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  • AMC to remake "The Prisoner"

    Found on ISN News: The Zocalo Today:

    THE PRISONER REMAKE
    AMC is getting into the sci-fi business with a remake of the 1960s series THE PRISONER. The sci-fi thriller will feature a similar story line to the original series, which starred Patrick McGoohan, who also was creator, producer, writer, and director. It aired from 1967-68 on CBS. PRISONER will follow a man who finds himself inexplicably trapped in "the Village," with no memory of how he arrived. All of the inhabitants are identified by number instead of name, have no memory of a previous existence or outside civilization, and are under constant surveillance. The man, Number Six, sets out to discover the truth behind the Village, why he's there, and how he can escape. Production on the hour-long series is scheduled to begin in the spring for a worldwide premiere targeted for January 2008. According to Rob Sorcher, executive VP for programming and production at AMC said their executives have been looking to do an "event sci-fi genre series" for some time. "It needed to be something with marquee value built in," he said. "This show made an explosion in the genre 40 years ago; to this day, it's loved by so many. This is an opportunity to remake a classic and reinterpret it, and it also gives us a built-in fan base." The number of episodes is yet to be determined, but Sorcher said it will be "a minimum of six or eight." He added that the producers are looking to bring in a "big name" director/executive producer who will "bring his or her own vision to the material." Sorcher said that AMC also has acquired rights to the original PRISONER and will air those episodes around the time of the new series' launch, along with films in the same genre as the show. PRISONER is the latest programming announcement by AMC, which during the past year has been ramping up its scripted slate. Its first original movie, the four-hour Western BROKEN TRAIL, which set ratings records in June, earned three Golden Globe nominations last week. Other original programming includes the caper series HUSTLE and the period drama MAD MEN, which is debuting in June, as well as the crime drama pilot BREAKING BAD, which begins shooting at the end of February.
    Jan
    "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

  • #2
    This is made of 100% win.
    "I don't find myself in the same luxury as you. You grew up in freedom, and you can spit on freedom, because you don't know what it is not to have freedom." ---Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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    • #3
      ...along with films in the same genre as the show.
      And those would be?

      The Prisoner is sui generis, a thing unto itself. There are no other films or shows "in the same genre"

      That statement alone makes me nervous about the whole project.

      Regards,

      Joe
      Joseph DeMartino
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      Pat Tallman Division

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      • #4
        P.S.

        The film and television rights to The Prisoner being separate, the AMC announcement is not expected to affect Christopher (Batman Begins) Nolan's plans for a feature based on the original series, although it isn't clear when Nolan might actually get around to making that film.

        Regards,

        Joe
        Joseph DeMartino
        Sigh Corps
        Pat Tallman Division

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        • #5
          I will have to see some very good reviews on this before I will watch it. The Prisoner is one of those series that I would expect the remake to totally miss the boat a lot more often than hit the mark. Talk about a tough act to follow . . .

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          • #6
            sorry never heard of it, sounds aweful though

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Karachi Vyce
              This is made of 100% win.

              FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!



              Seriously though, this will suck. It's like someone remaking Psycho...oh wait.

              Um, then it's like someone remaking Kurosawa's Seven Samurai...oh wait.
              RIP Coach Larry Finch
              Thank you Memphis Grizzlies for a great season.
              Play like your fake girlfriend died today - new Notre Dame motivational sign

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              • #8
                how would we feel if someone started remaking b5?

                but don't blow off all remakes scifi is doing an AMAZING job with Battlestar Galactica.

                cartoon network did a nice job with he-man (even though it only got 1 and a half seasons)

                the wb did a nice job with smallville

                um can't think of anything else right now (doctor who does not count its a continuation not a remake)

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                • #9
                  I'm holding my breath. it's either gonna make me really really happy...or make me really really vomit.
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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Lunan
                    how would we feel if someone started remaking b5?

                    but don't blow off all remakes scifi is doing an AMAZING job with Battlestar Galactica.
                    I wouldn't give a shit if they remade Bab 5. This notion that the original is somehow lessened because of a possibly inferior remake is a bunch of crap, IMO.

