UFO – Joshua Jackson to join SHADO in remake

Making a succesful break from Dawnson’s Creek to the mysteries of Fringe it appears that Joshua Jackson is on the sci-fi trail as he joins the adaption of the classic Gerry Anderson 1970s show, UFO (read what Anderson has to say about the adaption – also check out the cool what if concept art)

Directed by visual effects wiz Matthew Gratzner, Variety are saying that Jackson will star as Paul Foster, a test pilot who joins S.H.A.D.O. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert org built under a Hollywood studio that defends Earth against a race of aliens who have been abducting humans and using the body parts. The series was a cult hit in the ’70s.

This film version appears to be following Foster as opposed to the series that focused on the leader of SHADO, Ed Straker (played by Ed Bishop) who had the cover of a Hollywood studio mogul. Looks as if we will be learning about SHADO along with Foster. The question is who will they get to play Straker in the new film.

Graztner, the visual effects supervisor on films ranging from the Martin Scorsese-directed “Shutter Island” to “Iron Man,” was set last summer to make his feature directing debut on a film that its producers said is aiming for a spring start in the U.K.

“Character development is the most critical part of ‘UFO,’ and Joshua’s terrific talent and range is exactly what I need to convey the inner conflict of the character of Paul Foster,” Gratzner said.

How do you feel about Pacey fighting the aliens?

UFO – Adaption of Gerry Anderson’s classic series gets a director

I have been following this one as I can’t wait to see a bit of SHADO on the big screen.

Now Variety have the news that Matthew Gratzner is to make his directorial debut on UFO, the feature adaptation of the ’70s TV series.

Gratzner has worked on the visual effects for Broken Arrow, Men in Black, Alien: Resurrection, Godzilla, The X Files, Armageddon, Star Trek: Insurrection, End of Days, Pitch Black, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Forgotten, The Aviator, War of the Worlds, Aeon Flux, Superman Returns, The Fountain, The Departed, Resident Evil: Extinction, Iron Man, Hancock, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Scorsese’s new film, Shutter Island.

The film was optioned from rights holder ITV Global by the Robert Evans Co., where producers Evans, Henri Kessler and Avi Haas will be joined by Gratzner’s New Deal Studios to move the project forward.

A script has been written by Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek. Gratzner’s studio has begun developing concept art and pre-visualizations; after they’re completed, the picture will be shopped for financing.

Like the Gerry Anderson series, the film will revolve around Shado (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a secret military operation hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, whose operatives battle an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades and using the body parts.

“The story, characters and situations Mr. Anderson created in ‘UFO’ are timeless and engaging,” Gratzner said. “My vision is to utilize visual effects as a supportive storytelling device that draws audiences into this universe.”

How do you feel about Gratzner directing UFO?

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UFO The Movie – Concept art

The recent news that Gerry Anderson’s classic TV show, UFO, was to be adapted to the big screen by producer Robert Evans met with quite a bit of joy. Gerry Anderson also seemed to like the idea.

The question though is what would it look like? Would it have the silver miniskirts and purple hair from the original show or would it be less campy and more darker?

CinemaSpy wondered the same thing and got together with Battlestar Galactica production illustrator Eric Chu.
After a lot of discussion they came up with these cool pieces of speculative concept art. I think they look great. They keep the original designs, but update them for todays audience.
Of course these are just “what if” pieces of work, but it is good to see people out there thinking hard about what the film could look like. Plus you never know, the filmmakers may like these images.
Do you feel this concept art captures the essence of the TV show?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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UFO creator Gerry Anderson talks about plans for the film

A week or two ago I posted news about Gerry Anderson’s classic live action series, UFO, being turned into a film. Robert Evans is producing it and is teaming up with British network ITV.

Now Gerry Anderson has talked about the news and it sounds as if he is happy with the whole thing.

“I got a call from somebody in America. It was very kind actually – they phoned to say, ‘Gerry, listen, there’s an announcement going out now [about the
new movie] and we didn’t want it to come as a shock to you’, which was a kind move. As a result of that I had a long chat with them. It wouldn’t help me to blow this up bigger than it is, but I have a feeling that I might end up being a consultant on the movie.”

The last film based on his work was Thunderbirds. Anderson described that as “the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my life“. He was going to be brought on as a consultant for that film, but they eventually decided he wasn’t needed which just goes to show some of the stupidity that Hollywood sometimes shows.

However, despite this last mess Anderson is cautiously optimistic that UFO will be different from the mostly awful Hollywood remakes of classic British shows:

“Over here there’s a rather unfortunate history about remakes; Thunderbirds the film was a disaster, and The Avengers, and so on. But I hope, and I think I probably believe, that this could be the exception.”

The UFO movie is currently still in the development stages.

Source: Den of Geek

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Gerry Anderson’s UFO is heading to the big screen

Robert Evans is teaming with ITV Global on a feature film based on the 1970s British TV series “UFO.” according to Variety.

Evans is producing with Avi Haas and Henri M. Kessler. Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek are penning a script.

The series debuted in 1970 and ran for three years, with characters created by Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlett). It was set in 1980 and revolves around S.H.A.D.O. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert military organization that thwarts an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades, then using the body parts. Shado headquarters is hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, and the studio mogul, Ed Straker (played by Ed Bishop), is actually the Shado commander.

Unlike Anderson’s other shows this was live action and a lot darker. The basic premise was that the alien invaders were abducting humans to use as involuntary organ transplant donors. A later episode, “The Cat with Ten Lives”, contains a particularly sinister plot point which suggests that the UFO pilots are not humanoid aliens at all, but are in fact human abductees under the control of the alien intelligences. This suggests that the aliens may have no physical being themselves and therefore need a vehicle or container, meaning our human bodies, to incarnate.

The movie will be set in the year 2020.

The Robert Evans Co. has a first-look deal at Paramount, which will be first stop for the project. “We know the importance of the ‘UFO’ series brand to ITV Global, and we will work closely with them to build this into a franchise,” Evans said.

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