Nov 3 2009 Joss Whedon Will Pay Five Figures for Terminator Rights
With the future film and television rights to the Terminator franchise up for sale, geek icon Joss Whedon has put in a bid forward a bid and proposed ideas for great directions to take the dying series in this open letter. $10,000, guys. How about it?
Dear Sirs/Ma'ams,I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where 'hood' was capitalized 'cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the 'grapevine' that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands.
No, you didn't miscount. That's four -- FOUR! -- zeroes after that one. That's to show you I mean business. And I mean show business. Nikki Finke says the Terminator concept is played. Well, here's what I have to say to Nikki Finke: you are a fine journalist and please don't ever notice me. The Terminator story is as formative and important in our culture -- and my pretend play -- as any I can think of. It's far from over. And before you Terminator-Owners (I have trouble remembering names) rush to cash that sweet cheque, let me give you a taste of what I could do with that franchise:
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Jul 24 2009 'Cabin in the Woods' Posters: Horror Gets Self-Aware... Again
MGM has debuted the Cabin in the Woods on Coming Soon, and judging by the irreverent wit of the taglines, it looks like writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard might be going for some calling-out of slasher conventions à la Scream, except probably much better than Scream.
Below the cut, two more cliché-identifying slogans, though they somehow forgot to include "if your first movie makes some money, make at least seven more":
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May 26 2009 Different Buffy to Slay Newer Vampires
1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer marked the arrival of the former Roseanne and Parenthood writer, now television geek demigod, Joss Whedon, and spawned the Sarah Michelle Gellar series that would become a cult phenomenon to be gushed about in the pages of Entertainment Weeklies for years to follow. Attempting to remake the film without Whedon's participation would clearly be a flagrantly bad idea, and thus, that is what's we're going to do:
A new incarnation of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could be coming to the big screen."Buffy" creator Joss Whedon isn't involved and it's not set up at a studio, but Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, on what is being labeled a remake or relaunch, but not a sequel or prequel.
The new "Buffy" film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike. Vertigo and Kuzui are looking to restart the story line without trampling on the beloved existing universe created by Whedon, putting the parties in a similar situation faced by Paramount, J.J. Abrams and his crew when relaunching "Star Trek."
The masses of fanatical Joss Whedon followers will not be pleased. Fran and Kaz Kuzui, I suggest you plant a rumor that there's a lost episode of Firefly hidden somewhere inside the internet and use the resulting panic and distraction to get away. These Whedon superfans are already pretty riled up by the poor ratings and near-cancellation of Dollhouse paired with all their friends' reluctance to sit down and watch Serenity. They don't need to hear this right now. You've made a mistake. Escape while you can.
Jun 26 2008 The 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' Trailer I Refuse to Watch
Thus far, I've irrationally avoided the majority of Joss Whedon's work for the sole reason that Entertainment Weekly covered most of it so heavily. My roommate in college had a subscription, and I got really annoyed flipping through so many articles about Buffy. Friends who love Firefly tell me this is a stupid reason to avoid Whedon's work, and that Firefly is very enjoyable, but I have still resisted. Fuck 'em.
Now Whedon has another work for me to stubbornly, pointlessly avoid: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a three-part web series starring Neil Patrick Harris, still riding high on his How I Met Your Mother/Harold and Kumar/Old Spice ad fame, and there's a trailer. If it looks good, don't tell me. I'm trying to remain blissfully ignorant.
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