New Labyrinth film in development with Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer

[Drtooth]

Anyone else feel it's odd this is getting traction right after Bowie's passing? Like...I dunno cashing in on the sensationalism of his passing in order to drum up fanfare for this project? Rubs me the wrong way. I have seen, I think, that they've been trying to get something off the ground so I'm sure it predates this, but I feel they're tying the two together to make the project more well known and into the public eye.

The film was in development well before that. It was probably even tracked a little just as that terrible coincidence happened. I wouldn't be surprised if Henson was kicking around this film for a while now. For arguments sake I'll pretend that this is a possibility, and it won't go down like Fraggle Rock and Power of the Dark Crystal. I don't think they would try to take advantage of Bowie's passing, and one of the script's writers was disgusted by that very idea.

That said, reintroducing the "never going to happen" factor in, how many times did we hear that POTDC or FR was pushing forward only to not hear anything for months, year later, and either it's a case of "No, it's still happening! Trust us" or "You know how we said to trust us? Well...."

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

Anyone else feel it's odd this is getting traction right after Bowie's passing? Like...I dunno cashing in on the sensationalism of his passing in order to drum up fanfare for this project? Rubs me the wrong way. I have seen, I think, that they've been trying to get something off the ground so I'm sure it predates this, but I feel they're tying the two together to make the project more well known and into the public eye.

May turn out to be nice, maybe bring back Jennifer Connolly and Toby. I've not read the manga so I can't speak to that story but I'm sure that'd make an interesting film. Or a new idea where, who knows, Toby could be a goblin king? Will be interesting to follow the production of this project from here on out.

I think it is a bit of a slap in the face to Bowie, right after he dies and they announce this, poor taste IMHO ...

 

[Drtooth]

Again, I'm pretty sure that was accidental and coincidental. Conversely you could say that this was on track to be announced then David passed on. Sure, a lot of movies are announced at the drop of a hat once a movie company gets the license for something, but I very much doubt this was one of those times. Knowing Henson, they probably planned on announcing it for a while.

 

[SnakeLipsXD]

Really? I always thought that if they remade it, then that would offend a lot of people - especially considering that, in itself, that film is a total classic.
However, if it does happen, I hope they use some of the original cast and puppetry techniques - it would be so sad to see something so beautiful get ruined by technology.

 

[Drtooth]

Here's the thing.

Let's hypothetically say that Henson has the partnership and funding they would need to get this project off the ground and this thing actually happens (which it won't). How the heck is the aspect of a film that you can easily ignore and probably won't see (unless you're one of those rage watchers that need to see how ticked off they should be) "offensive?" I'm not talking about a "George Lucas ruined Star Wars with the prequels" level of retroactively casting a shadow of convolution on the original films. I'm talking about a harmless sequel that (again, hypothetically that it would happen) can just be easily ignored if it actually does suck.

Now I get it. The movie speaks to people. People born like decades after the original film flopped and almost fell into obscurity if not for a growing fanbase on home video. It's a cult film that has a bigger fanbase than the huge hit Avatar would ever have. I mean, that one was beloved and parodied for all of a year's time in which everyone stopped caring. Labyrinth parodies and references popped up in a lot of media lately to the point Gravity Falls almost had one but Disney didn't think kids would get it. It's a big enough cult classic that greenlighting the sequel to a film that didn't even gross 20 mil seems like a good idea. This old film has value in it. I really like it, but am a bigger Dark Crystal fan.

Personally, I don't think one is necessary. Sarah's character arc is pretty much finished in the length of the film. Sure you can have all the subpar faux-Japanese comic book adaptions and gushy fan fics all you want, the movie is over, the story is over. By that mindset, I could care less if there's another Labyrinth. It's either be some sort of Hook knockoff or a less good retread of the original with Sarah's kid and someone else as the Goblin King. I mean, what? Are they going to say they drained the Bog or Eternal Stench and put in a nice set of condos? What more could the story add that wouldn't be a predictable "You're friends are still here" fanwank? Even if you can fiond other stories and further adventures to tell, don't get ticked off that their big budget officially sanctioned fan fic doesn't sync up with yours.

But as an annoyed Henson fan, I'll give you the reality portion. Here's how this is going to go down. The project will get announced and sound like it has initial traction. Two years from then, we'll get a cryptic update and hear nothing more from them for a few years where they'll say "this is seriously happening, really!" and have some production art and a couple cast members lined up only for nothing to happen for a few more years when you may hear something about it going to a new distribution company...then 10 years after the initial announcement, the project will be all but abandoned. 2 Years after that, it will indefinitely be cancelled, but with news of 5 other simple projects that should get off the ground but don't. Happened to Fraggle Rock the movie, happened to Power of the Dark Crystal, happened to Happy Time Murders. Even if you are tearing your hair out at the thought of a sequel film somehow destroying everything you loved about the original film, you have zero to worry about.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

Really? I always thought that if they remade it, then that would offend a lot of people - especially considering that, in itself, that film is a total classic.
However, if it does happen, I hope they use some of the original cast and puppetry techniques - it would be so sad to see something so beautiful get ruined by technology.

I would be ok with a different cast as long as they had a ton of puppets in it.
the more I think of it its not a slap in the face to Bowie I will at least give it a chance, see how the trailers look? May be they could get Sting? my family are big fans of Sting!

 

[gravy]

I would be ok with a different cast as long as they had a ton of puppets in it.
the more I think of it its not a slap in the face to Bowie I will at least give it a chance, see how the trailers look? May be they could get Sting? my family are big fans of Sting!

Sting? Are you kidding me?

One of the ideas for Labyrinth was not to have too many puppets, as they had already tried that with Dark Crystal. Why have more?

It actually kind of is a slap in the face for Bowie... Like, seriously, right after he died? A bit harsh.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

Labyrinth AND Guardians of the Galaxy? That is simply too much awesome for me to handle! I'm really looking forward to possibly seeing this in the future. But in the mean time, I'm still waiting for a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 spinoff film where Yondu becomes Mary Poppins lol jk.

 

[Mystic Master]

I'd be interested to see where this could go, and they really don't need any of the original cast. They could do a reimagining that was done for other properties like Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek. The only feasible character they might reuse is Sarah, I cant see them bringing back Toby - because he's not even an actor. Perhaps it would be more interesting to switch all the roles around, and have Sarah be the Goblin Queen, and have the main actor be a guy searching for someone...