Coulda Been a Contender
Submitted by jim on Tue, 08/17/2004 - 09:18
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The ultimate Development Hell list. Here's an excerpt from the Indy 4 entry:
Then things finally looked like a lock in 2003 when Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont was signed to pen the screenplay. A production start was set (June 2004) and a release date declared (July 2005). Darabont's hush-hush script was set in the '50s and replaced Nazis as bad guys with Soviets. Ford loved the script. So did Spielberg. So why aren't they shooting? Lucas thought it needed work -- that it wasn't fast-paced enough, that it was too character-driven.
As if we didn't have enough reasons to heap scorn on Lucas. Who would have thought such an iconic figure would turn into the grandmaster world champion gold medalist in the Shoots-Self-in-Foot competition? Just goes to show how high a pedestal he was on that he's still a gazillionaire despite being the (apparently proud!) owner of a bottomless pit full of boneheaded moves. « via Movie City News »
I think someone should organize a mass boycott of Star Wars 3 unless Lucas stops being such a dumbass.
David Edelstein, after attending a marathon screening of all three LOTR movies, wrote:
"I... was lucky enough to talk to a young woman named Miriam Kriss, who put down her Tolkien book long enough to explain that she was here in tribute to Jackson, 'a fan who understood.' Then she delivered a rather stunning testament to the fan aesthetic. 'The problem with the last George Lucas Star Wars movies is that he's not a fan of his own work,' she told me. 'You can't be if it's your work. He doesn't understand anymore why we loved Star Wars; he just sits and stares at special effects on his computers. I'd rather see Star Wars movies by people who grew up with Star Wars. A fan would get it.'"
Thank you Ms Kriss....
Couldn't have said it better myself (and I would have had to think of it first before saying it, which I didn't).