The first of this series (ignoring the introduction) focused on Star Trek: The Next Generation, a series that featured a new cast and even a new USS Enterprise. However, this wasn't the first attempt at a reboot for Star Trek. As mentioned in the first entry, the series made the jump from the boob tube to the silver screen in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This movie became the first of nine feature films, including a reboot movie in 2009. Each Star Trek movie had its strengths and weaknesses in varying amounts. Yet, it is Star Trek: The Motion Picture that had the highest gross at $$139,000,000 until the 2009 reboot. How?
As mentioned before, a new Star Trek series was being developed in the late Seventies. As the work continued, airing commitments fell through, though the door opened to turn the project into a movie. The original pilot script for Star Trek – Phase II got reworked for the big screen. The plot centred on an alien cloud making a beeline towards Earth. As Star Fleet worked to get a ship ready to intercept, a communication from the commander of a Klingon task force showed the danger of the cloud – three Klingon battlecruisers were obliterated one at a time despite their fearsome weaponry. Naturally, the job fell to Star Fleet's top vessel, an upgraded USS Enterprise.
However, the ship wasn't helmed by James T. Kirk. Kirk had accepted a promotion to Admiral after successfully completing the Enterprise's five year mission to find new worlds, seek out new life and new civilization, to boldly go where no man had gone before. In his stead was Captain Decker, a young man following Kirk's footsteps. Alas, for Decker, he got bumped from command when an admiral decided to get back into action.
After the crew, including fan favourites Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov and new crew member, the Deltan Ilia, arrived (via shuttle, not transporter due to messy technical issues), the Enterprise left Earth's orbit to intercept the dangerous cloud. Along the way, a problem with the warp drive caused the Enterprise to enter a wormhole. The crew manages to escape it, but the imbalance in the nacelles makes even Warp Factor 1 a hazard. Fortunately, one man heard about the problem and arrived in a warpshuttle to assist. Mr. Spock, now retired from service to pursue the Vulcan state of Kohlinahr, docked with the Enterprise and provided his skills to get the ship warp-capable.
The Enterprise reached the alien cloud, who sent a probe to inspect the ship. During this, Chekov is injured trying to prevent the probe from downloading information on the defense of Earth and Ilya is killed, vapourized by a blast. Shortly, after a number of probes were launched from the Enterprise and lost, an intruder was detected in Ilya's quarters. Kirk, Decker, and a security team responded, only to discover a new probe taking the Deltan's form. The probe!Ilya explained that she was there to facilitate communications between the crew and the the alien cloud, now known as V'Ger. V'Ger's mission was to find the Creator and deliver all the information it had gathered.
After an unauthorized spacewalk by Spock, who used his trip to try to mind meld with V'Ger and got far more than he expected, a landing party consisting of half the ranking officers (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Decker, probe!Ilya included) made their way to V'Ger's core. There, they discover that V'Ger was really one of the Voyager probes launched from Earth in the Seventies. V'Ger's plan was to become one with the Creator, and did everything possible to force the Creator to go to it. In an act of heroic sacrifice, Decker took the place of the Creator and received all the information V'Ger collected, combining with the probe and Ilya to ascend.
Ultimately, the movie consisted of an extended Star Trek episode, with starship porn to help stretch the time to over two hours. Kirk's shuttle ride from Spacedock to the Enterprise included a long fly-by past, under, and over the starship before docking. Interstitial footage between scenes included loving passes over the Enterprise, to the point where the starship should have gotten billing in the credits. Later Star Trek movies would have a more intricate plot, more action, more humour, even better scripts. So how did an extended television pilot with extensive filler become the most financially successful (before 2009) Trek movie?
The key to the movie's success may be just in the timing. In 1977, Star Wars tore up box office records with an action-packed plot. Star Trek, though, was always a more cerebral series, even when there was action or humour. ("The Trouble With Tribbles" was obviously a warning about removing a species from its indiginous environment.) Also, in 1979, the original series had been in syndication for ten years, far longer than anyone would have expected. (And still is in syndication even now. Not bad for a show that lasted just three seasons.) The fanbase grew as a result. Conventions, fanzines, fanclubs (official and unofficial), comics – the demand for more Trek was there. Thanks to Star Wars, people had a taste of science fiction and wanted more, and Star Trek provided. The idea of watching a movie multiple times in the theatre helped; video cassette recorders were rare at the time so the option of purchasing a copy of a film after its theatre run was non-existant. Thus, possibly the weakest entry in the Star Trek movies has the best theatrical returns, proving that, if the demand is there and effort is made, the fans will come.
Next time, take me out to the adaptation!
Lost in Translation 11 – Save Versus Illusion
Several weeks ago, this column looked at Dungeons & Dragons. During the 80s, one of the goals the creators had was creating a D&D movie. Gary Gygax, co-creator of the game, would mention the work being done towards this end in his guest column in Dragon, TSR's role-playing magazine. In 2000, the movie became a reality with Dungeons & Dragons.
