DiCaprio in talks to Remake Neverending Story
Posted by Rodneyon 26. 02. 2009in News Chat
Was anyone really surprised when they created a sequel to Neverending Story.. twice? Seriously. The title says it all. Its Never Ending!! But what I honestly didn’t expect was that they might remake Neverending Story.
The irresistible Nerdy Bird tipped me off:
“The Kennedy/Marshall Co. (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and Leonard DiCaprio’s shingle Appian Way are in discussions with Warners about reviving the 25-year-old franchise with a modern spin,” said THR. No word on who would direct the new take but original producer Dieter Geissler is already on board.
I really don’t need them to remake this movie, but lets put it up to The Rules.
1) The original has to have a good story Wonderful story. Instant classic. Can’t say the same for the sequels or the two TV Series you didn’t know about that it spawned. But the movie was a fairy tale for the kid in all of us. Who didn’t want to ride a luck dragon and chase down bullies!
2) Majority of current audience hasn’t seen the original I don’t believe most of today’s audience will have seen this. My kids have because well.. they are MY kids. The failed sequels (Jack Black was in Part3) didn’t draw enough attention and the live action tv series only got 13 episodes.
3) Original has to be at least 20 years old Check.
4) The story would benefit from a modern telling The original has some dated 80s cheese in it, but frankly it holds up. I don’t think there would be a benefit in changing anything to make it modern.
Not that our rules will stop it from getting made, but it doesn’t need to by our standards. However, any movie can be remade and made better if its handled right. We don’t think it qualifies for a remake, but maybe someone will get in here and create an instant classic. I just don’t have hope that they can top the first.
If they do, I hope they cling to the idea that Bastion is reading a BOOK. I really don’t want to see an updated version where Bastion is playing a new fantastic online video game and finds out that he is affecting a fantasy world with his mouse.
Yet another film that is in no way in need of a remake. I will say it time and again. RE-RELEASE these films (digitally remastered) back into cinemas so that the younger generations can enjoy it like we did!
It will never happen though…
It wont happen, but not because it isnt a good idea, but that it is not financially fesable.
Remastered movies re-released only have one market. DVDs.
Why would anyone waste admission fees per person on a movie that they watched years ago when they could just watch it remastered on their fancy home theaters?
There just isn’t enough of a draw for re-releases in theaters. Star Wars is the only exception to that rule, but its fanbase was already itchy and drooling for more at the time.
Neverending story re-release? Won’t fill any theater.
digital remaster it? wtf its hella old….no one wants to see a movie that has puppets remastered….get real not like the whole planet has seen atreyu kick ass…time for a remake of a fantastic movie for kids…best part of the movie is when he is flying at the end on the dog and he see’s everyone he met along the way…bery very happy part.
Thats no dog. Its a luck dragon.
I loved this movie as a kid of course.
Went to go see it a few years back in the theater. Eek. It doesn’t hold up in the theater. It’d need to be remixed also, and that’s just not holding to the original anyway.
Wonder if the updated version will have Bastion reading a Kindle2 instead of an actual book. Anyway, I don’t mind a remake. Looking at DiCaprio’s company’s list of movies in production, this seems like an interesting fit… would like to see what they could do with it.
The original novel was 10 times better then any of the movies, and this is supposed to stick closer to the novel, so I say bring it on.
I tried reading the novel, and got about half way through. I don’t know if it’s the translation from German or what, but I had just finished reading Tolkien at the time, and going from a superior writer to that left me with very dry writing.
I just wonder if they’ll make Atreyu’s skin the color it is in the book.
I’m sorry… WHAT? Michael Ende is a better writer than Tolkien. I love The Lord of the Rings and the entire world he created, but his writing style is not what I would call superior. It’s more like eating a stale sandwich. There are delightfully tasty morsels within, and the overall effect is good, but you need to get your way through large portions of dry bread to get to them.
The book of the Neverending Story is brilliant.
I must say I agree with Andrew. I love LOTR also and Tolkien is unmatched as far as imagination and creativity goes. The entire fantasy genre owes much to him. But the writing of the books themselves? It’s got some moments of real beauty. I count the passage describing Gandalf’s death and resurrection as one of the most breathtaking in literature. But then there’s Tom Bombadil. And entire chapters devoted to hobbits smoking tobacco and hunting for rabbits. And just a lot of generally flowery, over-embellished descriptive writing. Ende’s writing is the opposite, simple, clear, expressive. Sometimes less is more.
I agree with Slushie. The original didn’t even cover half the book. As much as I loved the original I’m fine with a remake if it fits more into the movie.
He’ll probably read it on a Kindle.
i never read the book, but it usually is better than the film version in most cases.
Matt…it is ALWAYS better.
Not always. Jaws is a far better movie then book, and I enjoyed Starship Troopers ten times more then I enjoyed the book.
i said USUALLY not always.
oh my bad slushie, i thought your comment was a reference to mine, lol didnt catch that til after i pressed SUBMIT
Slushie your opinion is wrong, God told me.
Maybe they could re-release this in theaters if it was in 3-D. It’s the same thing they’re doing with the Toy Story movies.
The puppets and real effects in this movie is what made it so enjoyable. I think that feeling would be lost with CGI.
