Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski recently complained that he had to redraft his script for his upcoming remake of Forbidden Planet because websites were leaking material about it on the Internet, revealing plot details. He had to go back to the drawing board and wasn't impressed. You can read our original story here.
Strangely, considering this state of affairs, you would think he would be more circumspect about revealing new information to the general public, especially if he was so concerned when the plot leaked out the first time.
However, instead, he's basically revealed the entire story. According to Sci-Fi Wire, the Forbidden Planet remake is going to be very similar to the original 1956 version that was based loosely on Shakespeare's The Tempest and starred Leslie Neilson.
"We've actually decided to show more of the first ship when it first arrived 20 years earlier to sort of counterpoint what's happening in the present story," Straczynski said.” If you're a fan of the original, as I am, and have always been, I think it's very faithful to that."
It will however add more back-story to the original and leave open the possibility of a sequel.
So apart from a few extended sections, his remake will be, surprisingly, a remake. Will it be an all out science fiction action flick?:
"There's a little more action," he said, "but it's still a strong character piece, because it's based on The Tempest and the idea of a father whose daughter is being courted by, in the original play, sailors that are washed up on shore. You need to have that dynamic still in place to respect the original and the source material. So there's a fair amount of talking, but there's some really cool action pieces in it as well.
Sounds like there is a lot of money behind it too:
"Warners is very excited about it, thinks it's a big franchise for them and a huge budget, so they're very much oriented toward getting it done," he said.
Hopefully now that he's revealed the fact that the script is going to be very similar to the original film, he won't have to rush off and start another draft. Cynicism aside, I'm looking forward to a new version. If done right, a Forbidden Planet remake could be fantastic.
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