The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
03-14-11 | 03:47 PM
#26
DVD Talk Special Edition
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,195
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I actually liked most of Zemeckis' past films before he totally "fetish-ized" on motion capture films. Even his less-than-stellar works such as "Death Becomes Her" and "What Lies Beneath" had very impressive moments not a lot of filmmakers at that time had.
I considered Zemeckis part of the Spielberg "brat pack" (includes Joe Dante, Barry Levinson, Jan De Bont).
I considered Zemeckis part of the Spielberg "brat pack" (includes Joe Dante, Barry Levinson, Jan De Bont).
03-14-11 | 07:53 PM
#27
Banned by request
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
Looks like Disney's in on the intervention: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...-yellow-167415
Disney Kills Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ (Exclusive)
Sources say this weekend’s disastrous opening for “Mars Needs Moms,” which Zemeckis produced, played a major factor in the decision.
March 14
8:25 PM 3/14/2011 by Matthew Belloni
The Walt Disney Co. has deep-sixed Mars Needs Moms producer Robert Zemeckis’ planned next project for the studio, the high-profile remake of the classic Beatles film Yellow Submarine, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Submarine was already facing a few rocky reefs before this weekend. There were budget issues and a key presentation Zemeckis was to have made before the Beatles heirs kept being pushed back. A December date for the confab was scrapped and never rescheduled. But sources say the disastrous $6.9 million opening for the $150 million-budgeted Mars, produced by Zemeckis, guaranteed that Submarine would never set sail at Disney. The producer-director is now free to shop the project to another studio.
Zemeckis, the Oscar-winning director of Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Cast Away, generated big headlines in August 2009 when he first set up the remake of the 1968 animated feature based on music by the Beatles. THR then revealed in January of 2010 that the Fab Four would be played by Cary Elwes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Peter Serafinowicz and Adam Campbell.
The plan was to use 16 Beatles songs in the film, which was to employ cutting-edge motion-capture technology similar to Zemeckis’ Beowulf, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms. Zemeckis secured the cooperation of Apple Corps, which controls the rights to the rock group’s library. (Its movie arm, Apple Films, was one of the companies behind the original pic.)
But in the wake of the boxoffice disapointment of 2009’s Carol, and with other animated movies pushing the envelope in terms of aesthetics, there were also concerns within Disney about the look of motion capture, especially the way human characters are depicted. (“Creepy” is the word often used.) Those same concerns, insiders say, led to Disney shutting down Zemeckis’ ImageMovers studio in May 2010.
Now this weekend’s opening of Mars sealed Submarine’s fate, and the movie is not going forward at Disney.
According to sources, Zemeckis left town over the weekend, flying to Montana to regroup. He is said to be eyeing a live-action project to direct. But part of the regrouping process could include finding a new home for Submarine.
Sources say this weekend’s disastrous opening for “Mars Needs Moms,” which Zemeckis produced, played a major factor in the decision.
March 14
8:25 PM 3/14/2011 by Matthew Belloni
The Walt Disney Co. has deep-sixed Mars Needs Moms producer Robert Zemeckis’ planned next project for the studio, the high-profile remake of the classic Beatles film Yellow Submarine, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Submarine was already facing a few rocky reefs before this weekend. There were budget issues and a key presentation Zemeckis was to have made before the Beatles heirs kept being pushed back. A December date for the confab was scrapped and never rescheduled. But sources say the disastrous $6.9 million opening for the $150 million-budgeted Mars, produced by Zemeckis, guaranteed that Submarine would never set sail at Disney. The producer-director is now free to shop the project to another studio.
Zemeckis, the Oscar-winning director of Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Cast Away, generated big headlines in August 2009 when he first set up the remake of the 1968 animated feature based on music by the Beatles. THR then revealed in January of 2010 that the Fab Four would be played by Cary Elwes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Peter Serafinowicz and Adam Campbell.
The plan was to use 16 Beatles songs in the film, which was to employ cutting-edge motion-capture technology similar to Zemeckis’ Beowulf, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms. Zemeckis secured the cooperation of Apple Corps, which controls the rights to the rock group’s library. (Its movie arm, Apple Films, was one of the companies behind the original pic.)
But in the wake of the boxoffice disapointment of 2009’s Carol, and with other animated movies pushing the envelope in terms of aesthetics, there were also concerns within Disney about the look of motion capture, especially the way human characters are depicted. (“Creepy” is the word often used.) Those same concerns, insiders say, led to Disney shutting down Zemeckis’ ImageMovers studio in May 2010.
Now this weekend’s opening of Mars sealed Submarine’s fate, and the movie is not going forward at Disney.
According to sources, Zemeckis left town over the weekend, flying to Montana to regroup. He is said to be eyeing a live-action project to direct. But part of the regrouping process could include finding a new home for Submarine.
