Movies Forbidden Planet Remake Franchise

Tom

An Old Friend
Last I read the Forbidden Planet remake was in Development Hell.
I loved the movie. Always wanted to see an updated version.
It seems that just isn't going to happen.

Forbidden Planet - Trailer

Forbidden Planet (1956) - IMDb

Forbidden Planet - Wikipedia

In the 23rd century, starship C-57D reaches the distant world Altair IV to determine the fate of an Earth expedition sent there 20 years earlier. Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the expedition's scientists, unsuccessfully tries to persuade the relief ship not to land, saying he cannot guarantee their safety.

I propose making a reboot that is a 4 component franchise.
Lemme splain:

Forbidden Planet 1: Altair 4 Disaster
The first movie in the franchise would be based on the original premise of the crew of Dr Morbius' ship's discovery of Altair 4 set at the end of the 23rd century.
The movie uses the first 20 minutes or so to establish the ship, technology and introduce the crew/personalities.
While passing close to the Altair System something goes wrong and the ship is forced down to the 4th and only habitable planet in the system.
They discover a world covered completely in artificial structures but completely inactive.
The remaining 2/3 of the film comprises the crew activating and horiffically dying from the planetary machine responses to their raw human fears. Dr Morbius and Dr whoever have a daughter and her mother is killed by a monster from Morbius' deepest fears.
The film ends with Morbius and his now teenage daughter constructing a robot and living in harmony on the planet.

Forbidden Planet 2: Rescue Mission
The second film takes up with a crew on a rescue mission for the craft lost in the Altair System. Responding to a distress beacon launched from the first movie, it is set now 25 year later.
There has been a significant advancement in human based AI but restricted to non-robotics. The AI is in essence a human without a body and is a component part of the ship. It has a portable mode that allows the AI to be carried by others and still remaining fully aware. It can be attached with cables to devices wjich can then be commanded by the AI.
The rescue crew touches down on the surface of Altair 4 after doing a planet search, revealing a great planet wide machine that extends all the way to the core of the planet but only has a small power signature at a specific point.
They touch down at that point and find Dr Morbius and his daughter Altaira alive, well and barely aged. Young Altaira immediately take to the science officer.
The film stays pretty much to original with a few exceptions.
The AI unit is hooked up to the Krell machine.
The monster from the ID is not invisible but manifests seemingly from mid air. It resembles a Dr Morbius monster from the first movie but has subtle differences depending upon which crew member it is attacking.
The AI get control of the Krell interface just in time to save Altaira and the star science officer and their rescue ship.
The survivors call for help and a fleet of ships is shown leaving for Altair 4.

Forbidden Planet 3: Habitation
The third film begins with a whole new cast arriving at Altair 4 some 200 years later.
It is a pilot feature for the 4th component of the franchise, a horror scifi adventure television series based on settlements on Altair 4 and the human fallacies of fear, lust and power.
This full feature film stars the cast of the first season of the series, like a pilot film.

The AI has fully interfaced with Krell technology. Deep in the planet it has manifested pockets of the Krell and teaches them to properly use their technology. Meanwhile, on the surface, settlements are being populated, focusing on two nearby settlements and the people within. The Krell machine, now fully functional, reads their emotions and starts to manifest their fears in horifying ways.
One by one the settlements fall with only a few remaining, steadfast against the onslaught of emotional destruction.
One of the Krell finds its way to the surface and an alliance is made between it and the staring cast.
With the help of the newfound alliance with the Krell lifeform the settlers begin to get control of the great machine.
The film ends with lost settlements making contact as we find that there are more survivors than previously thought.
The cliffhanger end is the AI turning malevolent against the survivors and the pockets of Krell in the planet.

Forbidden Planet The Series

First episode finds the stars as cast with a series of focuses on life at all the surviving outposts on Altair 4.
Meanwhile, the AI is assessing the threat making secret preparations for taking back control of the Krell machine.
Meanwhile, pockets of Krell in the planet are making preparations for control, themselves.
The Krell with the survivors is teaching the fundamental disciplines needed for machine function to the series cast stars.

The series involves different types of assaults on each component using different aspects of Krell technology.
Advanced weapons, physical nightmares and trickery.

Well, that's all I got right now...LOL (went blank)
 
cant think of anything.
once again Hollywood is going to the vault, unable or unwilling to do something original.
 
Who in Hollywood now could be in the cast of such a remake??
Lets see, haven't given it much thought actually.
I think it might be opportunity for some no-names to make a name for themselves but surely we would want to see some familiar faces.

I like Dane DeHaan but maybe not in the first film. Possibly one of the sequel's captains or an away team type commander.
Cara Delevingne might make a good Altaira or Dr Morbius's wife.
Channing Tatum could be Dr Morbius or one of the commanders in the rescue party.
Mila Kunis might also make a good Altaira or a science officer.
Ethan Hawke could be attached as an elder mission commander or a settlement leader.
I'd like to see Salma Hayek in a starring role, maybe even a ship's captain or a series staple in a high action role.
I'm sure Jamie Foxx could handle an action role and possibly even a reoccurring series role.
Gerard Butler might kick off the first film as a captain or possibly appear later in the set as Dr Morbius.
Pierce Gagnon might be a staple TV show specialist that deals with the Krell component.
For the Krell we would need actors like Jeffrey Combs that are familiar with extensive make up and the ability to bring life (and personality) to unknown characters. Not sure what that is called but he did it well?
The voice of Robby might be a well known voice like Morgan Freeman, Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, or even go female with Scarlett Johansson or Halle Berry.
I'd kinda like to see Jim Parsons in a technical role like a Krell machine specialist or technical advisor called upon to figure out the technology.
Perhaps a rough survivalist role in the series could go to Kaley Cuoco or A.J. Cook. She travels between the settlements as a survival guide and courier.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan would make an awesome down on his luck survivalist (with a secret) as well.

