Fox wants you to Choose Your Own Adventure

I can see this being a successful franchise of children-oriented adventure movies, but I'm not sure how they will incorporate the CYOA format into a film.

Will the audience get to make decisions at key points during the movie, and use texting to indicate their choices?

 

I'll take "Things That'll Never Work On The Big Screen" for $200, Alex.

 

Choosing your adventure works better as a singular experience, like in a book or a single player game. When you have an audience, all wanting different choices, then that's a different and potentially frustrating dynamic.

 

I can see this work as an at-home thing like streaming, DVD or Blu-Ray where you can use a menu type selection interface to choose your next scene but as a big screen film? Not so much.

 

Yeah, it becomes a problem when you have a whole group of people doing it.

 

I do still like the idea of "unique" stories written for the audience to create though.

 

I'm pretty sure this will involve the characters in the story choosing their own adventure, not the audience. The audience will have nothing to do with it. There will be some "time travel"/"parallel reality" element where if the protagonist chooses the option that gives a bad outcome, they can go back and try a different outcome. I imagine 3D will be the selling point, because one choice can lead to aliens, one can have dinosaurs, one can have pirates, etc.

 

then what's the point? (Though it does make sense in what you're saying.)

 

I think the audience could be involved/interact if they know the outcomes before the characters do. Like, it's somehow shown to us that "Option #3" leads to Zombie Sharks with Machine Guns for Arms, and everyone can yell, "Nooooo not Option 3, anything but Option 3!!" at the screen.

Oooh, like, what if the marketing involves finding out what the outcomes are before you go to the theater? Like, you buy a box of Wheaties to get one of the outcomes inside. Or you buy a liter of Pepsi and have to look inside the bottle label, or something? The more crap you buy, the more you're aware of the movie beforehand. They'll rake in millions, I tell 'ya.

 

I think the problem with that is, 'Choose your Adventure' strives in its direct interactivity, not passive (like knowing the plot points before the characters do)

 

Either way, this movie's going to suck. Let's be honest hahaha.
It's got "Let's cash in on something quickly like Battleship or Monopoly" written all over it.

 

As someone who loved these books when growing up,

WHY????????!!!!!!

This makes absolutely no sense at all!

 

I'll just choose not to see the movie. What an adventure.

 

This might work on a DVD, so the audience can choose his or her "own adventure". But it would never work on a big screen, ever.

 

I didn't rea the link, so i don't know all the details. This definitely works as a DVD/blu ray series, but not a truly interactive theater experience. However, what they could do is ship different cuts/choices to different theaters, so each experience is different, then you can choose the path while watching at home on DVD.

I think it would be hilarious if you paid $15 or whatever to go see a 3D movie, and it allows you to choose your own adventure...

Opening Credits
Which door do you want to open? Door A
Door A leads to a crocodile pit. You are dead.
End Credits

 

Exactly. I don't know what this is supposed to work in theaters.

 

I can see it now. An usher will come in during different parts of the movie and tally votes. The moviegoers who choose option a or b will be sent to a different screen while those picked option c will stay seated. This will be fantastic.

 

That might be interesting. Maybe.

 

The other option is to do what Peter Griffin did and read it straight through like a regular book.

 

I think of Cloud Atlas or even Clue and like going to different theaters for the outcome, forgot about Premium Rush or even Looper.

 

I see this working as a video game, not as a movie.

 

I remember reading about interactive film experiments in the past, maybe the late 90's or early 00's? They installed small input devices at each theater seat and when a choice came up each audience member would make their selection. The votes would be tallied instantly and the film would proceed according to the choice with the most votes.

I would think the logistics of that would be a freaking nightmare but if the devices themselves were cheap to produce it could work, I guess? I would think it more likely one would use your cell phone at this point.

Anyway I doubt that's where they're going with this, I just thought it was interesting at the time. They probably just want a recognizable brand name to appeal to nostalgia.

 

LOL, those books were surprisingly morbid for children's stories. There ALWAYS was an option that resulted in you dying in some horrible way. I wonder if they ever traumatized some kids.