McKellan and Caviezel captured for AMC’s remake of The Prisoner
I don’t know how they keep doing it; AMC that is. Not only have they brought us stellar series (Mad Men) after stellar series (Breaking Bad), but now they’ve managed to snag two big-time Hollywood names to join the cast of their remake of one of the smartest shows in television history. What started as rumor, that even we at TV had a hard time believing, is now fact. Both Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan have been cast in AMC’s remake of The Prisoner. Caviezel is set to fill Patrick McGoohan’s shoes as the titular “Number Six,” while McKellan will step into the role of “Number Two.”
AMC’s The Prisoner is scheduled to be a six-part mini-series. It hasn’t been made clear if those six parts are one hour, two or a combination of both, but either way the original wrapped up in 17 so there’s no reason to think we can’t get a satisfying tale in six installments. With casting of the two principals announced, it’s actually safe to say now that this thing might really get made. AMC is cruising right along with their original programming, and after forty years, I think we’re due a re-imagining of this classic series. And unlike the disastrous The Andromeda Strain at A&E, I have faith that AMC won’t let me down … don’t let me down, AMC!
As a huge fan of The Prisoner and honestly couldn’t think of a better time culturally for a remake. The first series was very much a response to the paranoia of the Cold War and mistrust among Eastern and Western bloc countries. Luckily, so to speak, we’re in just such an era of mistrust and paranoia now with the ongoing “War on Terrorism.” With Homeland Security and the other activities we’ve taken to doing in this country, it’s not too unreasonable to think that a government agent who abruptly resigns with no explanation might be held and interrogated to find out why he quit. And while I can’t speak for the UK, and am not even sure if this new series will be set there as the original was, I’d imagine the tensions and sentiments would be at least similar.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of $300 Million
The $300 million club has a new member.
The final box-office numbers from the weekend show Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull moved into that exclusive, nine-figure territory yesterday.
The movie is the second 2008 release to crack $300 million after Iron Man, which beat Indiana Jones to the neighborhood by about a week.
Iron Man, which currently sits at $309 million, remains the year’s No. 1 movie.
The ever-resourceful Dr. Jones, however, holds the overall advantage.
An even bigger hit internationally, the adventure franchise’s fourth installment has topped $400 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $713 million, Paramount said today. Iron Man, by comparison, has done the majority of its big business stateside. Overseas grosses bring its worldwide haul to “only” about $560 million.
Among George Lucas movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is its producer’s biggest non-Star Wars hit as a producer, per Box Office Mojo stats. Among Steven Spielberg movies, Crystal Skull is his third-biggest hit, behind E.T. and Jurassic Park, as a director.
Among Indiana Jones movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the top grosserso long as you don’t adjust for inflation.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, the series starter bumped down to No. 2 by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, arguably had the more impressive run of the two installments, grossing a gaudy $209.6 million domestically back in 1981.
Still, a win is a win. And Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first new Indiana Jones movie in 19 years, overcame minor qualms that the film would suffer from young moviegoers unable to relate to the veteran franchise and its veteran star, Harrison Ford, who, at 65, is seven years older than Sean Connery was when that actor played Indiana’s father in The Last Crusade.
And the movie isn’t done yet. Last weekend, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made more than double the money of the finally tiring Iron Man. A couple more showings like that, and Indiana Jones may be the $300 million club’s No. 1 member.
Arrested Development: Development Arrested (series finale) - VIDEO
Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.
Originally aired February 10th, 2006 — I could roll out about a dozen clichés when describing the series finale of Arrested Development, but I’m honestly not sure that saying “this was the end of an era” does it enough justice. For those that own the DVD sets, take a look at the cover for season two. There’s a quote from Entertainment Weekly on it: “Once in the history of time comes a sitcom like Arrested Development.”
Too bad FOX never saw it that way. Not only did they delay the airing of the final four AD episodes, but when it came time to show them, they got bundled together and aired ’em in a row - on a Friday night in the middle of winter! As I’ve said before, it sucks that Emmy wins don’t dictate a show’s future. But we really can’t blame FOX because those Emmys are arguably why we were lucky enough to get three seasons period. Blame the people who watched Skating with Celebrities (AD’s time-slot replacement) instead.
