Variety is full of interesting movies-to-TV series and TV series -to-movies news today.
First off comes word that NBC is developing a TV series version of the movie THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, which was based on the Christopher Buckley novel of the same name about a lobbyist for the tobacco industry.
Peacock version of "Smoking" is being developed as a single-camera
laffer focusing on Nick Naylor, the superstar spin doctor who, as
played by Aaron Eckhart in the movie, did PR for big tobacco. TV take
will pick up where the feature left off, with Naylor running his own
firm.
The SciFi Channel is doing a new, six-hour mini-series version of THE WIZARD OF OZ, only this time as a dark, science fiction tale called TIN MAN from writers Steve Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle (THE PRETENDER), with whom I worked long ago on the Cannell series COBRA.
"Our goal is to take ‘Wizard of Oz’ to the next level and make it
relevant, modern and fresh to a new generation," said Dave Howe,
general manager of Sci Fi Channel. The producer is Robert Halmi’s RHI
Entertainment, which produced a previous mini for Sci Fi, the 2004
"Legend of Earthsea."[…]Using adjectives such as psychedelic, twisted and bizarre to describe
"Tin Man," Sci Fi said the mini turns Dorothy into a young woman named
DG, who finds herself plunged into a netherworld called the Outer Zone.
Other celebrated characters are reimagined in "Tin Man": the cowardly
lion as a wolverine-like creature without backbone, the wicked witch as
a sorceress called Azkadellia and the wizard as a larger-than-life
figure called the Mystic Man.
And, finally, Steve Carell is on board as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway has signed on as Agent 99 in Warner Bros’ big-screen version of GET SMART, which Peter Segal will direct in March.
Lee, are you spending Thanksgiving with your wife or Victoria Rowell?
None of these projects sound hopeful to me, except maybe the smoking show. Why resurrect Get Smart for the Big Screen? This could be another Dudley Doright or worse. What do you think of Studio 60? I rather like the fast pace although Ugly Betty is a better show.
Maxine,
Why would I be spending it with Victoria Rowell? I am spending Thanksgiving with my family…as I do every year.
Lee
And the only thing that interests me in any of that is the Get Smart remake with Steve Carell because I have loved him since I started watching the US version of The Office then his movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. Maybe this movie shouldn’t happen, but I really liked the show and this could be one of the few remakes that might actually be successful. Of course, I use that term loosely and the whole movie could be positively horrible. I think I’ll just wait for the movie to come out, but until then I have other things to worry about.
I think the Thank You for Smoking things sounds great; I just watched the film last week and thought it was fantastic, I only hope the TV version won’t be diluted down or anything.
But if it ends up anything like Absolute Power (BBC Radio and Television comedy series about a PR firm) it’ll be worth watching.