WALL•E Sparking a Movie Robot Revival?

[Norwesterner]

It seems that WALL•E is coming to be at the lead of a Movie Robot Revival here.

I was poking around, and discovered that back in April, Dimension Films (a spin-off from Disney's Miramax brand in 2005 and maker of the SCARY MOVIE and SCREAM series, as well as a variety of other genre and remake films) announced that it had acquired the rights to remake the SHORT CIRCUIT and SHORT CIRCUIT 2 movies. In a rare, fortuitous and perhaps even brilliant move, Dimension announced it had hired the original writers, S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, plus original producers John Hyde and David Foster to spearhead the project (which should do very well in preserving the vision and spirit of the original movie, while improving its storyline, pacing and look.) IMDB now shows a remade SHORT CIRCUIT scheduled for release in 2010.

You can see the original Variety announcement at:
www.variety.com/article/VR1117983475.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1&query=Short+Circuit+Remake

and the IMDB listing at www.imdb.com/title/tt0929281/

With Gort scheduled to emerge in a remade THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL this December as well, it looks like WALL•E could be just the first of a number of robot movies, both dramatic and comical, to come!

[buynlarge]

Awww. I was hoping it would be the first of a series of post-apocalyptic horrors for kids, and environmental morals in movies.

[MidgardDragon]

I was hoping it would be the first of a series of post-apocalyptic horrors for kids

Ditto.

But I wouldn't mind a well-made Short Circuit revival. If done right it could be better than the original, since it would be lacking in 80's cheese.

[Bartle]

I dunno if a Short Circuit could ever rival my love for the original and sequel.

[smkndofpnutdssrt]

Hah! Who's the rip-off now, eh?

[bkim]

Sept 8, 2008 22:17:50 GMT -5 smkndofpnutdssrt said:

Hah! Who's the rip-off now, eh?

Heyy, nice!

On a related note, I found it hilarious when Andrew Stanton called Johnny-5 ugly.

[smkndofpnutdssrt]

When and where did he say that! Hahahah! That's awesome!

[bkim]

Ah, made me go dig through my search history. I found it though; it's actually on that page about WALL-E copyright infringements, haha.

www.sffaudio.com/?p=2837

Look at where it says "Have a listen to the director, Andrew Stanton, talk to reporters about his movie |MP3|." Download the clip, and go to 12:23 - 12:46. It's pretty funny.

[vanessajoyce]

Hey, thanks, bkim . . . I never thought to actually listen that interview. Vanessa . . . hello

Well, I think it would be neat if some more sci fi movies are born from the interest in WALL-E . . . but good ones. And that's just so rare.

[Viva la Vida]

I wonder if there's gonna be hordes of people calling Johnny-5 a "rip-off of WALL-E" when the remake comes out... lol

[Norwesterner]

Having seen both WALL•E and the SHORT CIRCUIT movies a number of times now, I think both the characters, and the entire flavor of the respective movies are fairly different — much in the manner that the STAR TREK movies have been different from the STAR WARS movies. There is room enough for both!

Additionally, the character of Johnny Five differs in some fairly significant ways from WALL•E. J5 conveys expressions differently, as he's unable to move his optics up and down as WALL•E does, relying on "eyelid" flaps and swiveling lenses instead; Johnny Five's structure, capabilities, and purpose are fairly different from WALL•E's; and the original SHORT CIRCUIT movies anyway rely on robot dialogues a heck of a lot more than WALL•E does. Just as the STAR TREK franchise was sparked into motion pictures by the success of STAR WARS, I think the same thing is being done with the SHORT CIRCUIT films, capitalizing on the wave of WALL•E's success.

So bring it all on! I'm going to enjoy this robot "ride" for as long as it lasts, and as long as the stories, and characters, are good! There is room enough for all!