On a side note, I wish they would make a short of transformers using puppets in the beginning Transformers 2 just to see you know..
A combination of puppets and CGI would be nice. Isn’t that what they did in “Where the Wild Things Are?” It seems likely that they could do that, since I’m guessing any movie they make will be targeted not only at kids, but at their parents who would have fond memories of the days of puppetry.
I have been waiting for this forever. Now: Just don’t screw it up. Get the movie right this time.
The first movie ended just when, in the book, it’s about to get interesting…
Here are my hopes:
• Huge budget!
• Amazing screenwriters
• Trilogy like “Lord of the rings” shot back to back.
• Triple A director: Spielberg, Jackson or Del Toro. Suggentions?
• James Newton Howard: composer.
That would be AWESOME! Hollywood needs a new movie they can release a new chapter of every year, 3 years in a row.
Even though this could be a decent remake of a movie, nothing will compare to the original, so why remake it?
Oh give me a break. I love the original as much as anyone, but its FAR from perfect, and when compared to the novel its actually quite bad.
True that. I will always be sentimental about the original film (and it’s sequel by the way which was not really a sequel at all but more like some attempt to tack on the second half of the book that the first movie threw out-albeit with some major changes). It was an important part of my childhood and I still rock out to the so-bad-it’s-good 80′s synth-pop theme. But I also see it for what it is, which is a truncated hack job of a wonderful book. I would love a remake that was actually true to the book, now that Peter Jackson has actually set a standard for high-budget, faithful adaptations of fantasy novels that simply didn’t exist 25 years ago.
One thing I would love though? How about an updated cover of the original theme song to be played over the ending credits. Can you imagine the cheers from the Gen X/Gen Y crowd in the theater?
wahooman, you obviously never read the book.
I so hope they’ll stay closer to that this time.
Aww, I’m blushing. :)
Nothing will beat watching The Neverending Story, under a blanket, on a rainy day.
For me its Princess Bride. Yes I am a guy. ;)
I hope they don’t remake Princess Bride :|
is this gonna be like Final Fantasy? its NEVER final lol
This a movie that doesn’t need to get re-made, but re-released as many have said already.
Except that re-releasing it won’t make it ANY money as many more have already said.
If they can get a director like Guillermo Del Toro, then I’ll be stoked. I know, it’s a lot of wishful thinking, the guy’s got enough on his plate, but I can dream. Part of the movie’s charm, to me, is the puppets; I don’t want a version filled with nothing but CGI… but, alas, it’s not up to me.
I love the movie. I think it’s timeless… but at the same time, today’s kids probably wouldn’t feel the same. Good stories are meant to be retold for other generations, anyways, and this is one of them.
If not Guillermo Del Toro, then at least not Chris friggin’ Weitz as in the ill-fated Golden Compass. Leo, please make wise choices that respect the material.
Aww HELL no!
Slushie Man is right. NES is a classic movie, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to the book. I’m all in favour of a new movie that does justice to Michael Ende’s masterpiece.
Let’s see:
1 - A Childlike Empress who isn’t a limp, inert Damsel in Distress
2 - A genuinely dangerous Gmork with a scene in the City of Spooks
3 - No more harsh American accents. They sounded terrible…
Seriously? The book is better because it doesnt have American accents? I bet it did when an American read it.
That’s weak.
I’ve personally got no problem with American accents (or any accents) in a new film. But people with American accents who can actually act would be appreciated. Some of the acting in the original is really pretty snortable.
I’m younger than most of the original audience of the film, being only 17, but I’ve loved this movie since I was pretty much a baby.
It’s my favorite movie of ALL TIME and I really really hope that they makers of the re-make don’t screw this up or else I will be eternally upset.
I’m dying to read the book! I need to find it.
And on the flip side, someone said something about the Princess Bride? That is the most awful film I have ever been forced to watch (school project 2 years ago).
With all due respect—after reading the book—the movie lost its appeal to me.
However, most of you are correct: a remake of the original movie would be a disgrace. Because a remake of the original movie would be further bastardizing the book.
What we want is a film that does justice to Michael Ende’s original creation. Mind you, he requested that his name not be associated with the original movie because it diverted so greatly from the text. Did you know: Atreyu *gasp* is not even human? He’s a human-like being from the planes with purple skin and green hair.
I just want to see Grograman and the Desert of Colors. THEN I can die happy.
Close but no cigar. It was green skin and blue hair. That’s why he’s called a greenskin. He hunted the purple buffalo and wore a purple buffalo cloak though, so understandable mistake.
Agree 200% about Grograman and the Desert of Colors. But even more than that I want to see the glowing Perilin the Night Forest that the desert turns into at night.
Folks, the BOOK is great, the 1984 movie was total crap, not even close to the philosophy of the movie - I really hope they can do a “remake” of it, whicht deserves the name!
In a way a new movie isn’t a remake, because NOTHING of the whole trash that was made deserved to be called THE NEVERENDING STORY!
I love the movie! That was one of my favs as a little kid. I wanted to fly on the fluffy dragon!
I’d rather not have Leo anywhere near the thing, but whatever. If he fucks up, I’ll still have the movie that I love.
The book is very good, turning it into a movie is a good idea. It wouldn’t be a remake, it would be a new movie. Hope it happens.