June C, 2011: Five film/t.v. projects I'm looking forward to!

Despite the fact that I work in television, I don't watch a lot of t.v.  I could say it's because I'm incredibly busy (which I am) but the truth is that, given the choice, I'd much rather read, cook, work-out, or spend quality time with my dogs.  I do, however, manage to make time for some my favorites (House, Top Chef, Spartacus, and the occasional HBO offerings), squeezing in a viewing while exercising or before lights-out – which is more than can be said for my movie-watching.  After building a home theater, I decided to never again visit a theater and, instead, chose to wait for films of interest to come out on dvd – until the introduction of blu-ray effectively dissuaded me from ever buying another dvd (much less a blu-ray player which, I assumed, would, in turn, be rendered obsolete by the next big thing so why bother?).  As a result, I would be completely lost in any dinner party conversation that shifted to Inception, Avatar, Toy Story 3, Star Trek, and every James Bond installment since Golden Eye.

Still, despite my seeming disinterest, every once in a while the announcement of an upcoming project will pique my interest.  And, occasionally, I may even get downright excited at the prospect of actually checking something out.

What follows is my list of the Top 5 Projects (some in development, some in production) I Most Look Forward To…

Seth McFarlane's reboot of The Flintstones

After much back-and-forth, a deal has finally been struck that will allow the Family Guy creator to reboot The Flinstones – and I couldn't be happier.  To those of you who say Seth McFarlane is going to ruin The Flinstones, I say: "Did you watch The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show? Or The Flintstone Comedy Hour?  Or every t.v. special, television movie, and live action feature film made since the original show went off the air in 1966?"  Hell, some purists will even argue that the show jumped the shark with the introduction of Pebbles at the end of its third season.   In my mind, there's no better candidate to bring back television's first prime time, politically incorrect animated series than McFarlane.  His sense of humor is perfectly suited to recapturing the show's original adult sensibility.

The live-action version of Noir

I'm admittedly torn on this one.  On the one hand, I can't wait to see what Sam Raimi and co. do with one of my top ten favorite anime of all time; on the other hand, I'm bummed that I wasn't fast enough in snapping up the rights when they were available.  This styling series about two young, female assassins and the mysterious order they work for was one of several anime properties I identified for potential live-action treatment.  Alas, my commitment to Stargate kept me from seriously pursuing it but, all the same, it looks like the property is in good hands.  Don't know how they plan on translating Noir for a North American audience but so long as they make liberal use Yuki Kajiura's soundtrack for the original anime, they can't go wrong.

Powers

One of my favorite comic book series is poised to hit the small screen. Focusing on Detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, partners in homicide investigations involving superpowered individuals, the graphic novels are whip smart and a lot of fun.  Don't know much about the prospective series beside the fact that it will premiere on FX, but the fact that writer Brian Michael Bendis is listed as an Executive Producer gives me confidence the production will do right by its source material.

World War Z: The Movie

Tired of zombies yet?  No, me neither provided they're done right – and author Max Brooks did them all sorts of right in his book, a collection of first-person accounts of the zombie apocalypse.  Clever, frightening, and incredibly engaging given the personal nature of a lot of the interviews – a must-read for any fan of the horror sub-genre. Translating Brooks' unique narrative will no doubt prove a challenge but I'm cautiously optimistic….

Transporter: The Series

Loved the movies for the creative fight sequences and the overall sense of fun that pervaded the action, so when I heard they were going to be doing a television series based on the film franchise, I was interested. And when my agent called to say they wanted Paul and I to showrun – well, I was REALLY interested. European production is already underway while main unit photography kicks off here in North America in July.  The early footage looks great, the scripts are tight, the cast is terrific, and the production is stacked with talent.  Fans of the movies will not be disappointed!

Tagged: Brian Michael Bendis, FX, HBO/Cinemax, Max Brooks, Noir, Powers, Sam Raimi, Seth MacFarlane, Starz, The Flintstones, The Transporter, Transporter, Transporter: The Series, World War Z