The story revolved around two thieves who, while breaking into a wizard's lab to engage in some creative wealth distribution, ran into the mage's apprentice. She managed to stop the thieves; but, while doing so, overheard her master conspiring with the Big Bad of the movie to overthrow the queen. The three escape, running into a dwarf fighter (easily distinguished by his strength, armour, and lack of charisma). The foursome, who quickly become a quintet after a tavern scene, band together to thwart the villain and protect the wizard kingdom by going on a quest, gaining assistance from the elves. Alas, one of the thieves heroically sacrifices himself by fighting the villain's chief henchman (in a very one-sided battle) to let the rest of the party escape.
The main problem with converting a tabletop RPG to a movie is that the core audience may get several steps ahead of the heroes and can point out flaws both obvious and subtle in any plans they make. On top, the core audience will be expecting the story to reflect the in-game physics, the game's rules, accurately. Dungeons & Dragons tried hard to keep the game's mechanics in place, but rules designed to facilitate role-playing and problem solving don't always match up with the needs of storytelling and narrative flow. This became obvious when the party had to sneak past an eye-conic monster, the Beholder. For those not aware of what the monster is in-game, it is a challenge to medium level player characters (PCs), with eleven eyes, each capable of emitting its own effect ray, including an instant death beam. Assuming that the characters are the same level and taking an early scene where the mage cast a lightning bolt (a 3rd-level spell), the party is roughly around level five or six. (Higher, and the wizard would have tossed a more dangerous spell. Lower, and the wizard couldn't have cast the lightning bolt.) Five characters of fifth or sixth level would have been badly injured during a fight with just one Beholder. But, narratively, the monster has to be bypassed. The solution – an old trick; toss a rock past the guarding Beholder to make it zip off to go look. The patrolling Beholder was there to show how powerful the villain was, not to be fought, but the effect was the equivalent of the Dungeon Master (DM) realizing that he upped the difficulty too high and gave the PCs a chance to avoid getting killed when the quest barely began.
Related to the game mechanics is the setting. Technically, D&D can be used for any setting the DM creates. However, over the years, both TSR, the original publisher, and Wizard of the Coast, the company that bought the D&D property when TSR folded, have released various settings for the game, including Greyhawk (created by Gary Gygax for the original white box D&D), the Forgotten Realms (created by Ed Greenwood as his home campaign's setting), Krynn (created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman for the Dragonlance novels), Dark Sun (a post-apocalyptic setting that started PCs at third level because of the lethality), and Spelljammer (D&D in space!). Choosing any one of these settings would have added familiarity to D&D players watching the movie (though not necessarily the general audience). The decision, though, was to create a new setting, one where wizards ruled, with no ties to any of the existing settings. There may have been a plan to release a setting to go along with the movie, though no such product was ever produced outside a few articles in Dragon.
Casting turned into another issue with the movie. The main character was played by Justin Whalin, whose previous work was the role of the replacement Jimmy Olson on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He turned in a solid performance, though the script toyed with him multiclassing. His sidekick Snails was played by Marlon Wayans, and his death brought the wrong feeling to the audience. ("Yay, he's gone!" is not the emotion a director wants from an audience when a character important to the hero dies.) The wizard apprentice was played by Zoe McLellan, who also turned in a solid performance. The main villain was played by Jeremy Irons, who seemed to know just what sort of movie he was in and chewed the scenery. (He may have been channelling Raul Julia during filming.) The supporting cast did what they could for the most part, with Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor) playing an elven elder cleric. However, Thora Birch… Wooden is a good word. Whether it was from not having experience acting to a green screen or having problems with her wardrobe (her shoes looked difficult to move around in), her acting was stiff, reminicent of a high school play.
Did the movie succeed? Not really. Between some of the casting, the lack of familiar setting, and the difficulty of replicating game mechanics* and the necessity of game play to a different format caused several problems that couldn't be overcome. The cast all seemed to be in a different style of movie, from epic fantasy to fantasy comedy to B-movie serial. The early CGI effects were noticeable and could detract from the action. It's hard to tell if the people involved cared; there were attempts at bringing out iconic elements of the game and Gary Gygax had a cameo. Overall, the movie fell flat. A direct-to-DVD sequel that came out in the Oughties resolved many of the problems, though had a low budget to add a new issue.
(Anecdata time. I showed the movie on DVD to a friend who happily watched bad movies and MST3K and owned a copy of the Hong Kong live-action Dragonball movie with the reusable grenande. He couldn't get through it; the movie didn't fall into the so-bad-it's-good range he preferred.)
Next time, a reboot train to the stars.
* This isn't to say that all game mechanics aren't realistic. Avalon Hill's James Bond: 007 RPG reflected the action in the movies well and still holds up with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Other RPG designers have worked to have their mechanics reflect their subject (as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG did successfully). D&D, however, evolved from tabletop wargaming and still has artifacts from its heritage.
A brief look into the making of an entry
Inspired by Rob's "Launch or Lunch" series and needing some filler, I've put this together to show the thought processes (or lack thereof) into the "Lost in Translation" series.
The first step is brainstorming, either to get ideas for future entries or to place ideas for a specific subject down. I have a list of entries with one liners to remind me of the basic plan, and keep adding as I run into more adaptations, remakes, and reboots. In general, I try to limit myself to those that I have access to, either in my own collections or those that are easy to acquire; this holds for both the original and the remake since I compare the two. I also try to have a mix of well known and obscure so that readers don't lose patience when I indulge myself from time to time. I usually try to refresh my knowledge by reading/watching/listening/playing both to keep comparisons fresh. One of the best things about DVDs over video is the commentary track; a good commentary will include insights from the participants about why decisions were made.
