K.T Simpson
Following a name change to “Morgan Creek Productions”, a veteran of nearly 30 years in the industry, the company is making a push with their library of television, features and digital titles. They’ve rebranded to “Morgan Creek Entertainment Group”, and are looking to reboot classic titles across their library of 60+ feature titles, including “Ace Ventura”, “Major League”, “Young Guns”, “Dead Ringers”, “Diabolique”, “Pacific Heights” and “Nightbreed” (via Deadline).
The strategy has been in place under our noses for years, with the acquisition from Warner Bros. of “The Exorcist” being turned into a successful TV series on Fox. Discussions, hence, are now underway for a number of popular titles, such as “Young Guns” – to be turned into a TV series and a rebooted movie for release – however with a new young group of up-and-comers. Similarly, “Dead Ringers” has talks underway with a show runner for a rebooted TV series, with director David Cronenberg supporting the idea. Clive Barker has also been involved with the pitch for a “Nightbreed” TV series, with MCEG’s strategy to involve the original filmmakers in discussions.
The popular film franchise starring Jim Carrey, “Ace Ventura”, could be ideal for a series franchise, according to David Robinson, MCEG President:
“We wanted to do a mainstream theatrical production relaunch. Because it’s episodic in nature, about a pet detective, it also lends itself to a traditional single-camera series franchise.”
Fans of Carrey could be disappointed though, as while the star could potentially be on-board to reprise one of his signature roles, the ideal behind the reboot would be largely baton-handing.
Don’t dispair though, as the company doesn’t intent on just giving everything in their library a reboot, with them stressing that it would be about a 50-50 split between new content and rebooted titles.
