RyoHazuki

BAH! $peilberg. Why doon't you replace the UFO's with walkIE Talkies!"@$@

Terrell

Boy this joke is old and wasn't funny to begin with.

metaridley

I hope this film bombs, so Spielberg and Cruise and their hyper-inflated egos get knocked back down to size. I normally have no opinion on both of them, but they're going bonkers over this remake, and are set to get paid more money than anyone else in the history of film. At least, that's what I've heard.

Geofferson

thanks for the links to the pics!

Zodiac_Speaking

I'm not excited for this at all. After the radio version by Orson Wells, and the Pal version, who cares on seeing yet another version. New advances in CGI? Who cares. Speilberg's usually great direction? Who cares.
The only thing that sort of peak my curiousity is a rumor that Alexis Denisof (Wesley from Angel) might be in it. I'm not saying its going to be bad or suck, I'm highly sure its going to be good, I'm just not that excited. 2005 will be a great year (in theory, so far) for us geeks, but Fantastic Four opens near or around WotW date.

El-Kabong

I havent read the whole thread - is the movie still set in the Victiorian era? That's the only take on the story I see that could make this flick rock.

chills

Minority report was better than this flick could ever be. What could they do better? They can't make it origional, so if they don't make an amazingly imaginative change for the better, then I don't see much happening with this. I'm hoping for grateness and yet I'm keeping my expectaions low.

mllefoo

I was also hoping the story would stick closer to the book, but it will be interesting to see what these guys do with it. The least they can do is make sure the aliens are more evil than floating lightbulbs, like in the original.

Rivero

how about we reserve judgment and not bash a film until at least it's halfway done filming, capice?

RyoHazuki

Well if War of the Worlds doesn't have a bullshit ending, its already got one up on Minority Report.

Terrell

I'll tell you what. Internet message boards have become the whiniest, most negative place in existence.

jaeufraser

Yeah no kidding. We all complain about this or that movie, but some of the comments about movies that haven't even been made are borderline moronic. I'm not sure what good it does to trash a movie one knows close to nothing about, but at least it helps me figure out who to ignore.

Now, Spielberg directing aliens blowing shit up...yeah, I'd like to see that. When was the last aliens invades earth movie that was well...good? With Spielberg at the helm and a massive budget (Spielberg has if anything always been somebody who seems to really put his budget up on the screen) I suspect this will be one hell of a spectacle event movie. I'm there.

JoeyOhhhh

I'm a bit suspect about how good this movie is gonna be.

I mean Rivero and Terrell seem to be on the same side in regards to this movie

I'm looking foward to it, I think it will be good.

I had the uncontrolable urge to scream "SPANISH!" when I saw that picture in the Daily News.

The Nature Boy

What's the premise here? A false news story portelling the invaision or a real Alien invasion?

Rivero

A real invasion.

shoppingbear

From the story that someone posted (see
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...195040,00.html ): So, looks like if it does "bomb", they get bupkis, nada, zilch. I don't get the hate here, what makes you think their egos are "hyper-inflated", or at least any more so than your average Hollywood film star? Everything I've ever read about both of these men suggests they're pretty humble... not like James Cameron, for example.

chills

Well heck I'll definitely see it. Sorry about the negativity. I'll bet it's going to be entertaining either way. Whether I bust out laughing at the light bulb aliens or they suck me into the story. Should be fun either way. I'm just a skeptic when it comes to remakes. Oh and I just wanted to say HG wells rocks!

RyoHazuki

While I don't believe that Speilberg and Cruise are money-hungry egomaniacs, the 20% isn't much of a gamble.

Minority Report made $353,600,000 worldwide. 20% of that is $70,720,000.

If War of the Worlds is even half as successful, they make out like bandits.

jaeufraser

Well, nobody is saying it's a massive gamble, but still they're forgoing upfront salaries completely for backend, which helps the films. I doubt anyone hear is taking massive gambles with their jobs, so why should these guys.

Regardless, 20% of 353 million is not 70 million, not when you factor in the fact that the studio only takes in half of that. And this doesn't state whether that 20% is after the budget is recouped (probably not) but regardless, let's look at it this way. Spielberg plus Cruise is going to be one of the major reasons this movie will make so much damn movie, so yeah...I'd say they deserve it anyway. I know lots of people associate pay with the amount of work one does, but when it comes to films and people like this, that 20% is buying a product, and that product is Cruise and Spielberg, both of whom are as important to marketing as they are to the film itself. And as a marketing tool, they're worth every penny.

