Sony Pictures Animation has picked up the movie rights to Manimal, a short-lived 1983 NBC series, and is developing the project as a live action/CG hybrid film....Manimal followed Dr. Jonathan Chase, a wealthy doctor with a mysterious past, who morphed into animals in order to help the police fight crime.The show, which starred Brit Simon MacCorkindale and Melody Anderson (who played Dale Arden in the 1980 movie Flash Gordon), was slaughtered by critics and trounced when it aired in 1983 opposite Dallas, then a ratings juggernaut. It was canceled after just eight episodes.
Sir Michael Caine said that if you are going to remake something, remake something that failed. That way you have nowhere to go but up. Trying to reboot something that was a success is difficult and is often met with unreal comparisons about how bad the remake is.
I actually like that they're taking a chance with this. I'd rather see remakes an reboots of interesting ideas that didn't work out so well the first time, instead of remaking something that was already good and failing to live up to the original. Obviously it's risky - something like Manimal has little to no name recognition and no bankable brand, unlike Robocop for example. But this is something that could potentially be done much better with modern technology, and even if it still sucks, at least nobody's childhood memories are getting ruined.
Er.... Rob? By your logic Firefly sucked ass. It was after all cancelled after what, 8 or 9 episodes had aired? Well gee if it got cancelled so fast it just MUST have sucked! That IS what you're saying here. Screw that. Manimal was awesomely cheesy, and it was great fun to watch even as low budget as it clearly was.
Except I'm sure it'll be rewritten (potentially better) and it's going to be a film, which means it'll probably have a better budget than the TV show.
The comic it was based on, created by Steve "Wrote Some of the Best Batman Stories Ever" Englehart, was very good.
Which would be both hysterical and mindblowing, if it weren't for the fact that Night Man was not played by Jeff Yagher, but a guy named Matt McColm: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128886/ easy to see where you slipped up, though---these two guys do look pretty similar, especially around the haircut.
Speaking of "bad 80s intros", has anyone besides me suffered a lifetime of disappointment inspired by "Knight Rider"s intro? Specifically, the original intro, with the narration? LISTEN to this thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8Qls0HnWo "A shadowy flight into the world of a man---who does not exist!" Fuck! Me! Imagine, not the ACTUAL concept of this wet fart of a show, but the premise described by that narrator, in the hands of intelligent, capable writers, instead of Glen Larson Paycheck Monkeys tm. The voice-over promises us THE Most Awesome Show in the History of Television! And instead we got---fucking Knight Rider! DAMMIT!!!
I don't have time to read all the comments at this point, so if I reiterate anything anyone else has said, sorry about that. 1) Not sure what the problem is with Manimal. Yeah, the show was pointedly Not Great. But what's essentially wrong the premise? A guy who fights crime by turning into various animals? When the guy in question is a costumed green-skinned teenager in a comic book or cartoon, nobody seems to get their panties in a bunch over it. 2) Learn to live with it. This is not even the first attempt to reboot Manimal: The character reappeared in an episode of the equally execrable NightMan. Apparently, as of 1998, Manimal had an attractive adult daughter who has inherited her dad's powers. The whole terrifying affair was what they unironically call a "Backdoor Pilot": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0660929/ My point here being, the current reboot being yet a third bite at the apple, Manimal may just be one of those things that Keeps Coming Back, no matter what, like hurricanes or locusts or any other natural disaster, and we just have to weather the storm until next time. 3) My final point: Rebooting a crappy show from decades ago that no sane human being could possibly give a crap over? How could a thing like that possibly work? Unless the word "Battlestar" or "Galactica" appeared somewhere in the title. Seriously, I'm not trying to say that the Galactica reboot is an indicator that a new Manimal will be any damn good whatsoever---only that it may help explain how and why things like this happen at all. If anyone had tried to tell me years ago that a reboot of BG would wind up ranking among the best SF on TV ever, I'd have laughed myself into unconsciousness. And I'd have been wrong as hell. But if a thing works even once, it's a sure bet that other people will Keep Trying It. If this reboot comes off as badly as everyone seems to think it will, we can all have a good time making fun of it, and pissing and moaning over the dead horse of Hollywood's undeniable creative bankruptcy. And if by some miracle they manage to crap out something entertaining, we can all lie and say we knew it all along. Punchline or Good Time, it's win-win here in the Nerdiverse.
You know, a lot of people have said that Hollywood shouldn't make reboots of good movies, they should make reboots of things that had an interesting premise but a poor execution. I think this qualifies. I'm going to keep an open mind about this. It's not like they run the risk of tarnishing a beloved legacy.
I was going to say "Charlie Sheen", but he doesn't take himself seriously enough. Is Sam Worthington doing heavy drugs and alcohol yet?
