comment #1

PerfectTommy says ...

A "Barbarella" with McGowen sounds wretched. She's never charmed me. Just finished reading Cameron Crowe's interview book with Billy Wilder (yeah, I know...I'm cutting edge) and Wilder says a director should never fall for his star -- that's what stand-ins are for. (He almost took his own advice. His wife Audrey was the hat-check girl in "The Lost Weekend.")

comment #2

Jeremy Smith says ...

If only Isla Fisher weren't so damned tiny (and pregnant).

comment #3

MiraJeffAICN says ...

I don't really care one way or the other about this project but the studio needs to expand its idea of who is a leading lady and who isn't. Kidman is more box office poison than bankable actress these days. Berry already did something like this by playing Jinx, not to mention Catwoman. How many hot outfits do we need to see her kicking ass in? Alba can't act, but why not Jessica Biel? Personally, I'm a fan of McGowan. I think she's hot as hell and while she's no Meryl Streep, she has the chops to do something as fun and cheesy as Barbarella. But Biel or even Katie Holmes would be pretty cool...

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

Would Barbarella with any actress be profitable at that kind of budget? I'd have to vote hell no.

comment #5

Dave says ...

Gee, betray and abandon your wife/creative partner and your five kids in order to get a piece of transitory ass, only to find out that POA ain't gonna cut mustard in the town you've built for yourself?

Around these parts, we call that "karma." And she's a bitch.

comment #6

huachafo says ...

Maybe Universal will put it in turnaround and Jeff Robinov will pick it up at WB!

comment #7

thevisceral says ...

At last - the role Rue McClanahan was born to play.

comment #8

T. Holly says ...

They could easily come up with their own twisted sexual tale for the screen, get financing and go into the film history books with it, plus even I'd see that.

comment #9

Wrecktum says ...

$100m??? I always thought Rodriguez was Mr. "I make my movies in my Austin backyard and edit on my Mac and can get everything done for the cost of a cup of coffee." Where'd he get the balls to submit a $100m budget for a cheesy Roger Vadim remake?

comment #10

Doug Pratt says ...

"the relationship will start to to disassemble sooner or later. It's like a couple giving birth to a child with a debilitating lifelong ailment." I beg your pardon. If a marriage is going to last, having a severely handicapped child is not going to break it apart. It just becomes one more challenge you have to face together.

comment #11

T. Holly says ...

Wrecktum, that's easy, he had to make sure it was big enough to adequately compensate Rose for her services. (See whispered link above.)

comment #12

lazarus says ...

Do Tom and Nicole prove or disprove this theory? Their marriage lasted about 8 years after Far and Away tanked.

And Wells, I think the better comparison would have been couple and death of a child instead of handicapped child. Doug Pratt has a very good point, because the latter is a challenge, while the former is something very difficult to work through. And if you want to get technical, Barbarella not getting off the ground is more of a miscarriage. Not sure what the stats on relationship success after that one are.

comment #13

le corbeau says ...

Maybe it just finally occurred to them that the original Barbarella is lame beyond belief and Robert Rodriguez was not the way to make it any better.

Naah, I guess not.

comment #14

lesterg says ...

Somewhere, Elizabeth and the kids are laughing their asses off.

comment #15

T. Holly says ...

Tom and Nicole didn't sleep together, not often anyway. Robert and Rose have given birth to a STILL BORN project, a debilitating ailment to their relationship and not pretty when you have a lot of overhead and you've vowed to make someone a star.

comment #16

corey3rd says ...

They were going to sink $100 million into remaking a movie that hasn't come close to making back its cash? Whatever happened to CGI effects allowing you to make fantastic movies for 1/10th the price of the Big Hollywood productions?

There's only one actress that could have pulled this film off (or at least charmed studio brass) - Anne Hathaway. She can be an intergalatic sex kitten.

I feel bad for Martha, This should have been a fun chip shot of a film.

I enjoy the original, but mostly cause we're drunk when it goes in the DVD player.

comment #17

Hallick says ...

Remake a cheesy sci-fi film? Cool...

Blow at least $100 million on it? I'm with you...

Hire Rose McGowan? Get the fuck outta here!

I can't figure out which of my feelings for Rose is strongest right now - sympathy or gratitude. Probably gratitude.

comment #18

Ray says ...

This is like sinking $130 million on Star Trek. It just doesn't make any sense at all.

Rose kicked unholy ass as the machine-gun-legged heroine of Planet Terror. However, the studio is right here - she can't open a $100 million dollar movie. Frankly, nobody can. But I'd really like it if they'd try with Anne Hathaway in the lead.

comment #19

York "Budd" Durden says ...

Are they really giving JJ 130m to do the ST reboot? That's throwing good money after bad.

comment #20

nemo says ...

If Rodriguez was wearing that hat when he made his pitch, that alone was enough to sink any project.

comment #21

jbf81 says ...

