Orci and Kurtzman To Produce Movie Based On View-Master Toy (Really!) July 6, 2009
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Celebrity, Orci/Kurtzman , trackback
The co-writers and executive producers of the new Star Trek movie (and sequel) are adding yet another movie into their stable or production projects, and this one is yet another hard to believe adaptation. DreamWorks is now in talks for the rights to make a film based on the Fisher Price ViewMaster 3D Viewer toy, with Bob and Alex tapped to produce.
View-Master: The Motion Picture
The news of the ViewMaster movie comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which states that Fringe writer Brad Caleb Kane will pen the script. It is hard to get one’s head around the concept of a movie based on the View-Master toy, and it makes the recent announcements of movie adaptations of TJ Hooker and the Asteroids Videogame seem much more plausible. Kane gave a bit of a hint of the direction for the film on Twitter over the weekend, saying he wants the movie to be "like the old ’80s Amblin movies: ‘Goonies,’ ‘Young Sherlock’ … in that vein", which is similar to comments made by Orci and Kurtzman regarding the movie about MMORPG players they are making with
Masi Oka (announced one month ago).
With Bob and Alex attached to three big movies from Summer 2009 (Star Trek, The Proposal, Transformers 2), they are quite the hot commodities these days. Right now they are coming off the Transformers 2 press tour and trying to finish up the script for the comic adaptation of Cowboys and Aliens, along with managing a number of projects in development and keeping an eye on Fringe (which is in production now). Hopefully they will be able to put all that aside when they (along with Damon Lindelof) dive into the Star Trek sequel script, which they say is their next focus after taking a break.
Trek & View-Master
Speaking of the View-Master, there is a Star Trek connection to the toy actually. Over the years there were actually five Star Trek adaptation ‘reels’ made for the View-Master: TOS "The Omega Glory", TAS "Yesteryear", Star Trek The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and TNG "A Matter of Honor." More details on View-Master and Trek at Memory Alpha and the Have Phaser, Will Travel blog.
Trek and View-Master
(Image: Have Phaser, Will Travel Blog)
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Comments»
Perhaps there will be an film adaptation of the Pet Rocks.
Well, we did have “Armageddon” for that…
Wow… i had one of these when I was a kid. So getting it.
I remember my Kindergarden class had a Next Gen one, must have been the ‘A Matter of Honor’ one listed here, and I thought it was the coolest thing. There was one still where they were in the phaser-practice range firing phasers, and I remember never having seen that in any episode, and eagerly awaiting it coming up in the rerun scheduel. Hadn’t thought about it in years though, thanks for the memory!
Wow, what I wouldn’t give for those Star Trek slides. That said, how in the HELL does that toy adapt into a movie!?
well I am guess that it is not really about the toy, but will be about kids playing with the toy. I imagine some kids playing with some kind of magical version of a View-Master, not unlike Jumangi or Zathura. The kids get the magic View-Master and any reels they play with it become real.
Then again that is kind of the plot for the recent Eddie Murphy flop Imagine That, so maybe not.
Had the Omega Glory set. always wondered why there was not a real shot of the Enterprise and the Exeter in the set….instead of a shot of two of the model kits in space. Anyone know?
Yeah, Fringe is in production again. They were shooting a few blocks from my home the other day. Nice to see them following the wisdom of X-Files — Metro Vancouver is an amazing place for modern day sci-fi. I was treated very respectably by the people there as well. I will definitely be trying to get back into the Fringe crowd with the upcoming season… here’s hoping they can keep me interested this time.
Nice Trek viewmaster pic!
A quick merchandise question……don’t really know where else to ask. Does anyone know the price of the SDCC Hallmark Exclusive Uhura Keepsake Ornament? And if there are limits to how many you can buy? Hallmark knew nothing when I asked and I’m really trying to find out before I get to the con as I have a list of people who wants me to buy that one and the Star Wars one for them. Any help will be greatly appreciated as I really don’t know where to look for that info.