I see nothing wrong with rebooting things like this. Fairly cool & interesting concept that didn't get a fair shake, or couldn't be properly executed even if it did, in it's day, that has fallen into obscurity or is otherwise treated mockingly. The idea of Manimal has potential, and it can be executed much better with current special effects a chance for a fresh take on the story. Think of it like X-Men: Two luminaries in their field came up with the idea, but their take was hacky and didn't do well, and it languished in obscurity for a good bit after getting canceled. Then some obscure, talented schmuck gets the reigns and builds on the poorly executed brilliant idea and does the dirty work that turns it into the iconic thing it is today. Not saying it will go like that *at all*, but a good concept that fails is always worth another look later on.
If they do Automan next, six-years old me will rejoice from the depths of the limbo of my childhood memories
They should give him a role. Hell they should let him direct it! It's the only way this might actually turn out watchable.
Folks (and Rob): the movie is being made by Sony Pictures ANIMATION -- the same studio who brought us the brilliant (honestly, no-irony brilliant) Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. So most likely this is going to be a funny sci-fi tinged take on an admittedly silly concept. Could be great...
No to Airwolf. After Robert Downey Jr cleaned himself up, we could never find a proper replacement for Jan Michael Vincent.
It was a very decent film - is it weird that I found the non-fx stuff at the beginning and end far more gripping than the grand climactic battle?
I think this is actually good news. If the movie is halfway successful (it doesn't have to be good, just make its money back), then maybe we'll see reboots of other 80's TV series. How about a Street Hawk movie? Or better yet, how about an Airwolf reboot?
Its considered lower risk to recycle a known property that has some degree of name association than to create a new property. And people know the name "Manimal". Some remember it as an interesting concept with a failed execution. Most probably know it as part of the punchline to jokes about short lived series. (Heck, I think SNL mentioned rebooting Manimal in a joke about NBC's creative bankruptcy and nostalgia-drive years ago.) But people know the name.
Honestly, the odds of a 'Manimal' reboot ever ending up on the big screen are still pretty darn low. This is the kind of project that has 'perpetually stuck in development hell' stamped all over it, and I'd be very suprised if it gets any further than 'we're looking at scripts'. If, by some lucky alignment of the stars, it does manage to make it to theaters, it'll probably be an absolutely terrible spoof that'll make the original series look amazing in comparison. Which is kind of a shame, when you think about it. 'Manimal' is actually a good thing to reboot, since a new movie has a chance to improve on the cheesetastic 80s source material.
Geez, at least go with The Man From Atlantis so that we can make "Sony could even reboot a horrible 80s sci-fi show faster than DC can make an Aquaman movie" jokes.
Six. If you count the "origin" intro after the opening credits. And if you're sad and pedantic like me.
Hold on a tick, Night Man was played by Jeff Yagher,before he got that role he played Johnny Germaine , a saxophonist ruined by Elaine,because she wanted him to do "everything" on an episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Rye" . That means Johnny Germaine, Poppie and Mr. Ipswich all had doppelgangers in the Night Man/Manimal universe. =O
I never realized that Poppie (Reni Santoni) and Mr. Ipswich( Mark D Roberts) from Seinfeld were regulars on Manimal. =O
Wait, he had a daughter? Did I know that? And wouldn't she now be Womanimal? And wouldn't that be like a license to print money? (Edited to add: Sorry, Lys, I meant that as a reply to Nathan.) (Edited 2 add: "Night Womanimal".)
The problem is that effects are still ridiculously expensive, so you tend to get what we got in the 80's -- very brief, blurry, cheesy segments and lots of distraction. Once Upon a Time uses costumes and scenery. Teen Wolf uses attractive fake highschoolers. The good shows fill in the gaps with storytelling, but the bad ones do what the original Manimal did -- too much filler, talking heads, and boredom for a couple of minutes of payoff that, in retrospect, never seem worth it.
Next: The Wizard - THe dwarf who helped foil crimes? It's where I first learned you could record sound onto clay vases, then using a "Macguyveresque" record player, could listen to sounds from the past. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V9Squtzf_8
Hell yes! Manimal was my favorite show when I was a kid. I'd love to see what they can do with it with modern effects. It'd have to be better than that crappy looking Beauty and the Beast mess that CW is puking up.
Don't forget his rival: "Day Manbeast! Fighter of the Night Man(imal)! " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzaVd6zl2bA
Bear in mind I picked it up from a rather unreliable source. Regardless, a sequel is equally horrifying!
God dammit, man! Didn't you see @twitter-69926007:disqus up there? He called this Manimal reboot into existence, and now you've done the same thing for Misfits of Science! Nothing good can come of this. On your head be it.
Nerd news, humor and self-loathing. Edited by Luke Y. Thompson
