Just read an article about State of Play coming to the big screen with Brad Pitt playing Cal McCaffrey. I feel sick typing that last bit. I'll try to reserve judgement as Edward Norton has also signed on and I respect him as an actor. How do you feel about this development?
sharewho would ed norton be playing - the politician?
shareApparently so. I don't think the movie could possibly be as good as the series: the cast are superb, the script is razor sharp, the plot evolves at a not too fast pace and is complicated but not so much that you can't follow it and it avoids all the cliches we're used to in 24 and John Grisham adaptations.
sharehave faith... nortons got it!
shareDoes anyone else think that Ed should be playing the Simm role and Pitt the Morrisey role? (rather than the other way round)?
That's the way I would have pictured it.
"Everything in this room is eatable. Even I'm eatable. But that’s called cannibalism."
I agree. But then Pitt's fans would whine he's being typecast as a jerk who leaves his wife for another woman. Oh wait, he did, didn't he?
I can't see how any film version of this would work -- 6 hours worth of narrative condensed into 2, maybe 2 and a half? Just not gonna do the story justice. And no one is John Simm. Least of all Brad Pitt who can't act his way out of a paper sack.
And a WET paper sack at that!
shareAh yes... I agree about Pitt... but never fear, he's out.. they've hired a real actor to take his place.
Russell Crowe will star with Norton and the rest of the cast. Filming should begin next week.
It will make a good movie but the TV version will always be better because of the amount of detail they can put in it.
I'm kinda looking forward to it, especially now Pitt's out. He has too much of a famous celeb profile for me (rather then an acting one) - 'sides, he just ain't my type.
I still don't get it; why can't the american audience just watch the tv-series and enjoy themselves? Why do they always have to make remakes?
Cameron Foster... now who is able to replace Bill Nighy... no one!!!
The cast is superb, but I think this will make a good film, as well (the miniseries meanders somewhat and it's hard to catch some of the dialogue if you're not attuned to the various Brit accents.) Russell Crowe should do well.
shareJesus Christ, is there an evil plot to do bad remakes of all of John Simm's best work? I'm an American, I saw Life on Mars and they're doing an American version. As for a film version of State of Play, they'll do two things that will ruin it, have Cal end up with Ann Collins in the end or create a tacked on romance with the Della character(if she's included) and have some fight between Stephen Collins and Cal McCaffery, either on the top of a roof top ending with Cal throwing Collins off onto the pavement or on a warehouse steel walkway with flames at the bottom ending with Stephen Collins being thrown to the bottom. And the entire thing will have an air of importance and scream give us an oscar. Come up with something original.
shareHaha, I absolutely agree, fuzzout987! I am also an American and a HUGE John Simm fan...and I fail to understand why we have to go stealing some of his most amazing work. But of course, Hollywood has come up with few original ideas lately (so I guess it's just easier to do inferior imitations of other countries' TV shows/movies). I wonder how John Simm feels about both the Life on Mars and State of Play remakes...
Of course, we are also remaking many of our own movies (notably in the horror genre), so I guess we aren't always copying other countries...
'State of Play' is definitely one of the best and smartest pieces of British television in a number of years and as much as I hate the idea of this, I know I'll want to see it. Same for the film version of 'Edge of Darkness'.
I just hope the film has a plot line/structure comparable to its original. Or at least a modicum . . .
"I've got a cracking hangover and an *beep* like a blow-lamp."
Instead of remaking some of John Simm's best work why doesn't Hollywood give him some roles, they love British actors. Maybe they have and he turned them down.
shareI think it would probably be too hard for John to be away from his family...apparently he had a rough time just being stuck in Manchester filming Life On Mars. He would probably hate being stuck in the States for any length of time! I do think he would be a hit with many American ladies, though ;)
shareSpeaking of Life on Mars I don't see how they're going to do an American version. I'm a fan of the U.S. Office but that was a concept that could be stretched out over several season. Life on Mars has a very short shelf life, he can't stay in 1973 forever. Besides most TV networks don't like ambiguity, one of the things I liked about Life on Mars was that at the end of the show you didn't know if he was actually back in time, in a coma, crazy, a guy from 73 having visions of the future, or dead. The only good thing about the American remake is the DVDS will finally be available over here. But getting back to State of Play I see how the story could be translated to the U.S., God know the majority of our politicians are horny, lying idiots in the backpocket of big business but to what end? I think in a 2 hour movie you lose someh of the complexity offered by the TV format. Plus I'm just averse to the barage of remakes Hollywood is unleashing upon us. Here are a few:
Tron
I Claudius(another great British miniseries)
Escape from New York
The Birds
Strangers on a Train
Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday the Thirteenth
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Last House on the Left
The Boys from Brazil
There are hundreds of books that have never been adapted which would make good movies. But State of Play is good because even if you know nothing about British politics you can still understand it and its points about politics are applicable to America, unfortunately the producers of the movie thought the same thing.
"is there an evil plot to do bad remakes of all of John Simm's best work?"
I wondered the same!
Nick Nolte? :)
http://byronik.com
I still don't get it; why can't the american audience just watch the tv-series and enjoy themselves? Why do they always have to make remakes?
"I still don't get it; why can't the american audience just watch the tv-series and enjoy themselves? Why do they always have to make remakes?"
Agreed HBO has shown that American audiences are quite capable of following complex morally ambigous TV drama and don't all want to be force fed with formulaic plots or patronised by Hollywood.