The first film would need some fairly big names to kill off with the Krell machine. High drama in all the scenes with properly delivered dialog and convincing acting (green screen included).
The second film would also have some big names associated but with a bigger ratio of rising but known stars.
The third film would have some staple stars to kill off but would also feature many of the TV show stars for at least the first two seasons. These would need to be known stars that are still fairly young and a few well established TV stars for the drama segments. Episodic introduction of new and very old stars would also be important. Episodic segments showing high end stars could speckle the series, both killing them off and forgetting about them as the show progresses.

Krell machine constructs could be voiced by nearly anyone but we would want well established voice actors in the feature movies.
I'm not sure if a narrator would be needed but it might give something interesting to the presentation if done properly. Jonathan Frakes might be a good choice.
 
Ya gotta think about the scope of what we are talking about.
Its a highly advanced planet-wide computer with nanotechnology abilities.
It can manifest matter in an instant.
It works at the speed of thought and its tapping into the primal emotional human condition.
It has NO safety protocols.
You think it, it makes it reality.

You then have a condition where more and more humans are feeding the machine.
You have Krell that are trying to get control of the machine and you have us trying to figure it all out while trying to survive.
I imagine High adventure, High drama and a whole lot of creative horror in a science fiction setting.
 
Yah what he said....
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Realistically, I don't think I'd want to see a remake because these days the emphasis would be on cramming as much CGI FX in there that they could and attaching whatever big name actor/actress they can get.

Would I watch a remake or a reboot? Absolutely! Would I be waiting in anticipation of it because I thought it'd be as good as the original? No.
 
I've seen 'bad' remakes but I have also seen "Good" remakes.
If you consider the basic story as the focus, different people telling the same story at different times with different filming techniques has some merit.
CGI can be bad but it can also be very well done.
When well-done, it can expand the story to interesting possibilities.

What I am a suggesting is not a remake but more of an expansion on the idea of an established story.
It will cover the original story elements and expand on those.
Cabin Fever (2016) was a remake of Cabin Fever (2002). It duplicated the original completely.
Evil Dead (2013) was a re-imagining remake of Evil Dead (1981). It didn't duplicate the original completely. It used the idea of the original to go to a new place with the story.

This idea is to take Forbidden Planet and go to a new place with the story over multiple movies and expand on that with a TV Show. There were special effects in the original movie. There would be special effects in the reboot as well, but given the technology we now have, those new special effects would be of a different class of story-telling. CGI will allow the filmmakers to go places in the story the older filmmakers could not go.
Look at the differences in the old Superman and Batman effects compared to today.
George Reeves laid on a table and flew by rolling his body around in the wind of a fan. When Henry Cavill flies, it looks like he is actually flying. The CGI allows interactions impossible for George Reeves to depict at that time. This changes the story-telling. It allows the story to expand.

krell-teaching-machine-e1411679738234.png


The Krell controls in the original required sliding switches and knobs, gauges and banks of gauges.
The Krell were supposed to be extremely advanced, yet in today's world of 2018 how many knobs and mechanical slides do you have on your smart phone? Our reality of technology has surpassed the depiction of technology of an advanced alien civilization and a reboot could update that depiction to a higher level.

forbidden-krell-iq.jpg


The hologram in this scene limits the Krell's ability to create a lifesize interacting hologram like depicted in current films like Prometheus.

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Were the "Engineers" of Prometheus higher advanced than the Krell?

prometheus-02.jpg


Are "We" more advanced than the Krell?
 
The Forbidden Planet is still my favorite science fiction film from that era.
Its not the film making that makes it so. Its the story and the ideas the story inspires.
The premise that alien technology can be so far advanced beyond our abilities its wondrous.
The premise that technology can and will have no morals.
The idea that insecurities, hate, fear and jealousy might be able to be manifested without decision by that advanced technology to deadly outcomes. That wondrous things might also be manifested.
Two very different results from a common source. Almost Godlike.

A planet sized machine. Let that sink in for a moment.
For a planet with Earth-like gravity, that is huge.
There could be multiple control rooms like the one told in the original story. Each one controlling the power of a limited section of the planet-sized machine. Each one having an area of influence with one main control room far into the center of the planet that links all the sub-stations on the surface. Lethal to unprotected humans. Only accessible by manifested protection.

Now you have the ability to to have multiple communities around the surface experiencing manifestations of differing degrees. Introduce a manifested Krell population that has limited understanding of the machine and a connection to the humans and you have a higher order threat/benefit.

You have survival from the manifestations with a quest to reach the master control. The one to master themselves to a disciplined mind first, controls the planet.
The movies could set the tone for the TV show that follows. The movies establish the wonder, the awe and the threat the show expands upon.
 
Love the Novels....1st movie neeed not remade but an additional movie as a prequel on the krell history..such a well made movie and such learning IQ currently in Hollywood......................Krell movie would be completely new and unique and more importantly ' an Original Idea' ,.....
 
Another thumbs up for the novels I see. You guys are making me thinking I should pick them up and read the Kindle versions of them. {heads over to Amazon...}

OK, the first Kindle title available for "Forbidden Planet" is *not* what I'm after. :LOL:

Poking around it looks like the paperback is OOP but is available for those willing to pay the price. I think I need to keep an eye open for the local thrift stores (and maybe to Baldwin's Book Barn, the local used bookstore mecca in the area) to see if I can find a copy.
 
So, in this world of remakes, prequels, sequels and reimaginings there is absolutely no place for anything based on the Forbidden Planet film?
And ya'll call yerself Science Fiction fans?
 
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