Also hoping the movie will still be showing somehwere when I get over to the US again next Wednesday…..can’t WAIT to be back! Have FUN y’all!
ahhhh one of my faves-I have all the trek viewmasters except the tng one-didnt even know they made one! As for making a movie around it–interesting-I also have many of the disneyland and disney viewmasters and scifi ones like tron,black hole etc–They were originally GIF viewmasters(a company)-best of luck on this one mr orci-gif made a black deluxe viewer that had a bigger image, a focusing wheel and self lit with 2 d batteries and a bar on the back you pushed to make it light up-awesome-mine got ruined when battery acid leaked all over it-i really miss that viewer
With these writers, not expecting anything great
opps the company name was gaf not gif haha typo-they also had a viewmaster projector i had also-
I believe the movie is going to be a Transformers spin-off, with the twist being that the ViewMaster transforms itself into an even lamer toy.
What’s next a Lite-Brite movie?!!!!
Hey Bob Orci I don’t know where to post this other than here to get a response from you, Why did Sam have to use the The Matrix of Leadership to bring Prime back? When the shard brought the kitchen appliancesto life, and Megatron was brought back with pieces of the cube, and Jet fire was brought back to life with shard as well?
Why couldn’t Sam just bring Prime back with the shard/pieces of the cube like all the other robots were able to broght back?
correction* were be able to be brought back
Wow- further proof of the utter death of original ideas in Hollywood.
I’m guessing something not too dissimilar from the last star fighter
I think this classic TV commercial has GOT to fit into the new Viewmaster movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5QGd-0X3bg
Hollywood sucks! ;)
This is up there with Aaron Sorkin’s movie about the making of Facebook in terms of uselessness.
21 –
That Facebook movie you deride is actually about the circumstances of its creation, and has very little to do with the site itself. Also, David Fincher has read the script and he didn’t seem to think it was stupid, so he signed up to direct it.
Crazy
This is getting ridiculous…
At least say that it is some kind of uber-horror movie.
Coming soon: Hungry Hungry Hippos:The Motion Picture Extravaganza.
With a special cameo by Lightbright and Speak & Spell.
So if anyone knows the answer to post number 9 please do let me know……or at least where to post/ask. Have FUN y’all! J-R!
It came with a mission from outer space …….
To teach human beings how to turn knobs to create art and messages …
coming in 2010
_____________Etch-a-Sketch :_______________
____________The Motion Picture_____________
____________This Film Is Not Yet Rated______________
*shake, shake, shake, shake*
ok, I can’t see that being made into a film…
but, I CAN see Cap’n Crunch or TV Guide being great films…haha
It sounds neat! I used to have one of these toys when I was a kid. :)
@6: I suspect that the reason the Omega Glory was photographed using models was in order to get a true 3-D effect.
ViewMaster is 3-D system. Real life reels (scenics, etc.) were shot with a stereo camera as were early cartoon/comic adaptations (e.g., Peanuts) which were first restaged using models. Reels based on TV shows and later cartoon reels just used two copies of the original 2-D image. I assume that the Omega Glory scene was specially created for the ViewMaster reel.
original idea in Hollywood? LOL
this is why I am adament that Trek XII be an original story and not a rehash of Khan, cause then the new universe will play as a series of What Ifs
I dont want that.
Although I have my problems with trek XI, on a whole I really enjoyed the film. Dont ruin a decent film with a rehased sequel.
Please guys have an original idea
31, 9/27,
That’s exactly right about the stereoscopic 3d effect, and either STARLOG or CINEMAGIC or maybe TREK had a short article with the guy who shot the pics, way WAY back.
Real question is: why OMEGA GLORY? So GR could get another residual check or as part of Bicentennial Fever?
I see how they might do it. View into the Viewmaster (I miss those things), and all of a sudden, you are in that world and not just in virtual reality.
You guys are kind of over reacting. The toy will just be a McGuffin to some kind of kiddie adventure. Very few films can be bioled down to there McGuffin or overall premise. The toy will probably provide a jumping off point, if I were to guess, and given the citation of Goonies, we’re in for an old fashioned children’s adventure. A hole that needs to be filled by more than Harry Potter and that dodgy Witch Mountain remake.
Oh, the good old days when Viewmaster reels came in the paper envelope and a little booklet. Now they just come on a paper backing.
Also when they actually used to have good reels based on tv shows and movies. Now all it’s only animated kids junk.
Wonder why I haven’t bought any Viewmaster reels in years. They just suck now,
Regarding the movie, sounds dumb to me.
I had the Omega Glory reel. Notice the shot on the cover? Perhaps the first attempt at a Star Trek Remastered Project, hmmmm?
One worry about O & K….with so much on their plate, will they have enough time to dedicate to Star Trek II (A)?
old ’80s Amblin movies:
Yeah,…those OLD movies.