Going into this episode, I remember that before I watched it, I wasn’t expecting greatness. Of course I knew the episode would be good (and it is) but I didn’t expect it to be a huge event. And it wasn’t. In my opinion, it’s one of the unfunniest of AD’s 53 installments. But that isn’t a bad thing. “Development Arrested” rewards the long-time viewer with far more “ah ha!” moments instead of “haha!” moments.
Now that it’s over, there’s endless clamor for a movie and it finally looks like it’s happening. If I can be honest though, I’m not sure it’s the best idea. Great sitcoms don’t always translate well when you go and stretch them out and I fear that Arrested Development could suffer big time. Look at The Office. Phenomenal program and it couldn’t even make one decent hour-long ep. They all got stale. Fast. AD ended on a high note, mainly because it had an actual ending that wrapped things up. At the time, there was all that chatter about Showtime picking up the series but that didn’t cloud Hurwitz’s judgment. He still wrote this as a series finale. There’s no cliff-hanger begging to be answered on another network. I’m just saying, why mess with a good thing?
Of course this episode does have numerous stellar moments. My personal favorite is when we find out that Annyong has actually been gathering evidence against Lucille because she stole the idea for Bluth’s Frozen Bananas from Annyong’s uncle and got him deported. He’d been selling “cold banana in delicious brown taste.” Mmmm!
As a whole, the episode hearkens back to the pilot and other early episodes on numerous occasions. The celebratory cruise, a banner with the word “Pardner” on it, George Michael’s obsession with Maeby, Jim Cramer’s Mad Money upgrade from “Don’t Buy” to “Risky,” and Michael’s flip-flop: apparently breakfast is now more important than family. But as I mentioned earlier, the episode is loaded with “ah ha!” moments and inside jokes. Just look at the Wikipedia page for this episode. It’s an endless list of things that even some of the most die-hard fans wouldn’t catch.
With Lucille in jail, Oscar sticking around and posing as George Sr. (who’s on the boat to Cabo with Michael and George Michael), and Lindsay (or should I say 40 year old Nellie?) no longer a Bluth, it’s hard to say where the show would go next. Buster and G.O.B. are funny often because of what everyone else is doing around them and that’s gone now. This is what I was saying earlier - this episode feels like an ending. Even the final moments, as Maeby pitches her Bluth’s script to Ron Howard, he thinks movie. Not a series. I agree. Even though I’ll see the movie (more than once probably), I’d be much more comfortable enjoying the great memories we already have rather than risking the creation of a bad one. Here’s to hoping that isn’t the case, or Lucille and G.O.B. won’t be the only ones saying, “I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Classic Quotes
“Look at that Buster - you would have lost a hand anyway.” - Michael, after Buster slices off his fake hand with an electric carving knife
“I’ve always pictured him in a lighthouse.” - Tobias, on where he thought G.O.B. lived
“I hope that’s not a crack about my haircolor… lips, forehead, nose, and teeth.” - Lindsay, to Stan Sitwell, after he makes a crack about Lucille’s “natural” children
“I’m just not that into older women.” - Michael, rejecting Lindsay’s marriage proposal once she tells him they aren’t related… and that she’s 40
“I like hot sailors.” - Michael, stopping Tobias before he can say “hot seamen.”
“Kitty likes to scratch.” - G.O.B., after Lindsay slaps him
“…maybe a movie?” - Ron Howard, reacting to Maeby’s pitch
BSG: Learn All About Starbuck's Love Life and the Likely Future of the Spinoff Caprica
UPDATE: Wow, it looks like you don’t even have to wait until tonight to see the finale, as Sci Fi has placed “Revelation” online for all to see! They’re streaming it every hour on the hour until 1 p.m. PST today. Go have fun!
My job doesn’t suck.
On Wednesday evening, the Sci Fi Channel and the Los Angeles Times hosted a Battlestar Galactica midseason finale screening and panel discussion with BSG boss Ronald D. Moore and stars Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin) and Katee Sackhoff (Kara “Starbuck” Thrace).