                    And you just gave a good example why. Galactica is considered one of the best genre shows on TV today, if not one of the best of the last few years. I'm sure there were a bunch of old school Galactica fans who were pissed off that a new show was going to be made, but they got a good product in the end. I'll wait to actually see this show before I decide whether this is a bad idea or not. Even so, if it's horrible, it's not going to lessen the original.
                    "I don't find myself in the same luxury as you. You grew up in freedom, and you can spit on freedom, because you don't know what it is not to have freedom." ---Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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                    • #11
                      There are a few remakes that are just as good as the original.

                      The Maltese Falcon, An Affair to Remember, Ben Hur, Cronenberg's version of The Fly, Little Shop of Horrors, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Red Dragon, Scarface, and To Be or Not To Be.

                      9 out of the hundreds of remakes doesn't seem like that good of a success.
                      RIP Coach Larry Finch
                      Thank you Memphis Grizzlies for a great season.
                      Play like your fake girlfriend died today - new Notre Dame motivational sign

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by WillieStealAndHow
                        There are a few remakes that are just as good as the original.

                        The Maltese Falcon, An Affair to Remember, Ben Hur, Cronenberg's version of The Fly, Little Shop of Horrors, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Red Dragon, Scarface, and To Be or Not To Be.

                        9 out of the hundreds of remakes doesn't seem like that good of a success.
                        what about all the remakes that are better then the original
                        i would argue Battlestar fits that bill nicely

                        buffy can be argued (but then movie vs tv comes up)

                        batman begins

                        justice league (including unlimited) so much better then the older cartoons

                        dune

                        hmm that list seems way too short but its what i've got right now

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                        • #13
                          The big problem with remaking "The Prisoner" is that everything is so freakin' unsubtle these days. And this is a story that cannot be told without subtlety. Like our current President, Hollywood doesn't appear to "do nuance" much anymore. In fact, I just heard that they're going to give the prisoner amnesia (!!!) in this remake. Which just removes all ambiguity whatsoever. I think this is a huge mistake.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Lunan
                            what about all the remakes that are better then the original
                            i would argue Battlestar fits that bill nicely

                            buffy can be argued (but then movie vs tv comes up)

                            batman begins

                            justice league (including unlimited) so much better then the older cartoons

                            dune

                            hmm that list seems way too short but its what i've got right now
                            I liked Battlestar when I was kid, but when I saw it again during that marathon Sci-Fi channel had before they started the new series I didn't like it. And the new Battlestar series hasn't hooked me.

                            I never liked the Buffy movie or the TV series.

                            I don't consider Batman Begins a remake. It's another interpretation of the Batman mythos like the Burton films, the horrible Schumaker films, the 60's Batman movie and series, the serials from the 40s, and the various cartoon series.

                            I've not seen the Justice League Unlimited cartoons, so I can't say.

                            Nor have I seen the Dune miniseries.
                            RIP Coach Larry Finch
                            Thank you Memphis Grizzlies for a great season.
                            Play like your fake girlfriend died today - new Notre Dame motivational sign

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by AmyG
                              In fact, I just heard that they're going to give the prisoner amnesia (!!!) in this remake. Which just removes all ambiguity whatsoever. I think this is a huge mistake.
                              As I mentioned on the mod, this would actually remove all logic and mean they could never get out of the first act, since there isn't much point in asking a man who doesn't remember who he is, or what he did for a living, why he quit the job he can't recall having held in the first place. (In fact, if the kidnapping procedure caused amnesia, there'd be no reason to have "The Village", since all the secrets would be safe. )

                              Luckily, that isn't what they have planned:

                              "New series will revolve around a man who awakes in the Village with no memory of how he arrived. Episodes will follow how he tries to make sense of his new environment, in which inhabitants are under constant surveillance, identified by number and sans any recollection of how they got to the island." -- From Daily Variety Monday 18 Dec 2006. (Emphasis added - jd)
                              In short, exactly the same situation as in the original. The character is gassed in London and wakes up in The Village without any memory of how he got there.

                              As noted, AMC isn't the only one in the Prisoner remake business. From the same article:

                              "AMC's is the second adaptation in the works. Universal Pictures has set helmer Christopher Nolan to direct a feature version that Janet and David Peoples are scripting (Daily Variety, Aug. 11).

                              U has the film rights to the skein, while Granada has separate television rights. Like the planned skein, bigscreen pic is said to be a contemporized take on the 1967 thriller."
                              Regards,

                              Joe
                              Last edited by Joseph DeMartino; 12-21-2006, 09:39 AM.
                              Joseph DeMartino
                              Sigh Corps
                              Pat Tallman Division

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