Connect Four: Live Free or Die Diagonally…
sheesh maybe when I’m 80 I can hope the rehashes and exploits will finally run out and I will get something (truly) original..
is there nothing sacred?
how about CGI Montalban?
Anyone else have the Trek ViewMaster reels with Audio? Little plastic records mounted behind the VM reel? That was high end tech in 1974.
I remember having the STTMP viewmaster set when i was a kid. I used to get lost in that for hours, good times back then. (When imagination counted, now the toys do everything for the kid)
Dumbest. Idea. Ever.
If anyone knows the answer to post #9,please do tell!
In a World of Lifeless Dust…
One Brine Shrimp Finds the Courage…
to Spontaneously Come to Life…
when Added to Water…
This Summer…
You Will Believe…
“Sea Monkeys: The Motion Picture”
Why am I not surprised?
What’s next, the Tetris movie in cooperation with genius Uwe Boll?
Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell and Rob Schneider in “X-Ray Specs: The Motion Picture.”
I remember the original batman tv series viewmaster slides. I didn’t get to see the tv show as a kid, so watching the viewmaster slides was really magical.
These guys are either the most talented writers to come out of Hollywood in a long time to take on an idea this ridiculous ….
… Or they are just more of the same Hollywood opportunism, grabbing for any paycheck they can get, regardless of how much they must compromise their principles.
One thing is certain, they will not be nominated for an Oscar anytime soon.
I didn’t even know they still made View-Master toys.
How about “ATTACK OF THE SLINKIES” ?
I can see giant slinkies climbing down from the Himalayas, the Rockies and the Appalachians to wreak havoc on mankind. The horror!
If they keep on going like this, I expect the most succesful promo of 2012 to be:
“The Most Unusual Movie of the Year!!!
NOT written by Orci&Kurtzman!!”
Attack of the “PEZ”. I have a Star Trek PEZ set and I think that should be the next ST movie. Khan finds an alien device and turns Spock and Bones into PEZ candy. Kirk and the rest of the crew, have to hunt down Khan, find the alien device and restore Spock and Bones before they are assimilated by the Borg. Khan, Borg, PEZ candy…no way a movie packed with all that can fail.
I loved the Omege Glory reels that I got as a kid, it was like having an episode of my own! I looked back at it on this page, with some scans of some of the frames, and the whole book scanned in…
http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/03/omega-glory-viewmaster-reel.html
It really takes me back to look at it!
Of course the new movie will be in 3-D. I wonder if they will make a Viewmaster Reel set of the movie also?
But I’m wondering what toy will be made into a movie next? “Operation”?
how about a Chia pet film?
AICN broke this news just before the holiday weekend. One of the ideas that has appeared in their story was that the film would have an audio soundtrack with still images telling the story. Each one advancing the story as you might find on a ViewMaster reel.
Earlier this year, ViewMaster produced its last viewer. If you can still find one in the stores, pick it up while you can. It will be a collectors item soon.
Ker-Plunk: Sticks of Terror!
There’s one area of licensing that has not been examined in terms of visibility, continued appeal to a young audience, automatic baby-boomer memories, and potential for comedy:
Breakfast cereals.
“Cap’n Crunch: The Adventure Begins!” Join the Cap’n and his merry crew of bumblers on the search for the golden delicious treasure!
And so on…
Next- Ronald McDonald:The Movie Yah!
If you listen closely you can actually hear Hollywood starting to implode in on itself.
Seriously, can’t we just make original movies without having to license some piece of product and wedge it awkwardly in to something? If you want to make a movie like The Goonies, just make an adventure movie starring kids. You don’t need to license the freaking Viewmaster to do that.
Original ideas aren’t that hard.
“Original ideas aren’t that hard.”
Yes they are. And they’re only the barest beginning of actually creating something.
Will this be in 3-D? Watching UP in 3-D I sometimes felt as though I were watching a giant, moving, Viewmaster image. And I mean that in a good way.
That is, though, the only positive thought I can find in this news.
@58: Ouch. And yet I’m sure the pitch has been made. All too sure.
#62. – Do I see a foundation being laid for Star Trek: 3D?
This project does not interest me. Therefore I will not see it, thus making its success or failure, indeed its very existence, completely irrelevant as far as I’m concerned.
