After the debacle that ensued back in February (read about it at CHUD), we learned that Warner Bros. Pictures is scheduled to do reshoots on Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are in Los Angeles from June 5-30. It is unclear how much is being reshot, but there are new casting calls out for various stand-in roles. After a rash of test screenings this past February, it was reported that WB would be retooling - if not completely reshooting the adaptation of the popular kids book, which follows of Max, a rebellious young boy who runs away from home after a fight with his mother and finds himself in a forest where the wild things roam.
I have a felling that if they try to aim this movie mostly at kids it is going to fail. Most people who would go see this are older and remember the book from their childhood.
If Spike Jonze keeps his name attached to the movie I'm seeing it, thats a fact. To say a movie is completely ruined without seeing it is just as ignorant as Warner bros. wanting to infringe on artistic talent and vision. The last we heard of this was in February which was quite some time ago so I'm sure Jonze didn't just roll over and say ok lets reshoot, there will be something worth seeing out of this,I'm pretty confident.
Also, I hate rumors. All I hear about this project is just a bunch of rumors. I wish I could hear where these things were heard from instead of just assuming they heard these things from a credible source.
I actually saw the test screening in Pasadena last November...I loved what I saw, but am not the least bit surprised that the suits wanna retool it. It was a rather bleak interpretation of the book, actually attempting to inject more adult themes into a kid's film (god forbid). It was also impressive how they expanded the story into a full feature, being that Wild Things has to be one of the shortest books ever written. I think they're regretting how much creative freedom they gave Jones, because it had his imprint all over it, and wasn't tainted by any studio influence...until now, of course. Too bad.
And for the record, the kid who played Max was amazing. If there's any recasting going on for Max, then they're probably retooling the character altogether. The movie looks at the harshness of reality as seen through the eyes of a child, which is naturally depressing. This makes Max a bit of a basketcase and probably a more emotional character than what execs want as a lead in a kiddie flick. Max Records embodies the nature of character to the hilt, but I'm sure they want a more stable protagonist, just part of their overall attempt to make this more commercial.
I would've loved to have seen a dark take on the material. Hopefully this doesn't head into Exorcist III territory with how they jerked Blatty around to make the final product more commerical (though it rocked anyway).
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