Now, I can’t tell you anything about the midseason finale, “Revelation,” which airs tonight at 10 on Sci Fi because Ronald D. Moore literally made us raise our right hands and swear to keep the show’s secrets safe, and because I really wouldn’t want to take away your enjoyment of the shocking revelations that come at you like asteroids.
However, I’d like to try to make it up to you with some exclusive quotes you can’t read anywhere else.
Click in for the dish about Roslin’s ultimate fate, Starbuck’s frakked-up relationship with Apollo and whether or not the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica will go to series:
The Final Finale Is Gonna Be Good: The cast just got the script for the series finale, and Mary McDonnell told me, “I’m satisfied completely with the complete saga of Battlestar. I don’t even want to begin to talk about any of it, because I’m afraid I’ll let it slip. But I will tell you that I personally feel that now that I know the end of the story, it has an even deeper resonance as a complete saga than it had in weekly episodic installments.”
Vote Roslin-Adama in ’08: Roslin has struggled to balance her empathy and her authority in the most recent episodes of Battlestar Galactica, so I wanted to know if McDonnell thought that Roslin was born to be the dying leader or if it’s something she’s grown into. She told me, “It was part of her destiny. She didn’t know that she knew this stuff, she didn’t want to know this stuff, she had no interest in it. Women in my generation weren’t necessarily prepared for positions of power, we weren’t brought up to do it. So, when you earn those positions, or when you’re thrust into them, you discover how you handle power, and you discover a lot about yourself. Maybe Hillary Clinton was raised for it, but [Roslin] certainly wasn’t.”
Everyone’s Best Frenemy: Now let’s address Kara Thrace and her special destiny (aka the best cover band ever). As Starbuck learned to accept that she does have a mission from a higher power, there was some suggestion of a concurrent fear. Is that because Starbuck is afraid she’s a Cylon or some other thing that might make her dangerous? According to Katee Sackhoff, “No, she’s not afraid that it’s dangerous. She’s afraid that she’ll fail. That’s her biggest fear—that she’s not good enough.”
What’s in Store for Starpollo? I tried to get a little insight from Katee Sackhoff on Kara’s difficult but oh-so-emotional connection to Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber). Is there a resolution? “Of course, yeah.” So what happens? According to Katee, “It will end the way it needed to end.” (Is it just me or does that sound like something a hybrid would say?) Nonetheless, I sense it’s a satisfying conclusion, if not necessarily a happy one. Post your prediction for Kara and Lee in the comments…unless, of course, you’re on Team Sam Anders…
Foiled Again! Despite talk that Sci Fi should submit “The Hub” as Mary McDonnell’s Emmy episode, it will not come to pass. President Roslin herself told me, “That episode, it came out really well, and we had some amazing feedback on it.” But, sadly, they were still cutting it together in postproduction when the deadline for submission came and went. “It had fallen apart a little—there were some issues with the sequencing of the story—and they were re-editing it. But I was quite pleased with it in the end.” That said, if anyone reading this is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, please give BSG a look this year—it absolutely stands shoulder to shoulder with the best dramas on TV, and it never gets the trophy love.
Coming to a TV Near You…Later: I talked to Dave Howe, Sci Fi Channel president, and you guys are definitely going to have to wait half a year for the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica. He told me that, “[It will premiere] first quarter next year—we haven’t fixed a final date, but we don’t want to keep the fans waiting too long.”
Twelve Colonies, to Be Continued: The proposed Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica (starring Esai Morales, Paula Malcolmson and Eric Stotlz) is officially still just a two-hour movie, but based strictly on the enthusiasm of Howe and NBC Universal chief of cable programming Bonnie Hammer, I’d say that Caprica is getting picked up. Howe wasn’t making any promises yet, but he said, “Based on the casting and the writing and talent involved, I think it’s going to be spectacular.” Hammer agrees that it’s good stuff: “The dailies look amazing.” Yay!
Enjoy the finale tonight, guys, and come back Monday for the spoiler chat, where we’ll have a little talk with the lovely Tricia Helfer about her new gig on Burn Notice.