They can make it…or not make it…and life will go on.
60: “Seriously, can’t we just make original movies without having to license some piece of product and wedge it awkwardly in to something?”
The future will not look back on this period of movie making history and call it The Age of Originality. They will call it The Age of the Safe Bet.
64: If AVATAR is a huge hit, Paramount will look at Star Trek and say “maybe that’s what we need to do too.” AVATAR might become the new Star Wars that everyone suddenly scrambles to imitate. Not sure who owns the technology Cameron developed for AVATAR, i.e., if it will become available for all to use through licensing or not. I expect it will be so available, though. Lots of people will want to use it.
Brad Kane actually did come up with an original idea. And then our talented executive Steven Puri realized that the pitch could be applied to Viewmaster, which we knew would make it easier to sell Brad’s original idea.
If anyone can make this movie it’s you, Mr. Orci!
God, can’t these two write something original for once and not borrow from a pre-existing series/comic/object?
ive still got my original 60s one!
Respectfully, Mr. Orci, if you two at this point need the Viewmaster brand in order to be able to see an idea, somebody somewhere has a problem.
I’m sorry to gripe about how you make movies when you’re generous enough to come here and read and comment. But sometimes it feels as though studios, writers, and audiences are all being retrained by the dynamics of the business to require the imprimatur of some piece of plastic from their youth to validate a movie idea. I mean, hey, I had a Viewmaster as a kid and I loved it — but there’s just something depressing here.
I always allow for the possibility of being pleasantly surprised. I jush wish Bob Kane’s original idea felt free to declare itself as such, and didn’t need to travel under the cover of Fisher-Price.
@67: I don’t mean any disrespect to you or your talents, Mr. Orci, but it seems to me that you should have the clout to get a good original idea made as-is. If a pair of writer-producers with a solid track record in both films and TV can’t get a studio to sign off on a solid original idea, than I weep for Hollywood.
If you were able to push an idea like this without it needing to be ostensibly based on a licensed property, you could be helping Hollywood move away from the feeling that it has to brand everything with a pre-established product.
Once again, I don’t intend any disrespect with this posting, just to sort express frustration with the state of major-studio film making in this day and age.
Pet Rocks: The Motion Picture
72: “Once again, I don’t intend any disrespect with this posting, just to sort express frustration with the state of major-studio film making in this day and age.”
I understand the frustration as well. Dune is heading for it’s third incarnation, while we haven’t had even a single incarnation of what would be a visually spectacular “big idea” movie of Larry Niven’s Ringworld.
Meanwhile—BSG granted—SyFy still ignores all the many stories that should see production in favor of making stuff like Mansquito.
The relevant question about the “Viewmaster” story is: Will there be a pack of magical Star Trek disks anywhere in the story?
Okay, and I thought the Asteroids thing was silly….
It’s official…Hollywood has run straight out of ideas.
Sorry- I just have to draw my willing suspension- of- disbelief line here… and no farther.
#77- Haha so true. Maybe we could have a story about how toilets are made and in the end we see the BIG FLUSH!
Omg! I just realized what the new trek movie title will be-the something something something is now filled in! “Star Trek:The View-Master 3-D”!Hes probably a villain that spies on planets a lot! hahha!
I loved the old viewmaster. Talk about a natural for the true 3D format! Sounds fun to me.
72. DarthLowBudget – July 7, 2009
@67: I don’t mean any disrespect to you or your talents, Mr. Orci, but it seems to me that you should have the clout to get a good original idea made as-is. If a pair of writer-producers with a solid track record in both films and TV can’t get a studio to sign off on a solid original idea, than I weep for Hollywood.
—————————
Yeah, but the thing is Bob and Alex can not have a original idea because they are dumb. Just listen to their brain-less audio track on the Star Trek: 4 DVD or watch one of their films.
Their next film will be like all their films:
Fake Dog-Poop: The Movie
messagessubliminal messagessubliminal messagessubliminal messageyousubliminal messagessstar messagessubliminal messagessubliminal meslikesubliminal messagesstrek09al messagessubliminal messagessubliminal messagessubliminal
I would guess that “The Omega Glory” just happened to be the episode filming when the Viewmaster team came over to shoot the 3D pictures.
#47 — it’s been done, albeit as a TV series. “The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys” on CBS Saturday morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzs_8JDfsdo
Sorry, I mean #46.
