No No No No NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO
"MacGyver" being reassembled as feature film
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It will take more than twine, bubble gum and a pencil to do it, but the science-oriented adventure series "MacGyver" is being developed as a feature film for New Line.
"MacGyver" ran from 1985 to 1992 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of "Stargate: Atlantis" and "SG-1" fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.
Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show's cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural recognition to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. "Saturday Night Live" took the concept to the next level with its "MacGruber" spoofs starring Will Forte.
Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of veteran producer Dino De Laurentiis, is producing the movie through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff. Dino De Laurentiis is executive producing.
No writer has been hired. The studio hopes to find a script that acknowledges the concept's pop-culture profile yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.
"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line's Richard Brener.
Did I mention NO!? o.O
Even if RDA, Teri Hatcher, Bruce McGill and Michael DeBarres sign on... well, Michael DeBarres...
*misses Dana Elcar*
Still: NO
In other news: Sci Fi Channel changing name, logo
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After 16 years, Sci Fi Channel is changing its name ... unless you say it aloud.
NBC Universal-owned cable network will become SyFy starting in June.
The phonics-friendly moniker is part of a network-wide rebranding campaign that has been in the works for more than a year. It's an evolution that also includes a new logo and tagline -- "Imagine Greater" -- and will be announced Monday at the network's "upfront" presentation to advertisers for the new programing season.
The changes attempt to address longtime marketing goals at the network, as well as practical challenges that have stemmed from using a generic term as a brand name.
"We love being sci-fi, and we're still embracing that," said network president Dave Howe on Friday. "But we're more than just space and aliens and the future -- the three things most people think of when they think of 'sci fi.'"
Though at first blush more fantastical-looking than the current name, "SyFy" aims to telegraph that the channel is a unique destination without being so different from the current title as to lose the network's core familiarity.
"What this does is hopefully give us the best of both worlds," Howe said. "You keep the heritage, but also open up to a broader range of content."
For years the network has sought ways to expand its image beyond its signature male-skewing space operas such as "Stargate" and "Battlestar Galactica." The network will unveil the branding campaign this summer along with the premiere of "Warehouse 13," a series about two FBI agents who hunt down paranormal objects.
Next year's "Battlestar" prequel "Caprica," which is a terrestrial drama rather than an outer-space adventure, will further support this brand expansion, an effort that began on the programing side a few years ago with the launch of drama "Eureka," about a town of geniuses.
The pragmatic aspect of the change is that from a business affairs standpoint, the network's genre-as-title has long been cumbersome.
"We're going to have upwards of 50 Sci Fi Channels in various territories, and yet you cannot trademark 'Sci Fi' anywhere in the world," Howe said. "A new logo design would not solve that particular challenge. We needed a brand name that was own-able, portable and extendable."
Howe knows some fans will dislike the change and see Syfy as a rejection of the network's core viewership. More than most channels, Sci Fi has an intense relationship with its audience. Clashes are unavoidable to some degree when you combine a network making businesses-minded decisions with a genre that has some of the most passionate and outspoken fans around.
"Our core audience will use it an opportunity to question our motives -- they always do," Howe said. "But what we're embracing is the total sci-fi landscape -- fantasy, paranormal, action-adventure, mystery ... it's imagination-based entertainment."
In still other news:
OWIE!!! My shoulder and my thigh are in pain. Damn bowling.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to nawag1r!!!!!
*cake*
*confetti*
*Donnie*
I hope you have a wonderful day!!
I do not like these quiet LJ spells, Sam I am... We should put a stop to this. *nods*
"MacGyver" being reassembled as feature film
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It will take more than twine, bubble gum and a pencil to do it, but the science-oriented adventure series "MacGyver" is being developed as a feature film for New Line.
"MacGyver" ran from 1985 to 1992 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of "Stargate: Atlantis" and "SG-1" fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.
Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show's cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural recognition to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. "Saturday Night Live" took the concept to the next level with its "MacGruber" spoofs starring Will Forte.
Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of veteran producer Dino De Laurentiis, is producing the movie through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff. Dino De Laurentiis is executive producing.
No writer has been hired. The studio hopes to find a script that acknowledges the concept's pop-culture profile yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.
"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line's Richard Brener.
Did I mention NO!? o.O
Even if RDA, Teri Hatcher, Bruce McGill and Michael DeBarres sign on... well, Michael DeBarres...
*misses Dana Elcar*
Still: NO
In other news: Sci Fi Channel changing name, logo
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After 16 years, Sci Fi Channel is changing its name ... unless you say it aloud.
NBC Universal-owned cable network will become SyFy starting in June.
The phonics-friendly moniker is part of a network-wide rebranding campaign that has been in the works for more than a year. It's an evolution that also includes a new logo and tagline -- "Imagine Greater" -- and will be announced Monday at the network's "upfront" presentation to advertisers for the new programing season.
The changes attempt to address longtime marketing goals at the network, as well as practical challenges that have stemmed from using a generic term as a brand name.
"We love being sci-fi, and we're still embracing that," said network president Dave Howe on Friday. "But we're more than just space and aliens and the future -- the three things most people think of when they think of 'sci fi.'"
Though at first blush more fantastical-looking than the current name, "SyFy" aims to telegraph that the channel is a unique destination without being so different from the current title as to lose the network's core familiarity.
"What this does is hopefully give us the best of both worlds," Howe said. "You keep the heritage, but also open up to a broader range of content."
For years the network has sought ways to expand its image beyond its signature male-skewing space operas such as "Stargate" and "Battlestar Galactica." The network will unveil the branding campaign this summer along with the premiere of "Warehouse 13," a series about two FBI agents who hunt down paranormal objects.
Next year's "Battlestar" prequel "Caprica," which is a terrestrial drama rather than an outer-space adventure, will further support this brand expansion, an effort that began on the programing side a few years ago with the launch of drama "Eureka," about a town of geniuses.
The pragmatic aspect of the change is that from a business affairs standpoint, the network's genre-as-title has long been cumbersome.
"We're going to have upwards of 50 Sci Fi Channels in various territories, and yet you cannot trademark 'Sci Fi' anywhere in the world," Howe said. "A new logo design would not solve that particular challenge. We needed a brand name that was own-able, portable and extendable."
Howe knows some fans will dislike the change and see Syfy as a rejection of the network's core viewership. More than most channels, Sci Fi has an intense relationship with its audience. Clashes are unavoidable to some degree when you combine a network making businesses-minded decisions with a genre that has some of the most passionate and outspoken fans around.
"Our core audience will use it an opportunity to question our motives -- they always do," Howe said. "But what we're embracing is the total sci-fi landscape -- fantasy, paranormal, action-adventure, mystery ... it's imagination-based entertainment."
In still other news:
OWIE!!! My shoulder and my thigh are in pain. Damn bowling.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to nawag1r!!!!!
*cake*
*confetti*
*Donnie*
I hope you have a wonderful day!!
I do not like these quiet LJ spells, Sam I am... We should put a stop to this. *nods*