(no subject)

[shadesong]

Dark Crystal Sequel Announced

The Jim Henson Co. announced that it will produce a feature-film sequel to its 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, with the working title The Power of the Dark Crystal. The original movie was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, with conceptual designer Brian Froud, and has remained a fan favorite with consistently strong worldwide home video and DVD sales, the company said.

The company's co-chief executives, Brian Henson and Lisa Henson, made the announcement. Odyssey Entertainment will represent the worldwide sales and distribution of the film, beginning immediately at the Cannes Film Festival.

The sequel is based on an original screenplay by Annette Duffy and David Odell, who wrote the first film. It is set many years after the events of the first movie. The Power of the Dark Crystal sees Jen and Kira as king and queen and guardians of the crystal, who fight to save their kingdom when the crystal is once again split. Incorporating a hybrid of live-action animatronic characters and computer animation, the production is expected to commence in the fall. Lisa Henson and Kristine Belson will produce, with Brian Henson, Ralph Kamp and Louise Goodsill serving as executive producers.

...this could either be very good or very bad...

Comments

At least...

[avivasedai.livejournal.com]

... it's still in the Henson family.

[waterotter.livejournal.com]

Have you seen information on MirrorMask coming out? It's intended as a sort of spiritual successor to Labyrinth, and looks amazing. Henson Studios is producing based on vision rather than profit, and this could easily be a new golden age for them. My fingers are crosed, anyway.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*nods* Can't wait! Is there a trailer yet?

[waterotter.livejournal.com]

Yep! You can get the teaser and the trailer from the official webpage. Last I heard, the reception at Sundance was so good that it was picked up for a wider theatrical release than they expected, but it's correspondingly pushed back to autumn some time.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

It sounds good, in theory, though one does wonder how the Crystal gets cracked again, if Jen and Kira are guarding it.

[shoepixie.livejournal.com]

*apparently*, it sounds like Jen and Kira (now rulers I guess?) are contacted by a messenger from another race that needs a shard to heal their dying sun. They refuse, the messenger in desperation steals it. So...they must travel and get it back again, in "an adventure that will see love and goodness triumph over evil and re-introduce cinema-goers to a host of indelible characters including the mystic Ur-sol, Aughra the one-eyed seer, the evil Skeksis and their crab-like and violent Garthim foot soldiers."

...yeah.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Hm.

[littlebuhnee.livejournal.com]

Meh. I'm almost afraid of this. I hate when I fall in love with a movie, and then a crappy sequel follows.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*nods* I'm so in love with the original - I couldn't bear a crappy sequel! But it does look like all of the original people are involved...

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Really? Froud, too?
Well.
WELL...
Maybe.
I'm pretty afraid of it going horribly wrong, but...but...I'll think positive thoughts. :)

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

I agree, could be good or bad. I'm much more attached to this one then Narnia, but that's just me.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I can't decide if I'm equally attached to both - I think maybe I am...

[emerald-ibis.livejournal.com]

...I don't know. The premise sounds promising, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I don't want to be disappointed.

[shellefly.livejournal.com]

If they CGI Fizzgig, heads will roll.

[shoepixie.livejournal.com]

to tell the truth, after hearing the news I'm depending on Mirrormask to keep faith with the public. I don't really very good about a Dark Crystal sequel. For one, aren't there enough inclusions of CG into films that don't really need them? It's a useful but insidious medium that I really think many films could do without.

And secondly, Jim Henson didn't seem to have wanted a sequal to the Dark Crystal. He told his story, it was a wonderful story, but it was a perfectly lovely one in and of itself. I don't see how rehashing the world and expanding on the original storyline is an improvement. Not to mention, I don't know if I like what I've seen of the plot. The desperation, subtext, and symbolism of the first seem to have been forgotten somewhat.

Then again...it could very well be lovely! I really hope that it is.

[dragon-spirit.livejournal.com]

*faints dead away*

[beowabbit]

Cool! I have a particularly soft spot for The Dark Crystal, because it was my first date with my first girlfriend.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Dude, I was in elementary school when it came out... :)

[beowabbit]

I was going to tease you about that, but then I remembered that it wasn't the first theatrical run; I saw it on a college campus maybe a year after it came out. So, depending on what grade you were exactly in when it came out, you might just barely have been in junior high when I was mackin' with my honey with the Skeksis on the big screen in front of us.

Bear in mind, docorion's older than I am.

I freaked out a tableful of people the other day by pointing out to them that I remembered the Vietnam War. Not that I was old enough to be following news, then, but I remember the big world map on our wall, and knowing this part of it was where all the battles were happening. And I remember Nixon, because he made my father really upset.

I do have a vivid, clear, aware-what-was-going-on memory of the fall of the Shah of Iran, and I sure remember how freaked people were that gas was inching up close to a dollar a gallon, and how people worried that it would spark unrest if it hit that magic threshold.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind, [info]docorion's older than I am.

Heh. Yes.

Me, upon him mentioning something that happened in 1980: "You know how old I was in 1980?"
Him: "I'm afraid of the answer to this."
Me: "I was in kindergarten. You were in what, high school, when I was in kindergarten?"
Him: "No, love. I was in college."

He's oooooold.

I do not remember the Vietnam War. My first presidential memory is that Reagan liked jellybeans.