Your Favorite "Unrealized" Production - Page 2

Originally posted by Frost, re: One Saliva Bubble-- There was indeed a screenplay written by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It was that collaboration which lead to the two working together on Twin Peaks. The quote from Robert Engels (a regular staff writer on Peaks and co-writer of Fire Walk With Me) was, "It's about an electric bubble from a computer that bursts over this town and changes people's personalities - like these five cattlemen, who suddenly think they're Chinese gymnasts. It's insane."

Regarding someone's earlier comment about The Tourist: I remember those drawings as well. What the hell was that movie supposed to be about? Anyone know?

That would be the European cut of the infamous Jaws: The Revenge. Interestingly enough, this was part of a "revised" and re-shot ending. The original, US theatrical cut was equally abrupt and senseless but went a little something like this:

Lance Guest is using his modified flashbulb to internally "shock" the shark, with a sound effect straight out of 30s Frankenstein. It's leaping out of the water and roaring like King Kong from the old 30's movies. (In case you haven't noticed from my descriptions, the sound design on this movie is like "Ancient Sound Effects 101".) Lorraine Gary, at the helm of the boat, steers directly for the shark while having a flashback (in sepia tone) to something she never saw: Roy Scheider clinging to the mast of the sinking Orca while firing his last ditch shots at the shark in the first Jaws. This seems to incense her to "ram" the shark, which is dangling up out of the water like a dolphin on its tail (not that we see it doing this, but it'd have to be for what happens next). She heads right for it, revving up the engine. Michael Caine screams, "Ellen, we're gonna hit it." (Which, by the way, is not an obvious fact from the way this has all been shot.)

At this point, in the European cut, the boat (and the shark) seem to explode upon impact without much of an explanation given. Everyone is floating on debris afterwards.

In the US cut, we go to slow motion as Lorraine recalls the "smile you son of a bitch" moment from Scheider and the broken bowsprit pierces the sharks skin, running it through. The shark vomits blood and screams as the rickety boat begins to crumble in half from the full on weight of the mechanical shark impaled on its bow.

This is followed by a shot looking up at an underwater miniature of the shark, still impaled on the front quarter of the ship, sinking to the bottom, the "electronic heartbeat" audibly slowing on the soundtrack. Fade to black. Cut to epilogue.

The alternate European ending (which was also the version released here in the States on video) was created (I presume) for two reasons: one, the ending described above is extremely abrupt and over before you even know what's going on and two, Mario Van Peebles character turns up in a "post explosion" scene, mortally wounded but floating on his back, saved by Lance Guest. In the American cut, this character ("Jake") is eaten by the shark and stays dead. He was, apparently, so "beloved" by audiences, that the studio authorized reshoots to "bring him back at the end" a la Hooper in the original film. I guess they were willing to do anything to "fix it in post" even after it had already come out.

Why they chose to completely eliminate the impalement is unknown to me. If it's because it looks very cheesy, then okay. Otherwise, the impaled shark and cracking boat is possibly the only "spectacular" set piece in the movie, albeit done too quickly and very badly.

I'm not defending Jaws: The Revenge. I just happen to have an expansive knowledge of the series and a guilty pleasure enjoyment level for the movie which coined the phrase, "This time, it's personal."

Now, Jaws 5?

Okay, how about parts 2 & 3 of the projected Twin Peaks movie trilogy? Fire Walk With Me, while in my opinion, closes the circle figuratively and literally, was intended to be the beginning of a trilogy of films. I remember reading that the intention was to make the three movies as prequel, then a sequel, then an overall finale.

The finished film definitely opens new doors that go unexplored such as what happened to Chester Desmond, Chris Isaak's character? And there are hints to other unresolved plot points from the tv series such as Heather Graham's cameo in which she tells Laura that the "Good Dale" is in the Lodge and "can't leave." Could it have been that Laura Palmer would've saved Agent Cooper in the future by writing this information down in her diary? Other elements seem to embellish upon mysteries introduced in the tv series, providing the tools for a potential "way out" for certain loose threads.

The screenplay (which flashes forward to the minutes after the last episode in the epilogue and creates a traditional Peaks cliffhanger in the process) clearly means to be the start of something, not the end. It's way too late now, I dare say impossible but I would kill to have seen it go on.

--AND--

Has someone already mentioned the third Three Mothers film from Argento? Didn't a recent documentary make it a point to say that it was more of an emotional unwillingness on Dario's part than a matter of financing?

And while I'm on sequels, how about Black Christmas 2: Halloween Night?

Originally posted by Hollow Point, re: Black Christmas 2 Don't worry, I'm still sticking to the criteria I set for this thread back in the day.

Aside from recycled rumors of a sequel being made (including some very recent ones), Bob Clark acknowledged in a Fango interview in the late '90s that he and John Carpenter were working on an unrelated project together (which fell through) when he was in discussions to make a sequel to Black Christmas. His idea was, since the first film was set on Christmas, to have the second film set on Halloween. This is pre-Carpenter's Halloween mind you, and there are some pretty hefty similarities between Black Christmas and Halloween.

Things that make you go hmmm...

Here's what was said in that Fango article from January 1997, issue 159, page 18, from Keith Bearden's extensive retrospective article "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas":

This one seems to come up quite a bit on this thread. And, as has been mentioned earlier, rest assured that Frank Darabont fully intends to make this film, and soon. The things I've heard lead me to believe it's in good hands.

I don't think this is as "out of the lines" as you think. Didn't McFarlane say something (a while ago) about a Spawn sequel that would virtually ignore the first, aim for an R rating and play up the darker elements? Am I crazy or does anyone else remember this?

Clive's name seems to come up quite a bit in this thread, and while both films are admittedly disappointing, how about his intended Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions sequels? Both were clearly meant to be (still-born) starts to franchises, with Nightbreed the beginning of an intended trilogy.

Wasn't there going to be a book sequel to "Cabal" (The basis for Nightbreed)?

Wasn't there going to be a Harry D'Amour TV series for the SciFi channel?

I don't know much about this situation beyond the fact that the "Director's Cut" has been available on video (all formats I think) for quite some time. If you mean a different vision on the development end, then right, who's to say? If you mean a preferred cut of the movie, it's out there to find (I think the extended cut is the one that plays on cable as well).