Remake of the Day #3: 'The NeverEnding Story'
Having a luck dragon with you is the only way to go on a quest
As the remake train continues to roll this one shouldn't come as much of a surprise as the title of the film alone tells us this one never ends. However, since Warner Bros. isn't making another sequel to 1984's The NeverEnding Story and in fact is planning on reboot, doesn't that sort of seem like cheating?
Personally I have no interest in a remake of this film as it was probably my favorite film growing up. I must have watched The NeverEnding Story on HBO close to one hundred times, I just couldn't get enough of it. The fantasy film centered on a young boy who discovers an extraordinary storybook-and the fantastical world within its pages. The boy's life increasingly became intertwined with the plot of the novel, in which a hero in the land of Fantasia must save the universe on behalf of an empress.
Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire, Troy and Das Boot) directed the film which was based on the German-language novel by Michael Ende. George Miller (Happy Feet) directed a sequel in 1990 and even a third film directed by Peter MacDonald was released in 1994, but neither sequel gained much attention.
The Hollywood Reporter article announcing the project says the new film "will examine the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first pic." Considering the first pic was damn near perfect I guess it would only be proper they try something completely different, that's Hollywood for you. It almost sounds like they are trying to make it more of an adult oriented picture. Perhaps I should applaud the idea of not making the same thing again, but if I had a child I would make sure they saw the original several times before ever introducing them to some glossy remake. The original is just too good to be tainted, at least for youngsters.
Showing 5 Comments
~ PLEASE NOTE ~
If, in any way, your comment is an attack on the author of this post or a previous commenter, your comment will be deleted without question.
Add a New CommentNOTE: The Facebook login option has been disabled. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
Click to Read Our Commenting Rules & Guidelines
A different look on it or not they've just picked something that has a good chance to be succesfull because the first version was.
So a pretty safe bet.
Half the work is done allready and chances for enough box-office returns are big.
Hollywood is not driven by creativity but run by accountants.
I was in love the book as a youngster. However, I have never watched Wolfgang Peterson's adaptation, although I've been thinking about it recently. I've always balked away from it in the past because it's only 102 minutes, and I can't imagine it being nearly as good as the book. I'm normally not a book purist, and I will be the first to admit that there ARE indeed movies that are better than the book they adapt. But only 102 minutes for The Neverending Story? If this remake happens, I hope it'll be longer (though of course it's most important that it relies on telling a good story).
yet another classic movie tarnished by hollywood. Sign of the times people, lack of originality.
Normally, I'm against remakes, but I actually think this one needs to be made. The book is brilliant and the 80's version didn't even come close to doing it justice, so if they're going for the more nuanced feel, I'm excited about that.
However, this could also, easily, suck.
I completely agree with John. The author of the novel, Michael Ende, was so disappointed with the adaptation, he asked for his name to be removed from the opening credits. I'm definitely curious to see another take on the story.