Caffeinated Clint
I asked Director Rolf De Heer recently if he thought Hollywood had ran out of ideas, and that’s why he hasn’t made the move there. I mean, sequels, prequels, remakes of old TV Shows? could it get any more unoriginal. de Heer blames it on cash, saying the old benjamins basically decide what movies get made. And he’s right, if studio A has a choice to do say a powerful new pic about Korea directed by Ang Lee or a film remake of "Mork and Mindy" – they’ll go for the latter. Thing is, nearly every time one of these TV shows turned movies happens, it makes far less money than the alternative – an original pic.
It’d be interesting to see how "The Honeymooners" movie goes. I mean, half the kids watching it, won’t even remember the original series. But I suppose it didn’t stop "Charlies Angels" from becoming a celluloid cash-cow. The Hollywood Reporter announced today that John Schultz, who directed the basketball comedy "Like Mike," will direct the Paramount Pictures/Deep River Prods flick, based on the classic Jackie Gleason 1950s CBS television series. Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps topline the project in the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton roles, respectively. I’m far from convinced this is the next big thing – but Eric Rhone of Visions Management Group is "It’s one of those things where the comedic value is obvious, and the timing in Cedric’s career could not be better".