UGH, no way in hell a Studio will green light a 100mil project with this creature as leading lady.
she is a B-list at best

comment #22

Craptastic says ...

With all of his "do it yourself" know-how, you'd think R.R. would be able to do something like this for under 100 million. It just doesn't sound like him at all. Has Rose put a spell on his brain?

Do it for 25-30 and cast Diora Baird in the lead!

comment #23

BurmaShave says ...

Say what you will about him, but I think if you took a poll most people would tell you they preferred PLANET TERROR to DEATH PROOF. I'm not in that camp, but I actually remember sizable walkouts about 10 minutes into the latter. I think you're taking your hatred of Rodriguez a bit far. He's certainly the more visually talented of the two.

comment #24

futureman says ...

McGowan is not interesting and her plastic surgery hasn't worked out. And if you are going to talk about your kids and wife maybe you shouldn't leave your wife.

comment #25

Ogami Itto says ...

"Gee, betray and abandon your wife/creative partner and your five kids in order to get a piece of transitory ass, only to find out that POA ain't gonna cut mustard in the town you've built for yourself?"

I couldn't care less about him ditching his wife and kids; the greater betrayal is a filmmaker ditching film for cheap-looking video.

As for all the McGowan bashing going on, I doubt there's a heterosexual guy here who wouldn't tap that ass given the opportunity. Of course I wouldn't marry it ...

comment #26

D.Z. says ...

I thought Rodriguez was an ass to cheat on his wife, and that it was partly why it didn't bother me that Grindhouse failed, but what does the company which spent $150 million on Evan Almighty know about hits-especially since their last one was American Wedding?! RR's only real flop so far has been Shark Boy. (Grindhouse doesn't count, because he wasn't the only director on it.) So if there was anyone I'd bet on to deliver a fun and lucrative b-flick, it'd be him. But hey, that Whedon guy did Buffy or something, so it's better to give him a tentpole film.

Josh:

"Would Barbarella with any actress be profitable at that kind of budget?"

If it doesn't turn into Aeon Flux, then sure.

Dave: "Gee, betray and abandon your wife/creative partner and your five kids in order to get a piece of transitory ass, only to find out that POA ain't gonna cut mustard in the town you've built for yourself? Around these parts, we call that "karma." And she's a bitch."

At least he makes his own movies instead of cribbing from everyone else...

corey: "There's only one actress that could have pulled this film off (or at least charmed studio brass) - Anne Hathaway. She can be an intergalatic sex kitten."

Yes, everyone rushing to see her in Ella Enchanted proves she's box office dynamite! Oh, wait...

comment #27

otakuhouse says ...

Man, nastiest post and discussion ever here.

Rose McGowan is fucking hot. She's also a smart cineaste. Knows more about movies and the history of them than some directors out there. But public perception will always be tainted by the fact that Rodriguez left behind a wife, producing partner, and several kids.

it's all tainted by the public handling of a private problem. I'm sorry Jeff but obviously it's a newsworthy little story, but to suggest their relationship is in trouble because of it is beyond crude.

I've always respected Rodriguez's working methods while not giving two shits for his film school level of quality and his rather empty creative well. I don't think he's ever made a movie actually about anything. I don't like what I hear from people who had to endure the debacle that was the production of Planet Terror; that's far more important and noteworthy than whatever the status of his relationship is. Word in NY via Austin was that it was a total fucking meltdown.

Anne Hathaway as an integalactic sex kitten... Pshaw. This movie needs someone who is pure legendary fantasy, who exudes ferocious hungry sexuality _and_ sensuality, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Eva Green. But the studio is probably going to go for a pg13 movie and a starlet with a no nudity clause and the sex appeal of a sorority girl; i.e. Jessica Alba. Barbarella demands not hot or cute but blue ball inducing.

Likewise Rodriguez has featured sequences in his movies which show he would've been an excellent director of Playboy video centerfolds, but this needs someone with a sense of humor and smarts about sex. Alfonso Cuaron, for example.

I'd argue that the reason movies today are so unsexy is that at the end of the day in the age of Internet porn the problem is a sexualized starlet (i.e. one who's career is vastly dependent on their sex appeal) just can't compete with what the average joe can find online for free. Their dreamspace is no longer inhabited by the power of Brigette Bardot's bare ass. I hear 16 year old kids talking about bukkake on Xbox Live...

comment #28

otakuhouse says ...

Oh and by the way, if you're going to take directors to task over how they treat people in their personal lives, wipe like 90% of the director's you admire off your list. Even William Friedkin will get up in front of an audience and admit what an asshole he was to people in his personal life when he made all those fucking phenomenal films.

Now, if a director causes a film to go out of control because of problems in their personal life - be it infiedlity or drug usage or the terry gilliam curse, now that's different.

comment #29

frank delsa says ...

Jessica Alba as Barbarella equals Brett Ratner directing the Escape from New York remake.
It's studios applying a square mentality to pieces of pop culture with a heavy subversive streak underneath and are anything but square, anyway.

