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Which promising movies fell shortest of expectations?
When we first heard the news that J.J. Abrams had been hired by Disney to continue the adventures of Luke Skywalker and company as the director of Star Wars: Episode VII, we were almost beside ourselves with enthusiasm. After all, as the director of Star Trek (2009), Abrams proved that he could revitalize a classic sci-fi franchise while remaining true to its core concepts and respectful of its legacy. Added to that the fact that Abrams will be shooting from a script written by Academy Award-winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) and Episode VII is bound to be the greatest Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi, right? We'll see. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but gearing down from "enthusiastic" to "hopefully optimistic."
Studios don't set out to make bad movies, yet they churn them out each and every year. Sure, most bad movies are doomed from the get-go, be they saddled with a bad script, a director who lacks vision, a cast made up of eye candy instead of actors, or some combination thereof, but even movies that seem to have everything going for them can still turn out to be dreadful. A movie about cowboys fighting aliens starring Indiana Jones and James Bond directed by the man who brought us Iron Man? Sounds awesome! Too bad Cowboys and Aliens turned out to be just another one of those movies that should have been great, but ultimately left us feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.
You've griped about them to your friends, now tell us which movies you found to be the biggest disappointments, the ones that simply failed to live up to expectations.
Rate the Top 10 Most Disappointing Movies >>
Posted 01.25.13 by BrentJS -
If there's one person who's refused to give up on Ghostbusters III, its Dan Aykroyd. The actor, who co-wrote and co-starred in the 1984 original and the 1989 sequel, has been championing the project for years. Bill Murray, however, has been constantly poking fun at the idea of another sequel, at one point calling it "his nightmare." Last year, Murray even admitted that he hadn't read the script from The Office and Bad Teacher writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky.
Undeterred, Aykroyd has pressed on. Last August he said the latest installment would see the original Ghostbusters give up their photon packs to a new generation, and that Ghostbusters III would get made "and hopefully with Mr. Murray." In a recent interview with The Telegraph, it seems that Aykroyd has finally given in, admitting that Murray won't appear and that the sequel is in "suspended animation."
could the sequel be made without murray? >> Posted 03.01.12 by Ryan -
Today's Challenge: It was 99 years ago today that the Titanic left Southampton, England on its maiden (and only) voyage. Find the link that connects two movies that feature the White Star Line Ship: Titanic and Ghostbusters II.
Our first Facebook movie game, ClusterFlick, plays off that old "six degrees of separation" theory — you know, the one that has a certain Kevin at the center of the Hollywood universe. It's easy to play, but not so easy to win. The goal is to use the major cast of movies to get from Point A to Point B in the smallest number of moves.
Play ClusterFlick >>
Posted 04.10.11 by reelz -
While a third Ghostbusters movie has been talked about for years, plans for Ghostbusters III started to look realistic when Harold Ramis explained in June of 2009 that he was working on the story for Ghostbusters 3 with his Year One screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. At the time, Ramis said that the entire cast "says they'll do it." Six months later he revealed that the script would "introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too." While the cast may have casually agreed to return, Ghostbusters III has a very public critic who has continued to punch holes in the possibility of another Ghostbusters: Bill Murray.
Murray vs. Aykroyd >> Posted 10.09.10 by Ryan -
It's been 25 years since the original Ghostbusters taught us who to call when "paranormal activity" gets out of control. But after the poorly-received Ghostbusters II in 1989, it seemed that the franchise was officially dead, at least as far as features were concerned. This year, however, nearly every member of the original production has chimed in on the possibility of resurrecting the franchise.
Dan Aykroyd, who starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz and co-wrote both Ghostbusters movies with Harold Ramis, announced in February that production on a third movie could begin as early as "late fall 2009." In June, Ramis, who starred as Dr. Egon Spengler in addition to his writing duties, said that he was working on a story for the sequel but that he didn't think that director Ivan Reitman was interested. That same month, Reitman responded that he had "never ruled out" returning for another Ghostbusters.
Now, Bill Murray has chimed in on the possibility of reprising the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters III to Absolute Radio (via the Latino Review).
I'll believe it when I see it ... I don't want to do it yet. There's still no script. It's just a bunch of talk. It's just a wish list for someone. Until there's a really good script, I'll stay home and play snooker, or whatever you [British] do. It has to be a serious script before I'll leave the house.
It's gotta be really good, you know? I'm not going to make one just to make another one ... you gotta be really fierce about it.
Posted 10.15.09 by BrentJS -
It's been 25 years since "Who ya gonna call?" became a national catchphrase and 20 years since the bland sequel to Ghostbusters all but ended the franchise. Over the years, there has been sporadic talk about reviving the franchise, but the principals could never agree to terms and the franchise languished. Now, the possibility of a third film about New York City's favorite paranormal investigators seems a possibility, thanks to an unlikely impetus: the Ghostbusters video game.