You…have got…to be F-ing kidding me!
Viewmaster: The Motion Picture???!!!!
What’s next?
Naked Twister: The Movie?
Bob Orci, this idea is RETARDED! Contact me. I have at least two series ideas that are ORIGINAL that could be huge media properties.
Neither are based on anyone else’s ideas or toys or books or games…none of it. Not based on Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, Predator, Terminator…none of it!
Visualize an original concept(s) with cool characters, locations, props, etc.
…only it’s FRESH and ORIGINAL.
Toys could be sold, models, games, comics…all off these new concepts that I’ve had laying around collecting dust for a few years. BUT: none of has been done yet.
Not even close.
Whether my ideas or not…Hollywood and you guys need to step out of the comfort zone and create the next big NEW franchise based on something no one has seen before.
Maybe James Cameron will do it with AVATAR. It’s the best shot we’ve had at such a thing. If anyone CAN do it…J.C. can!
Hell, Jack of All Trades was at least original!
How about Jack of All Trades: The Movie?
I’m sure Bruce Campbell would be up for it!
How about Slinky: The Motion Picture?
The awesome metal slinkies race the less awesome plastic rainbow slinkies down a giant staircase!
I used to have one of these, they were awesome
83,
The ViewMaster was done a decade the better part of a decade AFTER the series wrapped.
87- For a moment I thought you said STINKY- The Motion Picture. :) :P
After all who else could make an offshoot movie of Pigpen from Charlie Brown? And don’t forget the totally brainless conversation like Bevis and Butthead used to say.
I think you could do better guys.
Oh, come on people. Just next door, in the “T J Hooker” thread, everyone was lamenting the endless remakes coming out of Hollywood.
Now seriously – have ANY of you seen a feature film, TV movie, or TV series based on the Viewmaster? ANYONE?
You bitch and moan about remakes, and then, when they come up with something that ISN’T a remake, you bitch about that too.
Sheesh! Get a life!
(BTW, for an Etch-a-Sketch movie, it would have to be a Bond theme -”Etch-a-Sketch:Shaken, Not Stirred”)
C’mom Orci, lets make the Operation Game movie already. Sheesh when will the wait be over?
#91. It’s based on a TOY! And a rather lame toy at that.
At least Transformers were a COOL toy.
My point is, I’d rather see something that isn’t BASED on something else that’s been made — be it a toy or TV series…or even a BOOK at this point.
I guess I’m looking for originality…which seems to be a kind of endangered or extinct species.
Homage is something else altogether. ALIEN was an homage to the 50’s monster/sci-fi film such as “IT — The Terror from Space” but they didn’t just wholesale rip it off either.
Anyway, lame ideas for films galore these days.
Ya know…just playing devil’s advocate here….but what about a
SHOGUN WARRIORS movie?
Remember Mazinga and Dazinga and Guzinta (Making names up — except Mazinga — that one was really a Shogun Warrior).
Anybody old enough to remember the Shogun Warrior toys from Mattel?
Orci, there’s your next movie! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
this will really date me-major matt mason, the movie—or even robot commando! heheh-mattel strange change time machine the movie-monopoly the movie starring donald trump-course it would be about a ten hour movie unless properties were handed out–incredible edibles the movie with free samples!
A View-Master was in the SyFy name-change promo; the “viewer” pulled the lever and the whole scenery (around the viewer) changed. Maybe the movie is about a magic View-Master. And I happened to catch part of “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” earlier today, and there was a View-Master there too (used as part of telling the back story). Then I read this story about some crazy View-Master movie. What’s going on…
#93 Evil Viewmaster
(sigh) I guess I sometimes need to take the Kryton approach and end some posts with (”Humor Mode Cancel”)
The View Master (or Vyu Mastyr yf you watch SyFy) is actually just a trademarked version of the older stereoscopic apparatus.
My grandmother had the original device, which was a beautiful antique. Instead of circular frames a la the VM, it had linear frames… and she had pictures of Paris and New York from the 1910s and 1920s. It was awesome.
Maybe if that script isn’t finished, they’ll consider the predecessors of the View Master and have some time travel.
After all, what’s a K/O production without time travel? :)
#50—”These guys are either the most talented writers to come out of Hollywood in a long time to take on an idea this ridiculous ….
Or they are just more of the same Hollywood opportunism, grabbing for any paycheck they can get, regardless of how much they must compromise their principles.”
