Jun 1 2009Swift to Fight Cyborg Kickboxer on Film
Amidst the scramble to pick up absolutely any franchise that might have any hint of name recognition for anyone, Columbia has purchased Swift, a pitch from Barry Sonnenfeld and Ben David Grabinski that reinvents the largely bygone character Tom Swift.
Swift, first introduced 1910, is a boy adventurer, and his series have focused largely on such fantastical inventions as a cyborg kickboxer, a blatant C-3PO rip-off, a rifle powered by the mystical force of electricity, and something called a "motor cycle." The updated version, Variety says, "would feature Swift as one-half of a father-son team who are among the greatest inventors of all time." Meaning, in the film, Tom will inevitably have to rescue his father from the clutches of an evil rival scientist trying to steal the Swifts' plans to use on a powerful new weapon.
Personally, I'm hoping the film have a basis in the novel Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel. With today's computer rendering power, we could finally get a true vision of just how big this big tunnel is.
Reader Comments
1. Tad_Bit_Tipsy - June 1, 2009 5:06 PM
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2. Tad_Bit_Tipsy - June 1, 2009 5:11 PM
Ho Hum, can Hollywood get anymore boring.... Where's the creativity gone. I mean imagine if they ran other industries the way the do Hollywood... take for instance the restaurant business... "What's that new place like to eat?... Kind of like a Chilli's but with Shoney's overtones and a Applebees vibe...." Blah and more Blah. Pete and Repeat but no BOB! I want a Bob or how bought an Earl.
3. deebs - June 1, 2009 6:21 PM
Don't be ragging on Tom Swift's electric rifle--the taser is named after it (TSER).
4. Fiona - June 1, 2009 6:45 PM
Is that android creating the chasm by forcing the crack wider, or acting as some kind of bridge?
Either way, I'd be a bit more excited if this was a cartoon and it was called The Venture Bros.
5. Amibear - June 1, 2009 7:35 PM
I love the Tom Swift Jr Books which is what they are likely to base it on if they are doing father son team. He had much cooler stuff than his dad. I read maybe a third of the series as a kid after we found my dads collection in my grandmas attic.
6. dannyboy - June 1, 2009 11:36 PM
Sounds a lot like Johnny Quest with a different name to me.
7. Rhialto - June 2, 2009 4:00 PM
Maybe Tom Swift is the American Tintin:) But i think Tintin has more regular and colorful characters in the comic.The research done by the Tintin comic artist is more extensive as well.Maybe the Tintin comics are the big budget Tom Swifts:)
8. Marley - June 2, 2009 11:33 PM
Well obviously its not a C 3P0 rip off considering this came first....
9. Donalr - June 6, 2009 1:51 PM
Because I was a Tom Swift fan when I was kid in the 70s, because I could get Playboy in England in the 80s and because it was the greatest title ever, I recall a Playboy story called: "Tom Swift And The Electric Penis". True story.