From brainstorming comes the decision; which reboot to examine. This can be one of the toughest choices. Sometimes I have ideas for multiple entries and can only work on just one at a time. (I'd try multiple entries at once, but I'd need a second set of arms to work the second keyboard.) Once that choice is made, I mull over the approach I want to take. A typical entry includes the history of the original, sometimes the background of the creator or creators, what happened with the original material, when the adaptation/reboot/remake (ARR from here on), the problems the ARR faced, and whether those problems were resolved, avoided, or appeared. The first draft can have some tense issues as I jump between past and present, and will have question marks throughout as I mark the text for later fact checking.
Once I'm satisfied with the first draft, I go through it again, cleaning grammar and spelling and noting down in a separate file what details need to be clarified. I usually let the first draft sit for a bit so I don't gloss over errors by accident. (That's right; all errors you see have a matte finish!) Oh, and I check for inappropriate humour. An entry about a comedic subject, like The Naked Gun, will have comedic asides and a lighter tone than a more serious subject, like Battlestar Galactica.
The fact checking is mostly to confirm dates. Any other details are taken either from the source directly or a reliable secondary source. When either the ARR or the original is hard to track down, I do rely on Internet sources, but backed up by my existing knowledge to avoid embarassing mistakes, like saying The Blues Brothers came out in 2008. I am well aware of the problem of wikiality. Fortunately, most of my list can be verified easily. An odd case coming up is the BattleTech animated series, where, because the series isn't readily available, I'm relying on a sourcebook produced in support of the show for the original game. Another case, also to come eventually, is the Heavy Gear animated series, where it's easier to ask the members of Dream Pod 9, the publishers of the wargame, and the Pod Corps, their demo team, about the series. Networking – good for blogs, good for me!
Now I've come to the hardest parts of the entries – the title and the tagline. I'm regretting the cliffhangereque approach I've taken, laying down a hint of what's next instead of just saying it outright. It's easy to use "boldly go where no reboot has gone before" and still expect people to realize what's next. Coming up with a tag for the BattleTech and Heavy Gear adapations will be harder due to their relative obscurity. The titles aren't much easier. Some are fairly obvious, such as the Casino Royale entry, "Number 007 – Licence to Reboot". Others, not so much. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have thought this through a bit more. C'est la vie.
The last thing I do before scheduling the post, after all the read overs, fact checking, corrections, corrections of corrections, and questioning myself for starting this, is figure out a decent order. I want to make sure I don't do too much the same over and over, like two Star Trek entries in a row, or two RPG adaptations one after the other. Variety is the spice of life. I want to make sure failures are examined as well as successes, as long as the sanity loss isn't too great. In my to-do file, I keep a list of what I've done, what's in draft, what's on deck, and the untouched. By examining the completed entry list, I can tell what I've focused on too much or too little and use that to pick what to write about next.
Finally, the scheduling. I take this as one last spellcheck, though I sometimes disagree with my browser on spellings; tends to be a grey area. I add bolding and italics as needed, add hyperlinks, fix formatting, generally use the posting to administer final touches. Then I schedule and ignore the entry until it appears on its appointed date. Or panic if the system messed up and posted immediately. Mainly ignore.
I am trying to create a buffer. It's very useful and prevents a panic when a Saturday approaches and there's nothing. I'm a bit remiss, but life events tend to trump the entry. The main buffer I'll need will be in November, where NaNoWriMo will eat my brain like a zombie ninja. Maybe a zombie pirate T-rex ninja. Anyway, yeah, buffer. The more, the better.
For those wondering what I use to write the entries, well, brace yourself. Notepad. Yep, a basic text editor. It opens quickly, doesn't have formatting issues when doing a copy and paste (except for weirdly placed carriage returns/line feeds, which is easily fixed after the paste), and forces me to make the final read through to catch all the markings I made while typing. And part of it is force of habit from writing fanfiction in the Usenet days. Text-only was the default then.
And, before I end, a note about success. I've realized that I haven't really defined what a successful ARR is. There's the obvious – the ARR made money. The Phantom Menace definitely qualifies there. Then there's fan approval; fandom accepts the final product as being canon. The Phantom Menace, not as successful there as hoped, but Serenity definitely qualifies. So, what would a successful ARR be? Is it one that gains fan acceptance despite a poor general reception? One that is immensely successful in either ratings, sales, or box office receipts but is derided by fans? A mix?
And there you have it, a look behind the scenes. This way to the egress.
Next time, back into the dungeon.
Last week, I summarized the findings of the first ten weeks of reviewing adaptations/reboots/remakes (ARR, mateys). This week, in part to keep the length of the last week's entry a readable length and in part to build up my buffer, I'll be applying the findings to two different franchises.
First up, Jem and the Holograms. Surprisingly, this 1980s cartoon, which lasted three seasons, has not been remade, rebooted, or adapted. Considering that GI Joe had a movie and at least two cartoons and a number of comics, that Masters of the Universe had a movie and a reboot cartoon, and My Little Pony has been brought back in the form of new toys and a new series, someone has missed an opportunity.