I'm an American and I loved State of Play I had no trouble following the various plotlines. I think Hollywood underestimate the audience's ability to follow complex plots. For me the series ranks right up there with The Wire and The Shield. I'm doubtful of the remake because I fear they'll turn the final confrontation between Collins and McCaffery into a fistfight on a rooftop or on a steelwalkway above a warehouse ending in Cal throwing Collins to his death. Or they'll have Call end up with Ann Collins or tack on a romance with the Della Smith character. The fact that the hero(if you want to call Cal a hero) didn't get the girl added to the reality of the situation. Does Hollywood have to remake this? There is enough going on in this country with every congressmen having a FOR SALE sign tattooed on their foreheads and our entire business system corrupt for someone to come up with an original idea.
shareI am an American and I LOVED State of Play but I have no faith in American audiences. I agree with many of the posts here but Biff Affleck will find a way to destroy this film -- he has the range of ravioli and is a better writer/director. American films have been reduced to rehashing remakes -- someone posted a pretty decent list on this thread -- or making film adaptations of bad TV (Charlie's Angels? Starsky and Hutch?).
Americans these days are going in droves to drivel like Bride Wars, Hotel for Dogs and the ridiculously putrid Marley and Me and the upcoming He's Just Not That into you and Shopaholic. They'll have to water the story down to nothing to-the-lowest-common-denominator american audiences and it'll be crap. Please, people, watch the original series on DVD.
I think Americans can handle complex plots as the success of shows like The Shield, Lost, and The Wire show. They can even handle dark, as shown by the success of The Dark Knight. I doubt hollywood's ability to capture the complexity and even ambiguity of this story.
shareJust saw " State of Play" last week-end. WOW! Agree with everyone questioning why we Americans need a dumbed-down American version. Just show it on TV here as it is. Where are we going to get a real Kelly MasDonald, with her wee bit of an accent:-) Seriously, you don't re-paint the Mona Lisa!
shareI also just watched the whole "State of Play" series courtesy of Netflix. Loved it, acting, locations, camera work were great. Very well cast too. Don't think a series could be done like it here in the U.S. Not sure how the soon to be released movie will be, but I'll give it a chance. Love that Kelly McDonald......
shareIs it wrong that I hope the remake bombs?
shareI agree with you. Helen Mirren as Bill Nighy???? Sorry, Helen. I love you, but this remake will never compare to the original BBC production.
shareI just don't understand Hollywood's remake fever, I guess it just shows creative bankruptcy on their part. And it's not like State of Play is 20-30 years old as with some remakes, it's six years old. Instead of spending all this money on $hitty remakes why not hire good writers?
shareHollywood is devoid of creativity, that's why they copy so-called Foreign Films so much and why Indies are generally better movies. Those tools that run the studios are afraid of losing money, so they pump out teen farces that occupy Friday nights for H.S. students.
There is no possible way to improve on this TV series although they cast it with good actors and I'm curious to see how they truncate the script/plot to 2 hours running time. Also, such a big part of the BBC production exploited the press's ability to tape without consent which is not legal in the US.
we'll see ......
Just from the previews I can tell they kept the basic structure and plot and ending with ***SPOILER ALERT*** Collins hiring the hitman. They kept the character names, eliminated the team of reporters and kept Della and Cal. If they were going to remake it couldn't they have kept the basic plot reporters investigating a political scandal and done something completely different with it? There is enough material here in American politics for them to mine with many congressmen and senators being charged with corruption in the last few years and a governor being indicted on corruption charges.
sharenothing to do with what we want- its with what we get. hollywood's out of ideas. and new, great, original movies, such as duplicity are disliked or misunderstood- literay- people don't get 'em, and they bomb...
i gotta tell ya- it sucks!
Time is Luck. The Luck has ran out.
Just saw the movie, and fear not: Much has been retained from the original, and not Hollywoodized -- Cal and Della don't have an affair, there's no big climactic fight between Cal and Collins (he's arrested the old-fashioned way, by the police), etc. That being said, the final twist -- of Collins' implication in Sonia's death -- seemed strange and tacked on in the film, and I was fascinated to read here that it was in the series as well. Perhaps that was one thing that should have been changed from the original -- or set up better.
sharewell, I just watched the movie, and I guess so has everyone else...
and I must say, I loved it...
BEN afflect was surprising brilliant, and russel crowe did a fantastic job.
so the remake of the brilliant TV MINI SERIES by the Americans did it justice..
I have both versions out of the library, watched the series first. I'm 3/4 through the movie and it sucks.
The best part of the series was the work of the news team and the politics of the news room. It was almost totally gone in the movie. Comparing actors of the two versions makes one realize how good British actors really are. I love Crowe but he paled compared to Simm. Affleck/Morrissey--OMG! Mirren/Nighy--same. McAdams/Macdonald--egads, although I like McAdams a lot.
Probably all the actors bailing had to do with them getting around to watching the original and realizing they were going to have egg on their faces.
I'm wondering how people who didn't see the series reacted to the movie. Maybe it worked for them.
"Go back to your own side Mr. Leamas."
actually i liked both the versions tv and movie, but i have to admit that the tv mini-series version was better than the movie by faaaar; no matter what many people say about british actors, i must say that they perform much much better than most other actors in all other movie industries.
we could experience the gifts of the legend (existing) british actors like Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Michael Caine, Bill Nighy, Sean Bean, Rowan Atkinson, Clive Owen, and manyyyy along with the rising (& mid-legend) actors like Daniel Craig, Jude Law, Colin Firth, Sam Worthington, Daniel Radcliffe, Simon Pegg, Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, James McAvoy, and so many..... to all of you out there.... a hearty salute & applause.....