted for a number of years now.
I personally loved the movies with Chase at his peak, but the way it's going its looking more and more like a straight-to-DVD kine of flick or worse still made-for-TV.
Scrubs' Zack Braff was rumoured to be in the running to play a young Fletch on his first big story, but the latest word is that Joshua Jackson, from Dawson's Creek, has the main part.
Prequels, of course, don't always work though. A number have failed miserably in recent years, namely the promising but flawed Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), whose director Paul Schrader, was winched from the project near completion and replaced by Renny Harlin.
Then there was the under whelming Hannibal Rising, about everyone's favourite cannibal. Maybe there should be a remake of a prequel for that one.
So, discussion time. What's the best prequel? What's the worst?
Better still, what movie should have a prequel?
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