A quick brainstorm (done on the bus, mainly) leads me to the following possibilities for an ARR:
– remake the cartoon as a new cartoon, same characters, just in the Teens instead of the 80s,
– reboot the cartoon, continuing from where it left off and ignore or even lampshade the new musical style and outfits, updating Synergy with more modern-futuristic tech,
– turn Jem and the Holograms into a virtual idol (since holograms are now doing such in Japan already), making the group into a real pop band,
– adapt the cartoon into a feature film, similar to /Spice World/ and /Josee & the Pussycats/,
– create a feature film that acknowledges the passage of time since the end of the cartoon, in a cross between rebooting and remaking, with a dash of adapting.
From the above list, the easiest is the first option. My preference, if I had a say, is the last option. It'd allow me to get some digs in at the music industry without taking swipes at certain celebrities' predicaments, self-imposed or otherwise. Jerrica would now be in charge of her studio, and has retired from performing. For some reason, she isn't legally able to perform, either as herself or as Jem. However, she can still write songs and misses being with her former bandmates and friends, who have scattered to the four winds after the Holograms broke up. Still, she feels that she has something she has to say, through song, and realizes that, while she can't perform, there's nothing preventing her from using a virtual idol to be her proxy. That's right, Synergy no longer transforms Jerrica into Jem; Synergy *is* Jem.
(Aside: This goes back to a discussion I had with Steve about Virtual Stars. If anything can launch a Virtual Star's career, it'll be this role. However, the movie can't focus on the Virtual Star. The movie is called Jem & the Holograms. We have to see the group, and Jerrica was the core of the original and should remain the focus.)
The movie would go on to show Jerrica searching for musicians for the New Holograms. One should be related to the lead of the Misfits, just to bring them into the movie. A new antagonist, a rival girl band, would be introduced. The musical styles of the New Holograms and their rivals should be distinct. As the New Holograms prepare for a battle of the bands, the original Holograms catch wind of what's happening and drop in to assist, setting aside old arguments for the sake of friendship. Evenutally, the climactic battle of the bands happens. Win or lose, the New Holograms remain together. At the end, though, the original Holograms sit down with Jerrica and play one of their classic songs as an acoustic, for their ears only.
Ideally, merchandising will occur. (Thanks, Rob, for mentioning this in your "Launch or Be Lunch" series.) The obvious CD/iTunes release, featuring songs performed in the movie, including the acoustic at the end, is obvious. Dolls (or action figures, or both!) of the New Holograms can be made. Hopefully, legal issues with the Virtual Star can be ironed out beforehand. (The Virtual Star's creative team may later want to produce merchandise of herself, too, so it'd be helpful to make sure that the Jem doll doesn't prevent a series of VS dolls, plushies, statuettes, and action figures.)
What could possibly go wrong? Well, lots. First, the above? Unless someone at Hasbro is feeling generous and adds me to the creative team for the movie, I'm better off writing that as a fanfic. Add to that, I would need to take a crash course in script writing (or have a few examples to work from or an assistant with a lot of patience). Then there's my lack of knowledge of the original cartoon; I want to respect the original, but without knowing who the characters are, I might as well create my own story with my own characters at this point. I will wind up with something that is Jem in name only. However, if I didn't care, well, I could have that outline easily expanded.
My next example is something I am far more familar with, being the creator. Back in 2000, I worked at an ISP as the phone firewall (read: tech support) for the DSL service. After a few months of working, I really wished that someone had created BttH over TCP/IP (that is, Boot to the Head over TCP/IP). Many callers really really needed one. It was a stressful job that killed my life and drained my soul. During this time, one way to combat the urge to smack people upside the head was to write about a character who would do just that. Subject 13 was born; a text-based comic featuring a 17 year old girl with a foul mouth and short temper who got the power to, well, hit people hard. After my contract wasn't renewed (and boy did that feel good a few hours later), I continued working on the storyline, changed the location, and forced the heroine to mature a little.
The first thing I have to figure out is format. The obvious format change is to make /Subject 13/ a comic; the premise involves super-heroes and a villainous organization that fits in alongside Marvel's Hellfire Club. (In fact, the S13-verse, as I sometimes refer to it, has expanded through various other projects to include a Teen Titans-like group, two powered armour users like Iron Man, and a foundation similar to FLAG from Knight Rider and the various Waybe charities from Batman. I have put a lot, possibly too much, thought into the setting.) Since super-heroics were the main thrust of the series, a comic is a perfect choice. The first "issue" could be easily compressed into three or four pages, showing how the main character, whose nickname is Nasty, got her powers and how she deals with the day to day. However, with Nasty's foul mouth and being in her own setting, the Big Two (Marvel and DC) are out (though DC's Vertigo line might accept her). Smaller, edgier companies are a possbility, as are manga-style lines from North American publishers. Or, as another possibility, Subject 13 could become a webcomic and not have to worry about the main character's vocabulary. The main problem, though, is my drawing skills. Specifically, the lack thereof.