In the end, if WoW made as much money as Minority Report (it'll make a lot more though), then Cruise and Spielberg would probably only see about 30 million dollars in the end, once all the smoke cleared. That's big money, but fairly similar to their normal pay.

mllefoo

I'm not condemning the movie without seeing it first. I'm just kind of bummed that the movie isn't being set in Victorian England. I think that would make a far more interesting story, especially since Victorians weren't all that knowledgeable about "outer space" and aliens. Seeing the story from their point of view would be pretty cool.

And that's how Herbert George Wells wrote the book.

But if Spielberg thinks it will make a better story to put it in present day, like George Pal did with the original movie, so be it. I'll probably still go see it, even with my current disappointment about the movie being made.

jaeufraser

Hey, here's some more pictures. i'm still shocked at how quickly this is coming together, but if it's good I can't wait. We've had alien invasion movies before, but how often are they really any good. Hopefully, this'll be the one that is.

Official Site: http://www.waroftheworlds.com/
Nice promo art I think.

Some other misc. pictures:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=e...&e=1&t=&prev=2

http://www.globephotos.com/dynevent-...RSEY+11/7/2004

Artman

The martian hand over Earth reminds me of the marketing promos for the short-lived WOTW tv series that aired 15 or so yrs ago. I wonder if they'll release those on DVD soon? I recall really liking the show (of course I was 10 at the time...)

Anyone have any info or fansite links to it?

Dr. DVD

I wonder if the martians in this will have the power to take over human bodies as they did in that series? I remember that show being rather violent for network tv, even if it was Fox that aired it.

I seem to recall Spielberg saying that he could never portray aliens in a violent light, which makes me wonder if the ending of the movie will play out like this:



Just a guess, FWIW.

jaeufraser

Hmm interesting thought. it would be more interesting then just evil aliens to try and come up with a more unique reasoning for said attack. Nonetheless, the film will have lots of people dying either way, so that's a plus. Ha. Here's an article I found on another webpage.

War of the Worlds' expands search for extras
By William J. Kemble


ATHENS - Locally filmed scenes for the upcoming Steven Spielberg movie "War of the Worlds" will need a more ethnically diverse group of extras than those who turned out for a casting call on Nov. 13, the casting director says.

"We want to make it so they don't just kill white people, they kill everybody," Billy Dowd said during a visit to Athens this week to sort through some 2,000 applications and photographs.

The scene being shot in the Greene County village will depict thousands of people being killed while running to catch a ferry during a Martian invasion. The local filming is scheduled for Dec. 6-9.

"We need more Asian, black and Hispanic extras," he said. "I've called up to Albany to the different organizations - the Chinese community center, and the Japanese cultural association and the international center. We want to make it look like a nice diverse group."

Dowd also is accepting mailed-in submissions from people who want to be extras in the movie. Photographs and phone numbers should be sent to "War of the Worlds" casting, 110 Leroy St., New York, N.Y. 10014.

"It would be good if they could get the pictures in to us as quickly as possible, but we certainly can take a lot more people," Dowd said.

Spielberg's film, produced by Paramount Pictures, will be a contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells' 1898 novel about a Martian invasion of Earth. It will star Tom Cruise and is to be released next year.

Dowd said selected people who turned out for the Nov. 13 casting call at the Athens Community Center will be notified by phone in the near future.

"We'll be calling people right after the Thanksgiving holiday," he said. "Right now, I'm making the piles of who's going to be cops, who's going to be doctors, who's going to be nurses, who is going to bring their dog, who is going to be refugees."

Extras being used in the Athens shoot will be paid $80 per 12-hour workday. Each day's shoot begins at 3 p.m. and will be outdoors.

"War of the Worlds" first was brought to the big screen by director Byron Haskin in 1953. Fifteen years earlier, on Oct. 30, 1938, a Mercury Theater radio broadcast of the story by actor Orson Welles convinced countless people across the United States that Martians actually were attacking.

Spielberg's film is one of two "War of the Worlds" remakes scheduled for release next year. The other is being made by British production company Pendragon Pictures.

Dr. DVD

When is this supposed to hit theaters? Summer or next Christmas?


Yet another theory :