Personally, I think a Barbarella remake could be a disaster in the hands of any filmaker. There are some, though, who has the potential to avoid the disaster and make crazy and interesting out of it. Rodriguez is one of them.

comment #30

frank delsa says ...

Jessica Alba as Barbarella equals Brett Ratner directing the Escape from New York remake.
It's studios applying a square mentality to pieces of pop culture with a heavy subversive streak underneath and are anything but square, anyway.

Personally, I think a Barbarella remake could be a disaster in the hands of any filmaker. There are some, though, who have the potential to avoid the disaster and make crazy and interesting out of it. Rodriguez is one of them.

comment #31

frank delsa says ...

Sorry for the double post. :)

comment #32

Mark says ...

The divorce rate for the parents of an autisic child, e.g., is 80%. It's more than just another challenge, of say, where do we have thanksgiving this year. Wells' analogy is fine.

comment #33

Mark says ...

Two of the biggest flops of all time; The Messenger and Cutthroat Island. Any producer funding a movie for a director around the girl he's plugging should save time and just hang himself. (Unless maybe James Cameron is the director.)

comment #34

Gaydos says ...

Time to class up this trash string:

Deborah Kerr: RIP

T. Lawrence Shannon: I'm panicking!
Hannah Jelkes: I know that.
T. Lawrence Shannon: A man can die of panic!
Hannah Jelkes: Not when he enjoys it as much as you do, Dr. Shannon.

comment #35

corey3rd says ...

"Anne Hathaway as an integalactic sex kitten... Pshaw. This movie needs someone who is pure legendary fantasy, who exudes ferocious hungry sexuality _and_ sensuality, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Eva Green."

Jolie in the Tomb Raiders? Theron on the Flux? Alba from Fantastic Four? These women didn't take it to the next level. They were just walking around in Halloween costumes.

part of the sex kitten is the innocent feel given off by Barbarella. You're confusing bombshell for sexkitten.

Eva could work as the rival gal.

We've been talking about the death of marketing in film and Rose represents a hitch in pushing this project. Can she really tell the story of how she and Robert met for the 100s of junketeers?

comment #36

CMAC says ...

What is the deal with Hollywood having to RE-Make every single film in the history of cinema? Good product or bad? Whatever happened to original thought, ideas, stories? I feel like I just woke insane.

Barbarella? Are you fucking kidding me? If I was at the "meet" where the idea was pitched, I'd of crawled under the table to hide the shame and and proceeded to slash my wrists.. Are these people fucking retarded? Who's moronic idea WAS this? I mean it's SO stupid, they should just go ahead and put Jane Fonda back in the role. I mean fuck, out of all the women mentioned above, she's the only one who can actually ACT AND she still has her fake tits!!

comment #37

christian says ...

One could argue that since Barbarella was based on a French comic, it's still ripe to be made. Vadim's version was far too campy and had little to do with the actual comic. Jane Fonda might be the hottest thang in a 60's film though. Meow!

comment #38

BurmaShave says ...

Eva Mendes?

comment #39

Abbey Normal says ...

Rose McGowan? She's hot and all, but a woman who used to date Marilyn Manson will never be able to open a $100M flick.

comment #40

Howlingman says ...

"What is the deal with Hollywood having to RE-Make every single film in the history of cinema? Good product or bad? Whatever happened to original thought, ideas, stories? I feel like I just woke insane."

No CMAC, you're sane in an insane world.

The deal is that H'Wood is creatively bankrupt. The worse of it is the remakes they have regurgitated the last number of years have been absolutely godawful abominations.

Renmakes are akin to drinking one's own piss; bitter and unpleasant yet tasting strangely familiar.

comment #41

D.Z. says ...

Yes, when Hollywood remakes something, it's creatively bankrupt. When Tarantino does it, it's an homage.

comment #42

BurmaShave says ...

Howlingman, why would urine be strangely familiar?

comment #43

Howlingman says ...

BurmaShave, after that tasty beveredge/film has passed through the digestive tract/studio system, the end result is familiar, yet bitter and unpleasant for those foolish enough to drink/watch said end result.

comment #44

Sean says ...

Obviously, no people here actually read D.Z.'s posts anymore. If they did, there is no way that this:
"At least [Robert Rodriguez] makes his own movies instead of cribbing from everyone else..."
could have failed to elicit howls of derisive laughter.

The only idea Robert Rodriguez has ever had is "Hey, I could do that, but a little cheaper."

comment #45

CMAC says ...

"The only idea Robert Rodriguez has ever had is "Hey, I could do that, but a little cheaper.

You made me laugh...especially having just watched Planet Terror and the special features including RR talking....process...?

comment #46

D.Z. says ...

Sean: 'The only idea Robert Rodriguez has ever had is "Hey, I could do that, but a little cheaper."'

At least he can do that, as opposed to a guy whose only talent is swiping dialogue from random scripts and novels...

comment #47

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