In my wildest dreams, I could see the series being made into a TV show. Again, the big problem is the foul language. Too spicy for regular TV, and not enough sex and nudity for HBO. Of course, I could try turning the first arc into a movie, but I'd run into execs wanting a PG-13 movie to maximize the potential audience and the MPAA rating anything with excessive swearing (and Nasty is excessive) as an R. So, a proper movie is out, not without changing the main character too much. Animated, again, language, though a late night slot on a specialty channel could avoid the language issue. (And I could get my dream casting of Ricardo Montalban as the potentially recurring character, El Diablo Verde, a professional super-powered hitman. Really, when I was writing him, suddenly I heard Montalban's voice saying his lines.)
(Of course, I could just compile the issues into a book, either through traditional publishing or electronically. But, well, that means the example isn't an ARR. Still, not a bad idea. ^_^)
What could go wrong? As the original creator, I have a stake in seeing that the adaptation works. However, my lack of drawing skills and lack of experience in the business end of the entertainment industry are huge drawbacks. However, if I can find a willing artist, one who can work to a schedule so that we can build a proper buffer (me with writing, the artist with drawing) and find people with the right skills to build a webcomic site (and I do have the right contacts who can do that, thanks to previous experience running a convention), adapting Subject 13 as a webcomic seems to be the best idea. If there's enough of a following, a release of compiled strips, original stories not featured on the site, even an e-book of a NaNoWriMo story featuring Nasty and two other characters from the S13-verse are future possibilities.
Next time, a look into my mind. Be afraid.
Over the past ten weeks, I've looked at a variety of adaptations and reboots, most of which were successful to one degree or another. Most. In the successful cases, it is obvious that the main reason for the success was the care put into the making of the adaptation/reboot/remake (ARR for short). The care wasn't necessarily the only factor. Star Trek: The Next Generation had the luxury of not having a network watching over it, allowing the writers to explore more cerebral yet still interesting ideas. The Harry Potter franchise had the original creator (JK Rowling) maintaining some control over how Warner Brothers handle her creation. Casino Royale had a production company that respected the original work of Ian Fleming, who worked with Cubby Broccoli in earlier installments of the 007 franchise.
For the not-so-successful installments, the problems came from dashed fan expectations (The Phantom Menace and D&D 4th Edition). Note that both examples were still successful, at least monitarily. Fan reaction, though, was mixed. In the case of The Phantom Menace, some elements in the movie were not well received and others were caused by writing issues. With D&D 4th, a change in the core mechanics caused the fanbase to split. The game is very much playable, but earlier elements older fans came to expect had their importance diminished or were dropped completely.
Then there's Street Fighter. The movie had problems from the outset, adapting a fighting game, one that had an overall plot to the order of the fights, but the focus wasn't the story but the fighting. Adding to the problems were casting choices and a schizophrenic approach crossing between serious action movie and camp and back again. Yet, the movie is worth watching for Raul Julia alone, who seemed to know exactly what sort of movie he was in.
Based on the above, key elements to a successful ARR requires the original creators' input, a respect for the original material, and a respect for the fanbase. However, at times it may be necessary to place an editor in between the original creator and the adaptation, something The Phantom Menace needed and something /The Blues Brothers/ [link 10] did have. However, one subject examined, The Naked Gun brought up another criteria – format of the ARR. Of the first ten ARRs examined, four were in the same format as the original, five were from one medium to another, and one, "Number 7", was a parody/homage using the format of the original to tell its own story. The Naked Gun might be a textbook case of an adaptation finding the right format, going from TV series that needed full attention but might not get it to a movie that gets full attention.
Now aware of the new issue, let's take another look at the other four whose ARR that crossed media. Street Fighter started as a video game, became a movie. The change in media is actually a non-issue; the fairly simple plot – defeat M. Bison's minions in one-on-one martial arts battles throughout the world – is easily adapted to the silver screen. The movie cut out most of the prior battles, gave more depth to what M. Bison's evil plans were. Street Fighter's main problems were never really the change in format.
Harry Potter could have had problems, especially in the later books, as details were sacrificed to keep the films to a reasonable running time. The last book was split into two movies specifically as a result of the length of the novel. However, with Rowling working with the film team, this problem was avoided, though some plot-critical events were lost. The change in format was taken into account, though could have been a point of failure.
Casino Royale was both an adaptation of a novel and a reboot of the 007 film series. The movie counts as both a change and not a change in the format. The final result took some liberties with the original novel to make certain scenes more accessable to the viewing audience (for example, the change from baccarat to Texas Hold'em poker), but remained true to the spirit of the novel. Yet, it maintained the visual aspect of the previous 007 movies while showing Bond becoming the 00 agent we've seen. Casino Royale could be used as a showcase on how to both adapt and reboot a franchise properly.
The discussion for The Blues Brothers did take into account the change in format, but some retiration is deserved. The movie took a musical sketch from Saturday Night Live, one that lasted five to ten minutes, and expanded it to a feature film with a running time of over two hours, adding a plot, a background, a motive, and even antagonists for the main characters. As will be seen in the future, the difficulty of taking what could be a one-note gag and strethcing it is high and takes skill, something the writers, actors, musicians, director, and producer of The Blues Brothers had.
