Having wrung out as much cash as possible from the Austin Powers franchise, Mike Myers has a new set of projects in mind, and an unusual (if not entirely unprecendented) intent.
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Mike Myers has inked an unusual production deal with DreamWorks in which the actor will insert himself, other actors and new plots into existing films to create new properties.The studio is calling the process "film sampling," similar to the music business practice in which an artist takes part of an existing song and works it into his own tune, sometimes with new lyrics and music.
The article cites Woody Allen's What's up, Tiger Lily? as a precedent; but I am reminded more of Steve Martin's Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, which intercut scenes of Martin and his costars (including Rachel Ward, as I live and breathe heavily) with scenes from various noir classics. Imagine the same thing done using the same technology applied in Forrest Gump to show Tom Hanks hobnobbing with Lyndon Johnson, John Lennon, etc.
It's one of those things that could easily be done badly; it would be nice if it had some appeal beyond the novelty of the technique. The good people at Pixar know that, and their productions are good movies first, and technological marvels second. That's why people still love to watch Toy Story, but only Babylon 5 fans still care about Tron.
Speaking of Pixar, they have a new one coming out soon, Finding Nemo (trailer here). First toys, then bugs, and now fish. They're slowly creeping up on more flexible, more organic characters as their technology improves, and they have the good sense not to try to do people before the technology is good enough.
Posted by Kevin Shaum at February 14, 2003 09:07 AM | TrackBack