July 24, 2005
The Island to be withdrawn?
Sounds a bit mad, but it could well be true, although quite frankly I don't see it getting that far and deals will be done before it ever gets near that stage, yet there is a fear that a Director of a 1979 movie may well seek a court injunction to do just that.
According to MovieTab (thanks for the heads up Devon):
Robert Fiveson, who directed the 1979 movie Clonus, has discovered some major similarities between his movie and The Island...In both movies, a male resident goes on the run when he discovers that the promised land is a lie, and that he’s part of a colony of clones being grown to harvest their organs when the rich human originals ail. Both feature an evil scientist keeping his project a secret from the public at all costs by sending assassins after the runner.
Fiveson isn’t eager to go to the courts, but is considering legal action after attending an advance screening of The Island.
Wow, and that really does sound close in storyline. I think it truly is difficult. I once heard said that there are only truly five stories to be told and that they originate from Greek tragedies, the only differences are their settings and characters. I think that's perhaps too precise and small a number, but the idea is the same. There are only a limited amount of stories that can be told, and it's the dressing that changes them. It's especially difficult considering the amount of movies punted out every month.
However, I find it hard to defend if these movies are so closely linked. A few scaremongering mainstream reports and they'll be a nice fat payout check before the story is buried.
Has anyone seen this movie? Is it so similar to cause an issue? If it is a copy we're never likely to really hear, but why do we keep hearing these claims? Is it just the money or are there films being ripped off continuously?
Posted by at July 24, 2005 02:15 PM
Comments
Posted by: Grant at July 24, 2005 07:11 PM
I guess if the guy wins his lawsuit everyone who has seen the film will be required to pass between a giant magnet so all images of the film will be erased from one's mind
Posted by: The Moviequill at July 24, 2005 07:47 PM
Your kidding? Clonus is a movie that Mystery Science Theater riffed!! That's so funny! I haven't seen it - but I knew of it and knew how the plot was practically the same - but didn't Michael Critchon have a story along those lines too? I think he'll probably get a few $$'s to shut up...
Posted by: CBlaze at July 24, 2005 08:59 PM
Well the IMDB calls The Island an actual remake of Clonus. Evidently it was not exactly an authorised one...
Posted by: James Russell at July 25, 2005 05:08 AM
Based on the box office returns the movie will be out of the theaters before too long.
Posted by: Lou Sytsma at July 25, 2005 08:45 AM
doesn't matter....it was a major bust at box office. i guess people really do hate Bay that much cause the movie wasn't that bad. feel bad for ewan & scarlett :(
Posted by: 718 at July 25, 2005 09:37 AM
The Agony Booth has info about Clonus.
http://www.agonybooth.com/parts/island.asp
http://www.agonybooth.com/parts/
I hope the people that made "Parts: The Clonus Horror" do get some money from Bay and DreamWorks for ripping them off. If nothing else, Hollywood needs to be stopped from coping film ideas and calling them original. You can get kicked out of college for this type of plagiarism. Hell, I'd like to get some of my $8.75 back for watching this dog. I was hoping Joel, Crow , and Tom Servo would pop up to save the day, but no luck.
Posted by: Andrew at July 25, 2005 09:51 AM
H-Town has be rehashing older movies for years. People it is just a movie!
So it looks like some old movie that was done some years back. You can go to every movie that has been done and it will be like movie that was done years before.
People need to get ahold of themselves and give themself a good shake.
Donna A.
Posted by: Donna A. at July 25, 2005 11:07 AM
I'll rent this on DVD (Scarlett is yummy and Ewan is cool when he's not playing Obi Wan). I'm very surprised The Island bombed as badly as it did over the weekend. It couldn't even top Fantastic Four!
Perhaps the ad campaign was terrible. Or maybe the public didn't grok to the movie's premise. Or maybe this is punishment to Scarlett for having turned down Tom "Crazy" Cruise's advances. :-(
(I reject the theory that the general American moviegoer is fed up with Michael Bay because... hahahaha. Right. A Scientologist conspiracy against Scarlett Johansson is more believable than the average moviegoing developing taste.)
Posted by: Franklin at July 25, 2005 01:10 PM
I have to take issue with the idea that it is "just a movie." Sure, it's not life or death, but the idea that it's okay to just blatantly copy another person's premise for a story is seriously flawed.
On the surface, it may seem unimportant, but that's someone's work. Would you be so nonchalant about it if someone had stolen your work? As bad as the original movie might have been, someone worked hard to make it a reality. When you overlook these seemingly unimportant details, eventually you'll end up sacrificing the big picture.
Posted by: Mojo at July 25, 2005 03:12 PM
I agree with the previous comment, yes it is just a movie, but it is also someones work.
Say I were to make a site called www.thefilmblog.com , have a show called the "sound bite" and use the basic idea behind each weeks audio edition off this site to make my own show. I understand there needs to be some acceptance that most ideas are not original(Lord of the Rings borrowed heavily from Norse and European folklore), but there also needs to be some form of protection for the people who don't have major law firms backing them.
Posted by: Warren at July 26, 2005 03:44 AM
I believe the movie will come out, they'll have one half hour meeting, eat chinese take out, and collaborate on a new release title, "The Island: The movie" or "The Isle". Gotta love Hollywood originality.
Posted by: Garrett Wiwcharuk at July 26, 2005 04:05 PM
I don't know about the US, but in Australia, the trailer gave away EVERYTHING. If they just left us with hints that the island was a fake it would have looked a little more than Logan's Run meets Bang Chase Explosion Genre.
And don't even start me on "Do you still believe there's an island?" bit in the elevator at the end of the trailer. Most pathetic ending to a trailer *ever*.
Posted by: Darkbhudda at August 1, 2005 09:30 AM
I walked out of the movie thinking I had seen a modernized version of THX 1138...then Michael Bay's action flick brain went into high gear and about screwed the whole movie up but THAT is another rant....
Yeah, it's similiar to that but I think your assessment is right - they're are only a few stories to tell and at some point it's all window dressing.
Of course with the current state of storytelling in Hollywood and the Dukes of Hazzard fiasco...it does leave you wondering, doesn't it?