Thursday, September 21, 2006

Disney going on Jungle Cruise

Disney can never be faulted for not knowing when it has a good thing going.

Now that everyone in the world has seen its "Pirates" movies, the mouse has jumped on another ride-to-flick route, this time with the "Jungle Cruise."

Can you picture it? A cruise through the deepest jungle, encountering piranhas, gorillas and anything else the imagination can cook up. It's genius, and I have to admit I'll almost certainly be there to see it.

With "Smallville" showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar in negotiations to write and run the potential franchise, there will be no end in sight for this one.

Now, if they could only encounter Col. Kurtz ...

Revenge of the ... plagiarists?

There's a scene in the sublime "American Splendor" when Harvey Pekar's co-worker at the hospital (I think his name was Toby) is so excited when "Revenge of the Nerds" comes out that he drives several hours to see it (with Harvey and his lady friend in tow.) It's a charming sequence, but who knew "Nerds" obsession could go this far?

It seems noted genius "McG," he of the two Charlie's Angels flicks, is also obsessed with "Nerds," to the point that he needs to make his own. He's producing a remake of the 1984 comedy, with Kyle Newman set to direct and someone named Katie Cassidy to star as, well, I'd assume some kind of Sorority girl (she apparently beat out out Lindsey and Jessica for this rather dubious prize.)

I'm done ranting about unnecessary remakes, but if any one else out there wants to, please feel free. I'd just like to point out that, if this sinister project comes to fruition, there will be five "Nerds" movies (one through four, plus this.)

Paired with the "Police Academy" goldmine you've got two of the most durable movie franchises in Hollywood history. God bless America, I guess.

13 comments:

Simon A said...

Wow. How on Earth could a Jungle Cruise movie work? I guess people were saying similar things about Pirates, but this is a bit much.

Plus, Smallville isn't exactly a show I'd describe as TV's shining star, so I don't know how much these showrunners can bring to another franchise.

Emma said...

I love this blog so much I'm adding it to my links. :D

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks, Mystic ... I think you're underestimating its potential, Simon ... The jungle is clearly a setting ripe with possibilities, and the bar for a good popcorn flick isn't that high to reach anyways

Simon A said...

I'm being an indie snob again, aren't I? I really stayed away from Pirates for a long time, although less for the fact that it was a Disneyland ride and more for the involvement of Jerry Bruckheimer, and ended up really enjoying that... on DVD. I'm glad I saw the second one on a big screen. (Although it was the worst audience ever. It was 9pm at night and someone had a baby, who cried, and who wasn't taken out of the cinema, and the guy next to me had his phone on, which rang, loudly, and then he ANSWERED IT.)

So we'll see what happens. I'm not writing it off completely just yet.

Kelly said...

I'm siding with Simon on this one, for now. Yeah, Pirates was fun, but Haunted Mansion stunk to high heaven. And you would think a haunted house would be a great setting for a movie, no?

I think Gough and Millar will be better at movies than a TV show. Smallville has a few GREAT episodes, and many crappy episodes, so hopefully they can just channel that great energy for the movie.

I'm not giving up on it, but I'll need to hear many more positive things (an impressive Pirates-like cast, for instance) before I'll be officially looking forward to it.

Reel Fanatic said...

You're right about Haunted Mansion, Kelly .. somehow I had managed to block that monstrosity out of my memory!

Lori said...

I guess the Mouse House figures they have to try running ALL of their rides through the moviemaking machine now. I have to admit that I was impressed by how good Pirates ended up being. And I guess, considering how much they've raked in with it, well. There you go. But yeah, you'd think they'd also remember Haunted Mansion and Country Bears. Ewwww. Ick. I won't hold my breath on Jungle Cruise being any good, but it'd be nice if it was at least fun.

As for McG...grrr. Dude should stick to music videos. That's all his feature-length stuff ends up being anyway.

Reel Fanatic said...

You're definitely right about McG. Lori ... and I had also forgotten all about the Country Bears ... Looks like Pirates is definitely lining up as the exception rather than the rule for the ride-to-movie circuit

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit skeptical about this one but it sounds like there's a lot of room for a good story here.

ren said...

well, it looks like this nerds movie will feature some real nerds. they did a lot of filming and attempted casting at the nerd prom itself, san diego comic con.

but most nerds that i know avoided the filming at all costs. we're nerds, we don't need MORE people mocking us!

Reel Fanatic said...

Amen to that, Ren ... No matter how much trouble and time they put into casting this disaster in the making, I just can't see any good coming out of it

Todd Jones said...

I hate McG.

cruise work said...

Seems like a good idea to me. Well, it could take place on rivers or something and then there would be excursions. Something like that of Jurassic park's movie. even though there are no dinosours in jungle cruises, it would be great to be in touch with the animals world wide.