Creature From The Black Lagoon NEWS
Gary Ross, who wrote and will produce a new version of The Creature From the Black Lagoon, told a group of journalists on Dec. 4 that his script found some scientific justifications to explain the creature's origins. Ross's father, Arthur A. Ross, co-wrote the original 1954 film.
"We found some scientific underpinnings for it, which my dad actually felt in the original," Ross said in a group interview in Santa Monica, Calif., where he was promoting The Tale of Despereaux. "In fact, he had based it on a lungfish that was found around that time. So a lot of that was his [input] and kind of the conflict between science and [nature]."
With such research, Ross also said that the tone will be straight, not campy. "I don't think we're going to wink at the audience and make it silly in any sort of way," he said. "I think we're going to take it seriously. We're going to treat it with a certain amount of dignity. We're not approaching this in a retro campy kind of way. It's set in present day. There are reasonable scientific underpinnings for it. It should really be a really interesting journey into the jungle both for the characters and for the audience. It's not a reference to what the original is. It's not referential that way. We take it sort of seriously."
Though Ross said his script avoided ironic references to '50s monster movies, he did take some inspiration from his father's work. "It'll draw from the original," he said. "My dad's favorite was The Creature Walks Among Us, the last one which he also wrote. My dad actually just died two weeks ago, so it's a very [personal film]. I think we'll be faithful."
Ross could not discuss which directors he has approached so far, and he added that it will be the filmmaker's call whether to make a computer-generated creature or have a guy in a suit. "Those are decisions that are always going to be made during prep," he said. "A lot of the decisions of the hybrid of CG versus practical ways of shooting it will obviously be made by the director down the line."
Creature From the Black Lagoon does not yet have a green light, but Ross is confident it will come together next year. "The movie is not green-lit," he said. "Let me say that. We hope to be making it sometime next year, so I don't want to send the wrong impression. We feel it's going to be. I think it'll be a very interesting movie." --Fred Topel
I'm def. down for this.