So, what makes for a successful ARR? Care in the translation ranks high. Having strong writing adds to the success. Having the original creator may or may not help. Doctor Who didn't have the original creator, but did have someone (Russell T. Davies) who wanted to see the show succeed and was aware of the show's history. Meanwhile, The Phantom Menace had George Lucas helming and writing, but fan acceptance is mixed. (Said acceptance seems to be age-based, too, based on a very small data set I've seen. Okay, mainly anecdata, but there may be a trend building that the younger set prefer the prequels to the originals. Your parsecage may vary.) Yet, Lucas obviously also wanted to see The Phantom Menace to succeed.
Unfortunately, I haven't reviewed enough ARR failures at this point to determine what doesn't work. So, be prepared. In the coming weeks, some bad adaptations will be looked at, for as long as my sanity prevails. To keep from delving too deep into the dregs of Hollywood (and other places), I'll add some also-rans, near-misses, and some successes into the mix. Why torture myself and all of you? 🙂
Next time, putting what we've discovered into practice.
(As part of Speak Out with Your Geek Out.)
Hi.
I don't really follow sports except during the playoffs if the Habs are there, though a baseball game's a great way to spend the afternoon.
I may not keep up on mainstream gossip on what Britney, Lindsay, or J-Lo are doing, though I'm sure they're nice once you get to know them.
I may not like current music or going out to crowded bars, but I do get together with friends.
Sometimes we watch anime or discuss the relevance of the plot twists in Doctor Who.
Sometimes, we just sit around the table and pretend to be someone else in an imaginary land.
In 1976, Dan Aykroyd introduced metalhead John Belushi to the blues. The two went on to form The Blues Brothers, a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live, singing blues standards to a crowd that normally didn't listen to such music. The duo then took the act out, performing at nightclubs, including their own afterhours club.
Aykroyd spent time working on a script to give the Blues Brothers a backstory. After judicious editing – Aykroyd went to great detail in his work – a filmable script for a full-length movie was produced. John Landis took the helm as the director of The Blues Brothers. The movie was released in 1980.
The plot was simple. Jake (Belushi) and Elwood (Aykroyd) Blues were asked by the nun who ran their old orphanage to earn the money needed to keep the orphanage open. She didn't want any tainted money; the money had to be properly earned. After a search for an idea and seeing the light, Jake and Elwood decided to get the band back together. The first half of the movie followed the Blues Brothers as they recruit the old band members and get instruments. The second half followed the band as they work to get the money at a variety of gigs, ending with a massive concert. During this, the Blues Brothers ran afoul of the law, starting with a speeding violation and expired licence and building up from there, the Illinois Neo-Nazis, the Good Ol' Boys country & western band, Jake's parole officer, and Jake's ex-fiancée. The action culminated in a massive chase involving the previously mentioned plus the Army, Coast Guard, Reserves, and state, county, and city law enforcement as the boys try to make the deadline to pay the orphanage's back taxes.
The plot, while basic, serves as the framework for the music. Ultimately, The Blues Brothers is a musical, featuring a number of blues artists, including John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles, showcasing a number of different blues styles. The soundtrack has placed consistantly in the top ten blues albums sold, reaching an audience that had never heard the blues or never considered the blues as listening material. The car chase through Chicago was recorded at speed, hitting over one hundred miles per hours, and setting a new bar for chase scenes for movies following.
The potential for trouble starts with taking a five minute musical sketch and stretching it to an over two hourrunning time. This issue was mentioned in the discussion of The Naked Gun, with the added problem of having almost no characterization of the Blues Brothers prior. The stretching problem would become a inevitable for any Saturday Night Live sketch made into a movie; sometimes, a gag can only go so far. Fortunately, Aykroyd's background work, much of which never was shown on screen, helped him work out the motives of the characters in the film. Staying true to the original sketch also helped; the sketch was all about the music, and so was the movie. It's easy to fill in much of the running time when all that needs to be done is link from song to song. Random destruction, such as police chase through a mall, also fills time, especially when the scene adds to the motivation of two of the pursuers.
The movie is an unqualified success, especially at the core reason it was made; to get a wider audience for the blues. By staying focused on that goal and adding action and comedy elements to attract an audience that wouldn't normally go to a musical, The Blues Brothers will remain a classic.
Next, a look back at what we've discovered so far.
(Apoloigies for the delay. I messed up the scheduling.)
In 1967, Patrick McGoohan produced and starred in one of television's most surreal and thought provoking series. The Prisoner featured the struggles of a former agent, referred to as Number 6, against the masters of the Village, a home for people who knew too much. Throughout the show, the balance between the needs of society and the needs of the individual were brought into contrast, with neither side really getting the upper hand. The Prisoner was conceived originally as a seven episode series, though the network, ITV, wanted more. Eventually, seventeen episodes were produced. The ending, "Fall Out", remains as one of the most discussed endings as fans of The Prisoner try to figure out what it meant.
Given the nature of the series, a remake would be daunting. There have been several attempts. One was a four book graphic novel series from DC, showing the Prisoner as still being in the Village, despite being free to leave. (His response, "Free to stay.") The graphic novels managed to convey some of the surreal essence, but created more questions. Another was a miniseries on AMC in 2009 that took the concept but made makor changes to the plotline.
As mentioned, remaking, rebooting, or adapting The Prisoner and keeping the right tone is difficult. Both sides, the Prisoner and the Village, need to be portrayed as having needs and goals; both sides must make gains and have some sympathy from viewers. Oddly, one TV series managed to do this.
