ROTTEN TOMATOES: Jack Black and Michel Gondry Remake "King Kong," "Robocop," and More '80s Classics

Jack Black and Michel Gondry Remake "King Kong," "Robocop," and More '80s Classics

by Fred Topel | November 28, 2006

In his upcoming movie, "Be Kind Rewind," Jack Black gets to remake all of our '80s favorites. He plays a video store clerk who accidentally erases all the tapes, and has to replace all the videos by filming them himself.

"We did a lot of movies," said Black. "We did 'When We Were Kings,' the documentary about Muhammad Ali. I play Muhammad Ali, strangely. We did 'Superman.' Actually, I shouldn't say that, we had to change the name to something else. Incredible Flying Man I think we changed it to. We did 'Ghostbusters.' That was a masterpiece. We did 'Robocop,' we did 'Driving Miss Daisy,' just to name a few. There were tons of movies that we did."

Director Michel Gondry brought his "Eternal Sunshine"/"Science of Sleep" sensibility to the film, ordering Black not to research the films within the film. "We were under strict orders not to watch any of the movies again, not to re-watch anything again and if we hadn't seen it, don't see it. Just do what you think it is based on the commercials you had seen of the movie because he wanted it to look that way; because there isn't any time in the movie for us to do any research. So he wanted to keep that consistent as actors not to research any of the movies we were remaking."

They even remake one of Black's own movies. "We did a little 'King Kong,' too. It was cool. And it was pretty low-budg, the movie but he makes up for it with incredible tricks and stuff, and depth perception, and camera tricks. Like, let's say I'm King Kong, and that over there is Roz, but you're the camera, and if I do that and hold her like that, it looks like I’m a giant. It's hard to explain. In the mind of Michel Gondry it makes sense."

Unfortunately, there was one key '80s movie that the crew could not remake. "We did not do 'Back to the Future.' We did not get permission."

"Be Kind Rewind" opens in 2007.

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Celeb:	Jack Black
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Movie:	Driving Miss Daisy
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(1-20 of 27 posts) | Reply

mojodaddy writes:
on Nov 28 2006 05:10 AM

Haha this sounds like an awesome idea. I'll definitely go see this one.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Glass writes:
on Nov 28 2006 05:50 AM

I can't wait!

(Reply to this)

MC. writes:
on Nov 28 2006 06:46 AM

Could be very fun.

(Reply to this)

frogleg writes:
on Nov 28 2006 06:58 AM

Now THIS is a remake that sounds tolerable.
:)

(Reply to this)

cgcbooks writes:
on Nov 28 2006 07:11 AM

Sounds kind of dumb to me.

(Reply to this)

Mikeal420 writes:
on Nov 28 2006 07:35 AM

[b]sounds promising[/b]
reminds me of other 80's skit films like UHF and "Amazon Women on the Moon"

They should bring in Wierd Al (I dont care what anyone says, he was funny once a long time ago)

(Reply to this)

Bear45 writes:
on Nov 28 2006 08:20 AM

Me and my brothers went to go watch "The Pick of Destiny" on opening night. I was the only one that liked it... I have since been proclaimed a "Jack Black whore".
So, obviously, I'm all wet over the hilarity that I expect to insue in this film. 2007 is gonna be a great year.

(Reply to this)

arpeggio191 writes:
on Nov 28 2006 08:35 AM

In reply to this comment (#849768)
of course it's dumb. harold and kumar, for example, was a really dumb movie, but still came out beautifully! it's going to rule!

(Reply to this)

Kid_Ikarus writes:
on Nov 28 2006 09:16 AM

YESSSSSSSS!

(Reply to this)

Kid_Ikarus writes:
on Nov 28 2006 09:17 AM

YESSSSSSSS!

(Reply to this)

robsdeli writes:
on Nov 28 2006 09:18 AM

I know I'm all for it. And don't worry Bear45, I too am a Jack Black whore. Or at least a really big fan of the D. I dunno. Either way the guy is freakin hilarious.

(Reply to this)

toniokruger writes:
on Nov 28 2006 10:26 AM

[b]dunno[/b]
sounds like a good idea for an MTV Movie Awards skit. Or a short film. But not a feature length film, unless they come up with a strong narrative and motivation.

(Reply to this)

TomasSPAGHetti writes:
on Nov 28 2006 11:23 AM

I think with Gondry at the helms and Black leading it could be a great comedy. In my eyes, Jack Black doesn't dissapoint. It's Eternal Sunshine meets School of Rock (underrated movie).

(Reply to this)

TheIceGhost writes:
on Nov 28 2006 12:23 PM

In reply to this comment (#849769)
Weird Al is pretty 'hot' right now, it'd be sweet if he was making a comeback...

Sounds funny, JB=awesome

Oh, and I just got back from Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. I was the only one in the theater (at 12:10 before my class) and it was glorious.

"I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR EYEBALLS, AND RIP EM OUT. THEN I'M GONNA CUT OFF YOUR BALLS! THEN I'M GONNA PUT YOUR, UH, EYES IN YOUR BALLSACK AND YOUR BALLS IN YOUR EYE SOCKETS!!"

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Nov 28 2006 01:10 PM

King Kong, huh? So Jack Black's taking a movie that was remade once, and then remade again with him in it, and remaking it? Wow, King Kong may have died at the end of all three movies, but it seems like no one ever lets him truly die.

(Reply to this)

Crenshaw writes:
on Nov 28 2006 01:30 PM

I love this idea so much I could lick it. But I won't.

(Reply to this)

bribios writes:
on Nov 28 2006 03:33 PM

I'm a little sick of jack black at this point (thank you very much nacho libre), but i think this actually sounds like a decent movie. I just hope they do "Better off Dead" or "Stand by Me".

(Reply to this)

will_butler writes:
on Nov 28 2006 04:09 PM

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best films I've seen in years. That's good! The Science of Sleep was, perhaps, the worst film I've ever seen. I walked out after the yiffing. That's bad! So, in short, I'll see this if it comes with a free Frogurt.

(Reply to this)

killermonkey8822 writes:
on Nov 28 2006 08:22 PM

In reply to this comment (#849769)
weird al is still halerious.....just listen to his new album.....i like it anyway and i've been listening to weird al for awhile.......but watever it's your own opinion.......i haven't seen UHF but for some reason i have the soundtrack so i should watch it.........anyway i think this could be a pretty good idea.......i loved eternal sunshine of the spotless mind still one of my favourite movies

(Reply to this)

TheAnswerMVP2001 writes:
on Nov 28 2006 10:09 PM

I like it!

(Reply to this)

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