A couple of weeks ago, Harold Ramis, who co-wrote and starred in the first two Ghostbusters films, said he had written a story for a third film that The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were adapting into a screenplay. Now, with the Ghostbusters video game becoming the top-selling Xbox 360 game and second best-selling Playstation 3 game on Amazon.com, there is even more talk about the film franchise. As reported in Variety, Mark Caplan, VP of licensing at Sony Pictures said:
For now, we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The game and the Blu-ray (release) will have a big impact on all of us. And we'll decide what to do from there.
The Ghostbusters video game script, co-written by Dan Aykroyd and Ramis, contains more than 10,000 lines of dialgogue and features the voices of principal actors Ramis, Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis declined to participate for unspecified reasons.
Posted 06.20.09 by BrentJS -
Harold Ramis needs to pick up the phone. When it comes to Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II director Ivan Reitman's return for Ghostbusters III, Ramis has said "I don't think he wants to," however Reitman has already said he might be interested in returning. Reitman told MTV:
I've never ruled [directing Ghostbusters III] out. Icertainly was responsible in every capacity for the first two movies so I certainly wouldn't wander away from the third one -- especially if it's something we all think is worth doing.
Reitman agreed with Ramis that he thought the third movie would revolve around a younger group of characters, perhaps even a female or two. "That was certainly in the outline they proposed," said Reitman.
Reitman claims the script, written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (The Office), should be delivered "in a month or so." At that time, who will be in and who won't be, will become a lot more clear.
Posted 06.10.09 by Ryan -
It's been 25 years since the birth of the Ghostbusters franchise and the original creative team is working on a new flick. In a telephone interview yesterday, Comingsoon.net talked to writer/director Harold Ramis (Year One, Analyze This, Groundhog Day) and received some info on the upcoming Ghostbusters III.
Ramis and Dan Aykroyd wrote the scripts for the first two movies and both starred with Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who are regular writers for The Office, are developing a first draft of the script and Ramis says he's optimistic that the new movie will feature most of the original cast:
I wrote the story for the new movie with [Eisenberg and Stupnitsky], and Dan [Aykroyd] and I've been consulting. We're justwaiting to see a first draft and where we are ... Everyone says they'll do it; they've all saidthey'll do it. No one has signed anything yet--we haven't signedanything either--but there's the spirit of willingness in the air.
Ramis also talked about whether he or original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman will helm the new movie:
I don't think he wants to;I'm not sure I want to. It's just a lot of open questions.Until we see a script, I don't think anyone really knows how they feelabout it. Everyone's open to doing it, that's the main thing, that'swhat got it moving forward.
.In addition, Ramis said that there will be a younger team of Ghostbusters this time around, with the original characters acting more as mentors.
Ghostbusters III is currently scheduled for release sometime in 2012.
Posted 06.09.09 by reelz -
Stoners and geeks and inner children everywhere rejoice. Ghostbusters III may actually be happening. Talking cryptically on the subject to the Boston Globe while at a House of Blues opening (no comment), Dan Aykroyd said, "Script is commenced early summer. Hope to be in production by late fall 2009." Hmm...while that verb tense is vague, we'll take it to mean that a script is in the works. Here's what else we (kinda, sorta) know:
Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky of The Office are listed as writers, while old Ivan Reitman looks to be on to produce, per usual. Chances are decent that along with Aykroyd, Bill Murray would be on board, and perhaps Harold Ramis. Chances are less good that Sigourney Weaver would come back, and even less good that Rick Moranis would come out of hiding for the film. For certain, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the first film, and the release of a new video game based on it, so if ever there were a time for another, now would be good, at least for marketing reasons.
Posted 02.23.09 by reelz -
Another Ghostbusters sequel has been rumored ever since Ghostbusters II was released 19 years ago, in 1989. Like so many other franchises -- from Back to the Future to Indiana Jones -- stories have popped up over the years, only to be squashed or forgotten in time. At one point a new Ghostbusters cast was discussed, to be headed by Will Smith. It, too, fell by the way side.
But today, according to Variety, Columbia Pictures has finally made the first concrete move towards a Ghostbusters III -- hiring Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-executive producers on TV's The Office, to write the script. The duo recently wrote Year One, directed by Ghostbuster Harold Ramis.
Unlike other Ghostbuster sequels, which talked of a partial original cast or all-new actors, the plan here is to reunite original castmembers Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson.
For now, no deals are signed other than the script. The actors won't be committing until they've read the script, but considering the high quality of the continually funny The Office, hopes are high.
Ray Parker, Jr. -- time for a comeback!
Source: Variety
Posted 09.05.08 by reelz