Perhaps you misread the article, but Orci and Kurtzman are not writing the script—just aws they did not write the script for “The Proposal”. The script is being written by Brad Caleb Kane.
Is agreeing to produce a kid adventure movie that involves the “view-master toy” really something which requires compromising one’s principles?
I think that’s a bit dramatic. No?
#82—”Yeah, but the thing is Bob and Alex can not have a original idea because they are dumb. ”
If Bob and Alex are dumb, then we should all be so fortunate.
And once again, you might want to try reading the article.
This is someone else’s idea. They have been asked to produce.
On the surface, it does sound like a silly idea but stranger things have succeeded. I certainly thought a remake of Battlestar with Starbuck as a girl was the dumbest idea I ever heard of and I was proven very wrong. If it is well written and the story is original, then it might end up being a blockbuster surprise. I just hope that if it does succeed, we don’t see an explosion of retro toys being made into movies. The thought of Naked Twister and Ker-Plunk Sticks of Terror kinda frighten me.
98
Deja Vu. I remember spending many an evening at the Elwood Public Library as a child looking in wonder at those even-then old pictures with the stereoscope device.
I like to collect old stuff from my childhood and that would be a great thing to look for on EBay! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
ViewMaster the Movie, I recall one of the advertising ploys was ‘If you are unable to see the movie, Use your ViewMaster and a ViewMaster disk and it will be like you are there’
I remember the last Christmas present my grandfather gave me, a bunch of ViewMaster disks, one was the TAS disk and many were of Ocean things because My grandfather like the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea TV show. He passed away just before Turkey Day in 1973 when his heart stopped on his way to a Vikings Coaching Staff meeting.
#6, only the Exeter was the AMT model kit; the Enterprise was the 33″ (”the three-footer”) model of the ship; the Viewmaster shot of it (visible on the cover of the TOS set in the photo above) is gorgeous.
And the reason it was done that way is simple: to get the Viewmaster 3D effect, they had to shoot with special stereo cameras. That was back when Sawyers/GAF actually sent their own camerapeople onto the sets of TV shows they were doing (which is why it was OMEGA GLORY — not because it was the best episode, but because it was the one that happened to be filming the week the Viewmaster cameraman was in the studio). The shots of the Enterprise and Exeter used in the actual episode weren’t new miniature footage, but rather recombinations of existing footage, and so there was no way to get the 3D effect from the existing opticals; Viewmaster redid the shot from scratch, and it actually is quite gorgeous. Think of it as the very first example of Star Trek Remastered. ;)
Later, Viewmaster reels were done on the cheap; the ST:TMP set is an example. They’d use stills from the movie — two or three split-screened, so that the stills were at different focal depths, but weren’t themselves three-dimensional.
83. and 84. starfall42
My jaw just hit the floor…
This in from CBC “As It Happens ” show on 10 JUL 2009 (www.cbc.ca/asithappens):
“Dateline: Hollywood, California.
As of Monday morning, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” had made six-hundred-and-eight million dollars at the box office. And this is a movie that critics have described as “beyond bad”, “a horrible experience of unbearable length”, and “the equivalent of a one-hundred-and-fifty minute waterboarding session”. So clearly, what the public wants and what certain people believe the public should want are vastly different things.
Which leads me to an apology. On Tuesday night, we told you that Universal Studios had bought the film rights to the video game “Asteroids” — a project that will be produced, incidentally, by the one of the producers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”.
Clearly, that producer sees that the films of the future will be storyless, characterless, beginningless, and endless. Like “Waiting for Godot” directed by an impatient twelve-year-old, and with the parts of Vladimir and Estragon played by giant robots with lasers for eyes.”
Thank you CBC. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
We mentioned several other odd-sounding projects on Tuesday as well. But here’s the apology: we neglected to mention that DreamWorks Pictures is negotiating with Mattel for the rights to the View-Master. That’s the toy, introduced at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, into which one inserts a disc that contains seven pictures. When one looks through the dual eyeholes, one sees those pictures in three-D. And soon, “View-Master: The Movie” will animate those pictures, or pit View-Masters against one another, or something.
If such a movie seems weird, or destined to fail, consider this: the two writers who’ve already been hired to work up some kind of script also served as writers on a little toy-based film entitled “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. So if you’re taking deep breaths in disappointment at the future desecration of your childhood, remember this: when it comes to summer movies, size means everything — and your sighs mean nothing.
