5 Films We've been waiting way too long for...
The Six Billion Dollar Man
Not sure if Mark Whahlberg is the right fit but we'll see I guess, I liked Lone Survivor and weirdly enough Spenser Confidential was okay. Many people will no doubt automatically assume this is based off the 70's TV show starring Lee Majors but its worth noting that this could be much closer in style and theme to the Martin Caidin novels, Cyborg.In the original novels Steve Austin is more Terminator than he is a tracksuit wearing, treadmill running hero. In the books the process of Steve Austin becoming a cyborg means a large degree of his humanity ceases to exist. This will probably give the film a much darker tone for modern times rather than the family friendly heroic traits presented in the much loved 70's TV show.
For those of us waiting for a new, bolder and fresher take on the Terminator franchise, this could be just the ticket while we wait, check out my previous post on the movie Upgrade if cyborgs and sci-fi are your bag.
What's the update
Last update from Wahlberg was that a script was very close to completion, all that's really needed is a firm greenlight to start production once the planets have aligned and everyone is happy, oh and the fact the world needs to get Covid-19 under control for cinemas to open again. This will probably mean a good few months of delay still. Failing that, could be another one destined to streaming if the film doesn't fit but would Walhburg sign up for that, who knows?
The Dambusters remake
After the epic Lord of the Rings franchise Peter Jackson surprised many with the announcement that he'd like to remake the 1955 Michael Anderson movie, The Dambusters about the daring WW2 night raids on the Dams in Germany to cripple Germanys manufacturing capability. Jackson it turns out is a huge ‘military aviation buff’ who just so happens to possess a fine collection of antique aircraft. The Dambusters remake was to be helmed by Christian Rivers from a script by Stephen Fry (yes that Stephen Fry).Trouble was afoot when initial financing for the proposed movie hit a brick wall and the film failed in its bid to secure funding.
Jackson was so keen on the project he invested a good chunk of change by first commissioning a script from Stephen Fry, then getting full size models of Lancaster aircraft cockpits built in China, not to mention investing in props and other WW2 artifacts including the original wooden bomb sight used by Plt Off John Fort on the Dams Raid of which he paid more than £40,000 for at auction.
What's the update?
Not much unfortunately, for now it looks like Jackson will continue to mothball the replica Lancaster cockpits and full size builds for a while longer since the failed funding effectively killed the project, however, if anyone had any doubts about the project itself and its relevance they only need to look at the success of Dunkirk, which, lets face it, hardly had a huge script and did stellar business. The Dambusters could find a home on one of the streaming networks either as a film or as a mini series. The Tom Hanks WW2 movie 'Greyhound' which was primarily CGi driven in scope actually did good business on Apple TV, the 91 minute film was made for a budget of $50Million with Apple snapping up distribution rights for $70 Million. Greyhound became the largest opening-weekend release ever for Apple TV+.
The Man of Steel sequel
Henry Cavill wasn't just bracing red fabric across his broad shoulders when he undertook the role of Superman, he was taking the weight of a franchise and much beloved character too. The sheer pressure on him must have been insane, but it turns out we had no reason to fear, Cavill proved to us all that he was more than cut out for the job at hand.
While Brandon Routh had a decent stab at the role prior to Cavill, the sheer physicality of Cavill and the efforts he put into transforming into Superman were incredible. An origin and Superman II rolled into one movie. More of Superman arrived in the form of Justice League, which as everyone knows was effectively destroyed by a simple moustache and Warner Bros dropping the ball on the FX work. It's no secret that Zack Snyders second bash at getting Justice in League into shape via HBO Max will give us a whole new creative vison on Justice League and the long awaited 'Snyder cut' with a better delivery of Superman. Beyond that we're still waiting for the official Man of Steel sequel which Warner Bros teased would see Cavill play Superman again.
What's the update?
In a December 2019 Mens Health article Cavill had this to say “The cape is still in the closet,” he said. “It’s still mine. I’m not going to sit quietly in the dark as all the stuff is going on. I’ve not given up the role. There’s a lot I have to give for Superman yet. A lot of storytelling to do. A lot of real, true depths to the honesty of the character I want to get into. I want to reflect the comic books. That’s important to me. There’s a lot of justice to be done for Superman. The status is: You’ll see.”
*UPDATE: As of March 2021 it's not set in stone if Cavill will don the cape again although he remains very interested, he has Mass Effect and the Witcher projects on simmer and Warner Bros handling of the DC franchise where Superman is concerned is abysmal.
The Last of Us
Traditionally, videogames converted into movies to tell either the same or similar 'inspired by' stories as their videogame counterpart on the silver screen have had a spotty track record at best, Tomb Raider was average at best, Doom was...meh and Assassins Creed was, well, never mind. So far its a rare occurrence for a game-to-film conversion to be worthy of viewing. Naughty Dog's post apocalyptic 3rd person survival game launched to huge acclaim in June 2013 on PS4, but here we are in 2021 waiting for one of the best told videogame stories to make its cinematic debut.
In terms of the games subject matter there's plenty already jamming up streaming platforms for your post apocalyptic fix, given that we've had a good fill of great storytelling with shows like The Walking Dead, and its spinoff as well as ZNation, Black Summer, and yes, while I realise these are all zombie shows they do still convey post-apocalyptic environments devoid of human life which is sort of my point - The story for the Last of Us has to be good in order to differentiate itself from this band of shows and avoid a 'genre tag'. In the game a A Cordyceps fungus has infected mankind turning them into aggressive creatures (oh god not Clickers!) that Joel and Ellie have to evade but also survive the brutal world they now find themselves in.
What's the Update?
Well for starters no movie, instead Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin is teaming up with Naughty Dog’s own Neil Druckmann to deliver the adaptation for the small screen for HBO as a series instead. This is good in that the series will have enough stories and characters to build out a schedule of episodes to deliver some great narrative - with a Craig Mazin involved this could give it the gravitas it so richly deserves since Chernobyl had some of the highest ratings for a tv show and The Last of Us videogame won over 200 Game of The Year awards.
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