The NeverEnding Story Gets a Remake

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/02/25/and-of-course-the-neverending-story-gets-a-remake/

We may have solved what “The Nothing” is once and for all: why, it’s the insatiable trend of Hollywood remakes. The sparkly 1984 children’s fantasy film, The NeverEnding Story, has been dusted off at Warner Bros. though screenwriters and a director are not currently attached. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way has taken interest in the material. The original film was adapted by director Wolfgang Petersen from the German fantasy novel, Die unendliche Geschichte, and is best remembered for a weird, snow white dog-dragon named Falkor that is ridden upon by a warrior boy (as seen above) through many a bong cloud.


According to the trades, the remake will will “examine the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first pic.” Which, I guess translates into attempting to actually fulfilling the franchise’s title this time around. A theatrical sequel to the original film was directed by George Miller (Mad Max, Babe) and released in 1990—you may recall all the jokes that resulted—but didn’t fare so well at the box office. 1994 saw yet another sequel but it wasn’t released stateside until two years after it originally hit Germany.

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Some of the dudes at Film School Rejects seem to be getting huffy about the announcement on Twitter—there’s talk about kicking kittens—but I’m not picking this battle, especially considering that we all got nailed with a twofer tonight. (See the next post.) However, if you are so inclined to drive off a cliff, why not purchase the Neverending Story party van that we featured last week? I haven’t been mildy obsessed with these movies since I was extremely obsessed with M.C. Escher’s artworks i.e. a long time ago. However, there were epic stakes, epic scale and an anything goes play on imagination and special effects that we don’t see much from children’s films anymore. And that giant dude who ate rocks.

 

[DorkyFresh]

not sure how i feel about this. i'm not surprised, but i'm also mixed. i'm a fan of SOME remakes but more often than not they turn out missing the mark. i guess DiCaprio's involvement to some degree is a good thing, but i'll wait for more info to get my hopes up.

 

[Octoberist]

i'm just angry about this one. Nothing is sacred anymore.

 

[[A]]

..all I know is I used to love the song as a kid

 

[Octoberist]

what bothers me is the parents who show kids remakes without showing them the original.

That's how certain die. My nephew doesn't know Bugs Bunny because of his parents (and GOD BLESS THEM). Now it's my duty to buy him some Looney Tunes DVDs and perhaps, THE NEVERENDING STORY.

 

[Deaths Head II]

I'll be keeping an eye on this. It has some potential I think, especially with today's modern day effects. I don't mind remakes of "classic" films if they're a different approach to the book. Thats probably why I enjoy both versions of the Thing. Hopefully this is unique enough to justify it's existence though.

 

[Episode29]

I feel I should be infuriated by the news but, alas, I feel nothing.

 

[dark_b]

what bothers me is the parents who show kids remakes without showing them the original.

That's how certain die. My nephew doesn't know Bugs Bunny because of his parents (and GOD BLESS THEM). Now it's my duty to buy him some Looney Tunes DVDs and perhaps, THE NEVERENDING STORY.

dont be suprised when the little kid says how bad it looks .

IMO THE NEVERENDING STORY didnt age so much. it still looks very good. what i think is funny is that that some parts are really really dark. this just shows how in the 80's the rating worked and how people watched the movies.

 

[Casius--J]

Not usually a fan of remakes but I wouldnt mind seeing this with todays special effects!

 

[dark_b]

i hope it will not be bright. i hope they dont give this movie a ''disney'' look.

 

[Batspider77]

Loved the Movie when i was a Kid....it had some really good Practical Effects.
I hope they doesn´t ruin the Remake with Crappy CGI.

 

[Tanin]

I hope it's more like the book. ^_^

 

[The Guard]

Hmm...

Never read the book. Is it worth reading?

 

[Primal Slayer]

Im not surprised and not that mad about it. While I love the original movies, I think they could make it into an interesting trilogy if they get the right writers and actors.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Thank God.

The first film sucked bad. I couldn't stand it.

 

[I'm Old Greg]

Nothing IS or Ever will Be Sacred in Hollyweird.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

The NeverEnding Stream of Remakes............

 

[Sawyer]

i'm just angry about this one. Nothing is sacred anymore.

Eeh. Dont care much for this to begin with, although I'm sure the new one will be complete ****. But when they remake The Goonies.... that's when the **** hits the fan for me.

 

[Farren]

i'm just angry about this one. Nothing is sacred anymore.

Word.

There's no way they can match the original -- that thing is a modern classic. You can't remake perfection.

 

[javphonic]

OMG I watched this when I was in day care and loved it, and haven't heard of or seen it since, all I remember is the flying dog and some rock monsters... I'd love to see a remake

 

[Lobo]

I'm not sure how i feel about this :/

 

[danoyse]

I'm torn about this one too. I loved the original as a kid, but a new version may work too. It would be cool if they kept the song from the original.

 

[Backdrifter]

I think this could be good. After reading the book I quickly came to the conclusion that the movie needed to be remade as a 2 parter. The book has so much depth and says a lot about getting to involved with media in general. Bastian essentially becomes god of Fantasia and goes crazy with his power becoming so full of himself that he drives away his friends Atreyu and Falkor.

The movie really does not explore any of this whatsoever. I know Michael Ende, the author of the novel, wanted nothing to do with the movie after he saw what they were doing. Visually, I think the movie falls short of the scope that the book has. Atreyu has olive green skin in the book, for one. The Empress has golden hair and golden eyes. Falkor has a lions face instead of a dogs.

So... I think this could be good if they get some talented people who are more interested in adapting the book and not remaking the movie.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

I'm not sure how to feel about this exactly.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Did you guys know that there was a 3rd one?

Jack Black was in that one.