The new film by comedy impresario Will Ferrell, Land of the Lost, hasn't even been released yet, but there's already talk of a sequel. Loosely based on the 70's Saturday morning adventure program, the Land of the Lost movie leans more toward satire than homage, but the producers are banking on the unique union of Ferrell's humor and CGI dinosaurs to build a franchise.
When asked about his interest in filming a sequel, Ferrell said:
I would love to. You never know, but I love working with (director Brad Silberling) and this cast. It was so fun to actually work with a small cast. I've done ensemble films for so long, so it was nice. Given the opportunity, it would be fun.
Apparently, Silberling made a big impression on Ferrell, even before he had the job:
When we were meeting with potential directors, (Brad) immediately set himself above everyone, just because he was like, "You know, whether you hire me or not, you should use these two stages on the Universal lot because they are the biggest ones." He had so much knowledge about how to shoot this film, and he was so willing to help. He was like, "If I don't get the job, that's fine, but here are the things you should probably do to make sure you do it the right way."
We were so impressed by how he had the whole thing laid out. We had been looking at some comedy guys who didn't necessarily have a handle on a movie of this scope and, in the end, I think we made the best decision because Brad, obviously, was okay with anything we wanted to throw in, comedically. He's got a better sense of humor than he gets credit for, with the types of movies he's done. So, it was actually a great marriage. Plus, he put together this team of amazing people that another director might not have been able to do.
Ferrell plays Dr. Marshall, a disgraced scientist who -- along with his assistant, Holly (played by Anna Friel), and Will, a backwoods survivalist (Eastbound & Down's Danny McBride) -- tumbles through a space-time vortex and ends up in a mysterious place. Land of the Lost also stars Jorma Taccone as Chaka and Matt Lauer as himself.
Posted 06.04.09 by BrentJS The original Land of the Lost TV series was a tame, Saturday-morning adventure program. The new movie starring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride is a slightly different story, though, mixing sexual innuendo and raunchy slapstick in with the dinosaurs for a movie clearly meant for older audiences.
When asked about the more adult aspects of the film, McBride said:
There is definitely a subversive nature to it. On face value, you'd think it would be something just for kids, but it's pretty racy. There's stuff in there where you're like, "Oh, okay, I don't know if I'd really want my kid watching that." But, what I liked about this film was that it was unexpected. It takes some turns that you don't expect, with the tone and even with some of the comedy. When you see that the special effects are done for real and it's not like the old TV show, I think it's definitely unexpected where it goes, tone wise. I think it's cool.
Apparently, some of the scenes were so "racy" that they ended up on the cutting room floor:
There was a great rape joke that didn't make it. Anna was translating Chaka and, when she was translating what he was saying, she was like, "I think he's raped an apple," and raping apples is not cool. That would turn people off. So, Chaka doesn't rape an apple in the movie, anymore.
In a separate interview, director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) said that the adult humor would "fly over" the heads of most kids:
I think more about kids' not getting traumatized because one of the things we were excited about was really committing to the photo-realism of these dinosaurs and the action.
McBride stars as Will Stanton, a redneck survivalist who stumbles through a space-time vortex with a bumbling scientist (Ferrell) and his assistant (Anna Friel). Fans of the television series should also be happy to see Jorma Taccone, of The Lonely Island fame, starring as Chaka.
Posted 06.03.09 by BrentJS