Wow… These post are a great read.
The number of Bad Robot KoolAid drinkers and Kurtzman/Orci lap dogs have diminished considerably.
It’s interesting that so many are so quick to defend ViewMaster canon & integrity but were absent when it was time to do so for Star Trek.
This idea sounds as original as a retreaded Twilight Zone episode. Perhaps it will be a sequel to “Big” with Tom Hanks… Instead of a magic wish machine it will have a magic ViewMaster. Can’t forget the all important product placement.
Maybe it will also star Brad Pitt and be called The Curious Case of Forrest Gump and his Magical ViewMaster.
#99. Closettrekker wrote: Perhaps you misread the article, but Orci and Kurtzman are not writing the script
Nope. Perhaps you misread what I wrote – I never wrote they were writing it.
Closettrekker wrote: Is agreeing to produce a kid adventure movie that involves the “view-master toy” really something which requires compromising one’s principles?
Definitely the mis-reading problem is yours. Nowhere in the article is a “kid adventure movie” mentioned.
As for compromising one’s principles, once again you’ve read into that. Everyone in Hollywood decides what kind of career they’re going to have. Orci & Kurtzan appear to already be accepting the role as the toy franchise guys. If that’s what they want, fantastic, then there’s no compromise. However, there are some writers and actors alike who will not take on a project that doesn’t accomplish a vision they have for their careers, even if it means making less money. It’s hard to imagine a writer/producer with the opportunities available to Orci/Kurtzman who wants to pursue both Star Trek and Transformers.
However, I did not say that’s what they’ve done. They could just as likely be the most talented writer’s in Hollywood and have an amazing vision for an idea this ridiculous.
#107. Charles H. Root, III wrote: ” Instead of a magic wish machine it will have a magic ViewMaster. Can’t forget the all important product placement.”
I would agree with you except, from articles I’ve read, ViewMaster takes up a lot of shelf space, but sells only about $10M a year compared to almost $6 billion in revenue by Mattel’s other products. They recently discontinued one of the most productive uses for it, scenic discs, such as those sold at the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone Park. In another article, a 3 -year old child, told his mother that he found the ViewMaster boring. I’m not surprised when many of todays 3 & 4 years olds are already exposed to the interactive internet, video games and of course every Disney film on DVD or iPod on demand in the backseat of Daddy’s car. Besides, in an era where NBC can broadcast an episode of Chuck in 3D, how much longer can the traditional View Master be relevant, when 3D images can be seen on the internet with a cheap pair of glasses?
So product placement? Really? Who exactly are they targeting? Two-and-a half year olds who still find ViewMasters entertaining? Nostalgic Baby Boomers who grew up on ViewMasters? Collectors? Or is it one last attempt to squeeze every last dollar out of the product before Mattel discontinues it completely?
Clearly this is not just going to be a kid’s film … as most kids don’t have any idea what a View Master is anymore and if they do, will most likely be repelled from such a movie out of boredom. No this will appeal more to families and like a Pixar movie probably have a strong story to appeal to adults’ nostalgia. I mean it has to, right?
@ 109. RD –
Regardless of what ViewMaster products are or are not on the market, do you really think that there wont be a product tie in… Really?
Seriously, Target & Wal-Mart will be full of them. There will be kids meal premiums and they will sell them to anyone willing to buy them.
And people will buy them because they wont be your father’s ViewMaster.
Prepare to be seduced by the new electronic “ViewMaster VR” that displays digital 3D images and video with sound in a virtual reality environment. It will link to other network aware devices, nodes and external storage via BlueTooth, USB, FireWire & Ethernet, have integrated accelerometers, WiFi and GPS functionality as well as memory card expansion slots. There will be ports for audio/video input/output and game controller peripherals.
Expect an “HD” version of the unit, as well as “Pro” and “Pro HD” camera versions that will capture still and moving 2D/3D images with sound and geodata tagging within a year. The Pro units will also boast live WebCam functionality.
My engineers are working on a prototype unit based on an Open Source embedded Linux distribution. Obviously, we can’t call ours a ViewMaster but our market research has shown substantial interest in what would be a VR iPod/PSP/NDS on steroids. Google passed on the idea and we never heard back from Apple so it’s going to take us a bit longer without the funding.
#110 – LOL