03-14-11 | 09:50 PM
#28
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
^Sweet! Yellow Submarine is (or would have been) a disaster financially. Lets hope he does, in fact take that live action gig for his next project.
They state that it was the poor performance by Mars Needs Moms that sealed Yellow Submarine's fate but I know it was this thread...
They state that it was the poor performance by Mars Needs Moms that sealed Yellow Submarine's fate but I know it was this thread...
03-14-11 | 10:02 PM
#29
Banned by request
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I actually think Yellow Submarine was the best idea Zemeckis had. There was no reason for those other movies to be mocap. But here, he was going to be using mocap to portray people who were either dead or much too old to be in the movie themselves. It could have been an interesting experiment. I'm glad it's been canceled, and hopefully Zemeckis has been appropriately chastened by it and the poor box office of Mars Needs Moms.
03-14-11 | 10:29 PM
#30
Moderator
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I actually think Yellow Submarine was the best idea Zemeckis had. There was no reason for those other movies to be mocap. But here, he was going to be using mocap to portray people who were either dead or much too old to be in the movie themselves. It could have been an interesting experiment. I'm glad it's been canceled, and hopefully Zemeckis has been appropriately chastened by it and the poor box office of Mars Needs Moms.
03-14-11 | 10:31 PM
#31
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
To be fair, I didn't grow up with these films. I was eighteen when Back to the Future was released and for me it didn''t contain any magical allure. The films are well-made, but aren't particularly funny or dramatic. The writing and execution is a hodgepodge of mediocrity.
03-15-11 | 10:04 AM
#33
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
Who okayed spending $150 million on Mars Needs Moms? (Or $175 million, per the NY Times.) In what universe would someone think that would be a hit? Esp. in an overcrowded animation/3-D marketplace like we have now. Just makes no sense to me. Zemeckis is not the problem here, it's the execs who made a stupid greenlight decision.
03-15-11 | 10:25 AM
#34
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I thought the idea of doing Yellow Submarine with Mo-Cap was great. I'm not a big fan of the format but the style of the source material seemed like a perfect fit with the computer generated world.
03-15-11 | 10:53 AM
#35
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I love BTTF, Contact, Gump and Cast Away, but I've only seen two of his mo-cap films. Polar Express and Beowolf. First was decent, the second was crap.
+1 I'm not a fan of that style either, but of all projects, this one sounded like the perfect fit.
+1 I'm not a fan of that style either, but of all projects, this one sounded like the perfect fit.
03-15-11 | 11:27 AM
#36
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I don't think the guy needs an intervention. I've been a fan of most of his work since the beginning and he's been such a visual effects pioneer throughout his career that I'll forgive this daliance into mo-cap.
Still, I do look forward to seeing some live action stuff from him again.
Still, I do look forward to seeing some live action stuff from him again.
03-15-11 | 12:21 PM
#37
DVD Talk Special Edition
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,664
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
Bummed about the Submarine news. Sounded like a great cast and I'm willing to bet a guaranteed moneymaker.
03-15-11 | 01:35 PM
#38
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I was being a little facetious. Still, he's been working for 40 years, and is an accomplished filmmaker who has both huge, culturally resonant hits and an Oscar. If he wants to head off in this direction for a stretch, that's fine. I'm sure he'll have another movie down the road I'll like.
03-15-11 | 02:45 PM
#39
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
I had no problem with them remaking Yellow Submarine. The original movie kinda blew. Although I sorta liked it when I was 6...
03-17-11 | 09:18 AM
#40
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
His MoCap studio was shuttered months ago when Disney saw how awful MNM was.
03-17-11 | 02:39 PM
#41
Banned
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 20,052
Received 169 Likes
on
127 Posts
From: Conducting miss-aisle drills and listening to their rock n roll
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
There's way too much shitting on BTTF going on in here. Someone even criticized the screenplay! You've got to be kidding me! The original BTTF is second to Chinatown as being one of the best original screenplays to come out of post-studio Hollywood. That script is a fucking swiss watch.
The trilogy is rivaled only by Star Wars and Indy.
The trilogy is rivaled only by Star Wars and Indy.
03-18-11 | 12:04 AM
#42
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Robert Zemeckis Intervention Thread
There's way too much shitting on BTTF going on in here. Someone even criticized the screenplay! You've got to be kidding me! The original BTTF is second to Chinatown as being one of the best original screenplays to come out of post-studio Hollywood. That script is a fucking swiss watch.
The trilogy is rivaled only by Star Wars and Indy.
The trilogy is rivaled only by Star Wars and Indy.
Let's see: one great movie and two comparatively shitty sequels shot back-to-back. Where have I heard THAT before?