In 1999, the CGI-animation series Reboot took on the challenge. Reboot started in 1994 as a light action-adventure series aimed at pre-teens and young teens. The show took place inside a computer called Mainframe, following the lives of the system's inhabitants. The main cast was Bob, an anti-virus program known as a Guardian, Dot, entrepreneur and later the command.com of the system, Enzo, Dot's little brother, and Frisket, Enzo's pet. These four protected Mainframe from the likes of Megabyte and Hexidecimal, sibling viruses, and their minions (Hack and Slash for Megabyte, SCSI for Hex).
The second season saw more mature writing slip in. New characters were introduced, including AndrAIa, a young game sprite with AI capabilities who slipped out of her game cube. A new threat also came into play, a virus called Daemon. Although Daemon was never shown, her web minions were, trying to invade Mainframe. Through an alliance with Megabyte, Bob was able to turn back the invasion. Once the system was safe, though, Megabyte turned on Mainframe's protector and hurled him into the Web.
After the end of the second season, ABC, the American network airing the show, dropped Reboot. YTV, a Canadian cable network specializing in youth programming, continued to back the series. This allowed Mainframe, the production company, to make a third season that turned darker. Season three was split into four arcs: the first showed young Enzo as he tried to be Mainframe's Guardian and ended with Enzo, AndrAIa, and Frisket leaving Mainframe in a game cube; the second showed the sprites, now compiled up, searching for their way home; the third brought back Bob, sailing with software pirates; and the fourth showed the battle to save Mainframe from Megabyte's predations.
During the first arc, the writers started playing with various parodies, including episode 3.1.3 "Firewall", a 007 parody. However, Episode 3.2.3, "Number 7", was the most daring of the second arc. Normally, in a game, sprites will double click their icon to reboot as part of the game to stop the User from winning. Outside the game, rebooting normally doesn't do anything. In "Number 7", after leaving yet another golf game, Enzo (now calling himself Matrix) and AndrAIa find themselves back in Mainframe. Except, it's not at all as it should be. AndrAIa suggests rebooting, in case Mainframe also was taken up into a game cube. Matrix hesitates, unsure and not wanting to return to being his younger self. They do so; Matrix becomes Megabyte, AndrAIa turns into Hexidecimal, and Frisket becomes SCSI.
At this point, music reminiscent of The Prisoner's starts playing. Matrix tries to figure out what is happening, but slips from time to time into Megabyte's voice, sometimes mid-sentence. He storms into Phong's office in a scene straight from The Prisoner's opening sequence, demanding answers from Bob. However, because Matrix couldn't keep his temper, Bob marks him for filing and deletion. Once again, in a scene taken from The Prisoner's opening sequence, Matrix is picked up like a file card and is taken by robotic arm to a filing cabinet. Matrix escapes by infecting the arm and making it drop him. (And, yes, during this, he did say, "I will not be pushed, filed, briefed, or deleted.") He smashes a vid window and is transported to a dark room, with two binomes (a 1 and a 0) on a teeter-totter with cameras, a jury of masked binomes, and Bob as the judge.
The episode then switched to its own version of "Fall Out", with Matrix trying to defend himself and the jury chanting "Guilty" before the sprite can say anything. Eventually, Matrix lets his temper get hold of himself and he swipes with Megabyte's claws, destroying the scene, leaving just a vid-window that shows his reflection. The Megabyte in the vid-window claims to be what Matrix fears the most, going viral when his code should be defending against viruses. Matrix destroys the vid-window and returns to his current form. Another vid-window appears, again reflecting the sprite. The Matrix in the window claims to be what he is afraid of, what he's become in his travels, older, unrecognizable by his friends and family in Mainframe. Matrix shoots the window, destroying it.
Footsteps are heard. Matrix says, "No, not you." From the shadows steps young Enzo, the original. The young Enzo claims to be what Matrix is afraid of, of what he was, small, weak, what Matrix had to shunt aside to survive in the games. Enzo then uses the classic line, "Be seeing you," complete with the the hand gesture. As he walks away, Rover, the Village's retrieval unit, engulfs Matrix.
The spoof of such a classic TV series could easily have fallen apart. The big risk was that many of the show's viewers would be far too young to know about The Prisoner. However, the writing team ensured that the lack of knowledge wouldn't hinder the plot. The Prisoner was a framework to tell a story about what Matrix feared the most and gave him the impetus to work out what he needed to. The addition of golf metaphors ("How's your back, Nine?") allowed the expected humour to come out despite the seriousness of the plot.
Overall, the parody worked. "Number 7" took the essence of The Prisoner but wasn't straitjacketed by it to tell its own story. Matrix matured, getting a new outlook on his digital life and on his mission.
Next time, stretching five minutes to two hours.
"Yes, it is very impressive, but that's not why we're here."
In 1982, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, collectively known as ZAZ, brought their brand of humour to the small screeen. Police Squad!, a parody of classic Quinn-Martin police procedural series, starred Leslie Nielsen as Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective-Lieutenant, Police Squad. The show was a torrent of jokes and gags subtle and blatant, from the opening titles to the freeze frame of the closing credits. Alas, the series lasted just six episodes. The network (ABC) claimed that the show required people to pay attention; their studies showed that most households used the TV as background noise, paying attention only time to time. The network may have had a point; in the first episode, if you missed Drebin's opening narration mentioning a rash of assaults of models that left them nude in laundromats on the west side of town that wasn't his assignment, seeing the laundry basket in his back seat in a later act would be confusing.
