Butler's Script Sale of the Week...
September 10th, 2001
Not a terribly exciting week in the script sales department. It will be interesting to see what DreamWorks do with their FORBIDDEN PLANET remake. Mike Myers is back with Austin Powers in GOLDMEMBER. Let's hope it's funnier than THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME (1999). And CRACKERJACK sounds like it could be cool.
My pick of the week is the remake of DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973, TV) to be written by James Wong and Glen Morgan, the scripting duo behind FINAL DESTINATION (2000).
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is one of two deals that the writing team secured this week. The other is a remake of the 1971 horror film, WILLARD. I've never seen WILLARD so I can't comment on it, other than to say it sounds right up these guys' alley
I've chosen DON'T BE AFRAID not because I think it was a classic flick, or because I think Morgan and Wong are great filmmakers, but because, as a child, it scared the bejesus out of me.
I still remember sitting in front of the TV as the movie started. My mother walked into the room, glanced at what I was watching on the tube, and quickly exited screaming, "Oh god! Not THAT movie. It's horrifying!" I knew I had stumbled onto something great.
To be honest, I didn't know until this week that DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, a tale of a young loving couple who move into their dream house unaware that there are evil little creatures living in their basement, was a TV movie. I just assumed, even at a young age, that something so scary must have been, at one time, a theatrical release. Although, if I were to watch it again today, I'm sure the production values would give it away.
I really think Wong and Morgan could turn this into a modern classic. When I said that I didn't think they were great filmmakers I didn't mean that they were bad filmmakers. I thought that FINAL DESTINATION, while flawed, was well put together and, most importantly, original and inventive. Wong, who directed FINAL DESTINATION, will also be taking the reins on DON'T. I look forward to seeing what he does with it.
-- Edward Butler
My pick of the week is the remake of DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973, TV) to be written by James Wong and Glen Morgan, the scripting duo behind FINAL DESTINATION (2000).
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is one of two deals that the writing team secured this week. The other is a remake of the 1971 horror film, WILLARD. I've never seen WILLARD so I can't comment on it, other than to say it sounds right up these guys' alley
I've chosen DON'T BE AFRAID not because I think it was a classic flick, or because I think Morgan and Wong are great filmmakers, but because, as a child, it scared the bejesus out of me.
I still remember sitting in front of the TV as the movie started. My mother walked into the room, glanced at what I was watching on the tube, and quickly exited screaming, "Oh god! Not THAT movie. It's horrifying!" I knew I had stumbled onto something great.
To be honest, I didn't know until this week that DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, a tale of a young loving couple who move into their dream house unaware that there are evil little creatures living in their basement, was a TV movie. I just assumed, even at a young age, that something so scary must have been, at one time, a theatrical release. Although, if I were to watch it again today, I'm sure the production values would give it away.
I really think Wong and Morgan could turn this into a modern classic. When I said that I didn't think they were great filmmakers I didn't mean that they were bad filmmakers. I thought that FINAL DESTINATION, while flawed, was well put together and, most importantly, original and inventive. Wong, who directed FINAL DESTINATION, will also be taking the reins on DON'T. I look forward to seeing what he does with it.
-- Edward Butler
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