Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood and Adrien Brody Join Das Experiment Remake
I’ve been wondering for a while now what happened to the previously announced remake of Das Experiment, the fictional film based loosely on The Stanford Prison Experiment, which was to be directed by Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring. I still haven’t seen the original, but it is currently sitting on my DVD shelf holding a spot in the “Must Watch Soon” queue. Apparently there were some legal complications due to a competing project from Christopher McQuarrie (called simply The Stanford Prison Experiment), but it looks like Scheuring’s film is now finally free to go before cameras as early as next month.
According to Production Weekly, the first wave of cast members have signed on for the remake, which includes Elijah Wood, Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker and Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down). Unfortunately, we don’t know as of yet what role any of them will play, nor do we know which side they will be on (guard or prisoner). Still, it sounds like the movie is off to a solid start, and it may have McQuarrie’s film beat in terms of A-list talent (rumoured cast for the other includes Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Ryan Phillippe, Kieran Culkin, and Jesse Eisenberg). Has anyone out there seen Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Das Experiment? Which of these two U.S. remakes sounds more promising to you?
Comments (4)
Lets see how long it takes Shawn to put up the Shutter Island trailer. It went up on AICN about five minutes ago….
Posted by Alex on June 10th, 2009I’ve seen Das Experiment. (I have a VHS copy of it.) I think what made it somewhat more believable for me was that I wasn’t familiar with any of the actors. If I remember correctly, there was a Hollywood feel to it towards the end. Hope that doesn’t spoil it for anyone.
Posted by Reed Farrington on June 10th, 2009Bah, no where else to put this except here because Open Forum Friday isn’t up yet (what with it being Thursday and all).
Anyway, you-know-who is crowing about how Transformers 2 has a month long run on IMAX(!), thus cutting into the opening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. From TFA(the fucking article):
“According to the good folks over at JoBlo, IMAX “decided” to go with Transformers 2 over Potter for that time frame.
But let’s be honest… even if you’re someone who likes Harry Potter more than Transformers, you’ve got to admit seeing Transformers on the bigger screens seems more worth while than Potter on the bigger screens doesn’t it?”
Then Token Female of TMB chimes in with:
“Which one would make more money for IMAX? Transformers all the way. IMAX made the right choice business-wise.”
JoBlo got their story from The Hollywood Reporter, which had this to say in their article:
“Shares of Imax dropped 4% on Monday to $7.31 after a Wall Street analyst said the delay “should negatively impact Imax boxoffice results.”
Damn Internet researching. When Transformers was re-released on IMAX on 9/21/2007, it had grossed $312 million domestic. When it ended its IMAX run, the domestic total was $319 million, a net gain of $7 million. Paramount booked Transformers 2 for a 4-week run on IMAX screens, thinking they are going to make Dark Knight money there, even though the first movie saw a sharp decline in ticket sales after *the first two weeks.* Transformers, like many explosion filled summer tentpoles, are front loaded in the first two week-ends and then sizzle out as the weeks go on. Transformers 2 will be no exception, and not even rabid die hard fans like John Campea will be able to sustain a profitable 4 week IMAX run.
I honestly don’t know what the hell Paramount was thinking unless they booked this time before Warner Bros decided to push back Harry Potter. They’re going to make more money this year from Star Trek in IMAX than Transformers, because the only competition Star Trek had in format was Night at the Museum 2, and I can tell you first hand that our local Regal IMAX is still showing Star Trek in IMAX at select times with the permission of Paramount. I expect many IMAX theaters across the country to buck the chain and screen Harry Potter concurrently with Transformers, especially since Transformers will be going into its 3rd week when the Potter film opens.
Everyone who wants to see Transformers 2 is going to see it in the opening week-end. By the third week and with another front loaded summer film opening, who’s going to give a fuck?
Posted by Dave on June 11th, 2009Das Experiment is one of my least favorite movies, I hate the way it was put together. Which is interesting since that director also made Downfall which is awesome.
Posted by Goon on June 11th, 2009Leave a Reply