ZAZ continued making feature films. In 1988, they released The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, with Nielsen returning as Drebin. This time, ZAZ didn't have to worry about people not paying attention; at the theatre, people are paying to watch the movie. The jokes could get a little racier as well, though the Naked Gun series is relatively clean. With a larger budget, ZAZ got Ricardo Montalban to play the conniving villain who schemed to cause an international incident by killing the Queen of England, and Reggie Jackson, who was paid half a million for just three days of work. (I'd say Jackson was very convincing in his role as an outfielder for the Angels.)
Several running gags from the TV series were brought back for the movie, including having the guest star killed in an unusual manner. However, instead of killing Montalban in the opening credits, his character was killed at the climax of the movie in one of the more unusual deaths in cinematic history. (Fell off the upper deck of the stadium, run over by a bus, run over by a steamroller, and run over by the USC Trojan Marching Band playing "Louie, Louie". Heck of a way to go.) The sequels followed the pattern. Robert Goulet was the lucky actor to be killed both in the TV series (executed by firing squad) and Naked Gun 2-1/2: The Smell of Fear (knocked off the roof of a tall building, bounced off an awning to land safely on his feet, then mauled by a lion).
One of the main problems in bringing a TV series, especially a half-hour comedy, to the big screen is fleshing out the plot to last ninety to one hundred and twenty minutes. Fortunately, the ZAZ team had several movies already under their belt by the time Police Squad! aired, including Airplane! and Top Secret. On top, the entire purpose of Police Squad! was to spoof police procedurals, throwing in as many gags as possible during the running time. Extending both the plot and the number of gags was simple enough; adding a romantic subplot and a plot-relevant baseball game helped with both.
The adaptation to the movies benefited Police Squad!. The reputation ZAZ gained through their previous works brought in new viewers while the audience that had seen the show on TV could finally get more. Movie audiences would pay attention to what was on screen; the distraction of a busy home would not be a factor. Restrictions imposed by the network's Broadcast Standards and Practices could be ignored to a greater degree.
The Naked Gun is an unusual case in terms of movie adaptations. It was more finding the right format for Police Squad! than remaking it for the silver screen. Ultimately, the change of format was the best thing that could happen.
Next time, a twist for the column.
n 1953, a former British spy, on the eve of his wedding day, worked out his apprehension over his marriage by writing a story and, in the process, created one of the best known secret agents, James Bond. Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale gained popularity, leading to twelve novels and two collections short stories. In 1954, Casino Royale was made into its first adaptation as a CBS TV movie featuring the agent "Jimmie Bond". Later, in 1962, Cubby Broccoli, working with Fleming, adapted Dr. No as a theatrical release starring Sean Connery.
With the success of Dr. No, other 007 novels were adapted. The follow up, From Russia With Love, also remained faithful to the original novel. The third movie, Goldfinger, kept close to the original until the titular villain's plans were revealed. Goldfinger also marked the start of the success formula used in most of the 007 movies that followed, with car chases, gadgets, and beautiful women. Parodies, including the 1967 Casino Royale with Woody Allen, the 1966 Our Man Flint with James Coburn, and the 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery with Mike Myers came out, all inspired by the 007 movies. As a franchise, 007 was only recently topped by Harry Potter in terms of revenue.
In 2006, the James Bond franchise received a reboot, going back to the beginning to show how Bond became 007 in Casino Royale. Daniel Craig took over the role of Bond and brought the spy back to his roots in the novels as a newly appointed 00 agent. The movie followed the plot of the original novel closely. The changes made were more to account for viewers' knowledge and for dramatic effect; for example, baccarat, a game that turns on the draw of a card, was replaced with Texas Hold'em poker, which had gained a large following through televised games. Gone was the suave spy as portrayed by Roger Moore. Craig's 007 was more a blunt instrument, leaving a swath of disruption in his first mission. Bond was more human, dealing with insecurities and inexperience while trying to penetrate Quantum (replacing SMERSH from the original novel).
The new Casino Royale counts as both a reboot of the 007 franchise and an adaptation of the original novel. The risks were that fans wouldn't accept Daniel Craig as Bond, that the reboot would feel like a step backward after decades of a sophisticated and experienced 007, that too many changes were made. Keeping close to the original story helped; with Casino Royale the first 007 novel, the expectations of Bond as a new 00 agent were kept reasonable. The movie still had elements from previous movies that worked; a car chase that ended in a record number of rolls, gambling in the high society of Monte Carlo, and the beautiful foil Vesper. Events from Casino Royale continued into the following movie, Quantum of Solace, showing both Bond's human side and his evolving into the 007 of previous movies.
Once again, having a production team that cared for the property beyond the revenue generated helped. It would have been easy to use the title and created a plot out of random elements in the book, as had happened with Moonraker. Instead, EON continued its work in treating 007 with respect.
Next time, an adaptation finds its audience, in colour!
