The Neverending Story of Reboots
The NeverEnding Story
It seems originality is something that is hard to come by these days. Not a month goes by where we don’t hear that a remake, reboot, or re-imagining of something that’s been done before is on its way.
Remember Wolfgang Petersons’ brilliant 1984 children’s fantasy, The Neverending Story? You guessed it, here comes the reboot.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros and a couple of well known production houses are in the early stages of putting a reboot of this classic story together.
My initial thoughts: drop it. The original movie is a classic, leave it that way. Consider this. The NeverEnding story made $20M from a budget of $27M. Six years later it’s sequel made $17.4M from a budger of $36M. Four years after that a third movie, well, bombed even worse.
There’s a reason for that, and I’m betting a reboot isn’t going to change that reason. The reason, of course, is that the first movie became a video classic and nothing related to the same story can compare.
In a nutshell, the franchise has never been profitable and the first movie is a timeless entity. Moving on.
September 11th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Hi i fell in love with The Neverending Story when it first come out and went to the cinema to watch it. It’s never gone away even as an adult. I was wondering if this image is avalabil to buy still. Could you send me details to my email address. Thankyou.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I’m not sure why so many people bash the fact that a remake is being produced and, also, why those who don’t really understand the history of The NeverEnding Story comment on the continuity of the first three films.
First, I’m a huge NeverEnding Story fan. Well, I am sure there are HUGER, but it has to be one of my top childhood films, if not -the- top.
I constantly think to myself, “Man, I wonder what the first two movies would have looked like if the producers, writers, and director actually followed the story from the original book.” Or, I’d also think, “It sure would be amazing to see this film with modern day 3D technology.” If you haven’t seen Avatar yet, I recommend you do. 3D in film is really coming a LONG way thanks to the efforts of men like James Cameron and the great people he hires to make amazingly detailed films.
I cannot see how a remake of the NeverEnding Story would hurt anything if high production values go into its creation. The remake could VERY easily be an instant flop depending on how many dollars are thrown at it and which production house gets a hold of it. I’d like to think that whoever does get a hold of it will take the necessary steps to ensure the remake will stay true to the novel’s story.
“The reason, of course, is that the first movie became a video classic and nothing related to the same story can compare.” Again, I think the reason why the sequel sucked (and I won’t even put part 3 in the mix here since, from what I heard, it had NOTHING to do with the original story) was that the writers ravaged the story. The first two films were based off of the first and second half of the original novel. And I guarantee you that if you read the second half of the novel, it’s worlds better than the second movie.
Anyway, I say don’t bash it until you’ve seen it. I’m not going to pass judgment on it until I see a preview. If that looks promising, I’m sure I’ll go see it. I hope all other fans out there try to keep an open mind!