EJ
Upcoming adaptations
Yesterday saw the first big look at the new Masters of the Universe film adaptation from Travis Knight. These past few days have also seen announcements for adaptations of properties like Murder, She Wrote (with Jamie Lee Curtis stepping in the main role), The Rockford Files and Wiseguy. Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore will helm the feature adaptation of Murder, She Wrote and Spider-verse filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller will be amongst the creative team. The Rockford Files is set to be penned by writer Mike Daniels from Sons of Anarchy and Wiseguy will have Jonathan Banks reprising his role from the original series.
Are these properties going to connect with new audiences?
Now, I know remakes, reboots and re-adaptations are far from new with Hollywood. Masters of the Universe, while not a property that’s been everywhere (like Batman or Super Mario Bros. or something), it still sports its legion of fans from the original Filmation series and the newer animated incarnations. Knight has proven to be a pretty great filmmaker with his work at Laika, including Kubo and the Two Strings. He would cross over into big franchise action with 2018’s Transformers spin-off Bumblebee. Many Transformers fans have applauded Knight’s film as being more faithful to the source material and even capturing the heart of 80s films. Knight was a professed fan of the original cartoon and he looked to be the perfect choice to helm a new He-Man adventure.
After the trailer drop, there were praises for some of the faithful looks and a lot of curiosity from the angle taken for the story. Cannon Films famously set their 1987 Masters of the Universe on Earth to keep the budget down, and many felt this new adaptation would steer away from anything similar and have Eternia primarily as the setting. However, if Knight sticks the landing, people who grew up in the 80s with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe are sure to be in for a good time. The teaser trailer teaser even hit you with 80s nostalgia aesthetic and showed you what breakfast and workouts were like “when times were simpler.”
Will this kind of nostalgia be something that new audiences care about? It almost seems like a specific demographic to aim for. I’m sure they want a lot of people to flock to theaters to see this movie, but will this register with a wide array of moviegoers? I have faith in Knight, but it almost seems that dipping the story in this “cross worlds” angle and nostalgia may take away from the timelessness of what it could be, like if it were an all-out fantasy action film with no Earth elements. On the other hand, it is a unique layer to add to a property like this (let’s not forget the original cartoon was meant to advertise the toyline) and it could provide more creativity and personality than a straightforward action adventure.
Then, we have these 70s and 80s properties like Murder, She Wrote, Rockford Files and Wiseguy. All these titles can usually be seen on specialty channels that show classic TV reruns. It makes me wonder how big the fanbase is to warrant capitalizing on these properties. Lord and Miller being attached to Murder, She Wrote gives me the sense that there could be some parody elements to it, but are there modern audiences that are attuned enough to the source material to enjoy the wink-wink moments?
Adaptations like these certainly have precedence, with shows like Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-0 having remakes. I can’t help but wonder where the nostalgic sweet spot is — when you can honor the show and still have something fresh for audiences to gravitate towards without being built into the fanbase.
Films like Starsky and Hutch and The Brady Bunch Movie have managed to successfully twist their concepts into comedic parodies. When there is a hook that audiences can latch onto without having to fully get references that may go over their head, the quality usually surpasses the property alone. You’d be hard-pressed to find people who are angry that the first Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible turned Jim Phelps into a villain after being the protagonist of the original TV series, but the franchise is a big moneymaker with our attachment to Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and the manic action that is now associated with it.
Are any of our readers right in the wheelhouse of these properties? Is the direction of the Masters of the Universe movie what you expected? Do you think it can be executed well?
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Source:
JoBlo
