The Black Hole – Director Joseph Kosinski talks about the remake

Joseph Kosinski us busy finishing Tron Legacy. Roll on December when it gets released. As well as that he is also gearing up for another sci-fi classic, The Black Hole, first mentioned back in December of last year. This won’t be a sequel of the 1979 live action Disney film, but more of a reboot.

“It won’t be a sequel like ‘Tron,’” explained Kosinski to MTV. “This one will be a reimagining. For me, it would be taking ideas and iconic elements that struck me as timeless and cool and preserving them while weaving a new story around them that’s a little more ’2001.’”

I love the original film as I’ve mentioned a few times on the site. Scared me as a kid and was so much darker than other Disney Films. Making it a little more 2001 won’t be that difficult as the original heads down that route at the end of the original. They appear to pass through heaven and hell once they head into the black hole. Plus it had cool robots in the shape of V.I.N.CENT and the evil Maximilian.

The original followed a group of space explorers aboard the USS Palomino who come across a lost ship, the USS Cygnus, hovering outside a black hole. Inside the Cygnus, the explorers meet a scientist, commanding an army of faceless robots, who explains his crew deserted him as he planned to go through the black hole. The explorers soon discover that the robots are the remnants of the former crew and that the scientist has no intention of letting them leave.

The $26 million movie, which featured a menacing red robot named Maximilian and two smaller, friendlier robots, was Disney’s first PG-rated production and helped put the company on the special effects map.

“We’ve got a really strong idea and concept for the film, the title alone has tremendous amount of potential. We’ve got a really talented writer on it named Travis Beecham (Clash of the Titans. We’re just getting started on the script in the next few months.”

It doesn’t sound as if they will be ditching everything and just keeping the name. Some of the iconic scenes and imagery from the original will still be there which can only be a good thing.

“I saw ‘Black Hole’ as a little kid,” said Kosinski. “What sticks out most is the robot Maximilian. The blades and the vicious killing of Anthony Perkins. That freaked me out and that’s definitely going to be an element that will be preserved. The design of the Cygnus ship is one of the most iconic spaceships ever put to film. From a conceptual point of view, we know so much more about black holes now, the crazy things that go on as you approach them due to the intense gravitational pull and the effects on time and space. All that could provide us with some really cool film if we embrace it in a hard science way.”

There are lots of remakes in Hollywood at the moment, but I really think that this is one film that will benefit from a reboot with todays technology.

What do you want kept from the original and what new things could be brought into the mix?

The Black Hole to be remade. Maximilian to return

Another day another remake. This time it is the classic Disney sci-fi film, The Black Hole, that freaked out so many kids (including myself) with the trippy ending. Plus it had cool robots in the shape of V.I.N.CENT (check out this cool toy) and the evil Maximilian. 2009 is also the 30th anniversary of the film.

Joseph Kosinski and Sean Bailey, the director and producer of Disney’s new “Tron: Legacy,” and scribe Travis Beacham are teaming up for what is being labeled a reinvention of the 1979 sci-fi film, which at the time was the most expensive movie Disney had ever produced.

“Hole” marks one of the first projects to be put into development by new studio chief Rich Ross according to Heat Vision.

The original followed a group of space explorers aboard the USS Palomino who come across a lost ship, the USS Cygnus, hovering outside a black hole. Inside the Cygnus, the explorers meet a scientist, commanding an army of faceless robots, who explains his crew deserted him as he planned to go through the black hole. The explorers soon discover that the robots are the remnants of the former crew and that the scientist has no intention of letting them leave.

The $26 million movie, which featured a menacing red robot named Maximilian and two smaller, friendlier robots, was Disney’s first PG-rated production and helped put the company on the special effects map.

The details of the update are being kept secret, though the take does involve grounding the story in the science of a black hole, much more so than in the original. Maximilian also would return.

Although news of a remake usually leaves me cold, I do feel that they could do good things with this one. True there are some iconic starship and robot designs, but some of the effects are a tad dodgy (strings holding up the robots etc). However, they did have some top actors in the original (Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Forster) so for the remake they need strong actors, great designers and some of the darkness from the original.

Cool V.I.N.CENT figure from The Black Hole

MINDstyle‘s 8 inch V.I.N.CENT is just so cool. It was a super limited edition of 300 pieces that went for $130 each at the recent San Diego Comic Con. How I wish I could have got one.

However, due out this month is the D-23 exclusive “Tron” inspired colorway in ‘metallic’ blue (see below)

The D-23-exclusive V.I.N.CENT will be made available for orders during the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center from September 10–13, 2009 – lots of Disney stuff will be there according to Toys R Evil. The event is open to the public with an admissions fee.

Source: Toys R Evil

The Black Hole, 1979 – Movie Review

Director: Gary Nelson
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Slim Pickens
Running Time: 98 minutes

Another great review by the mighty Paul S

Well, it was a quiet Sunday for me for once. All house tasks done, breakfast at 2 (full English of course) and I was reviewing the glossy TV guide. That’s where i saw it, jumping out of the page in bold News-Of-The-World-glossymag font – The Black Hole, Channel 5 (who’d of thought it eh? five channels!), 15:35. OK then I thought, washing nearly finished I can make this.

But those that have seen the film will understand when I say my first thought was Maximilian. What a scary robot that was! I went to the pictures to see this. I understand it’s a Disney production so we went as a family to watch it. I definitely fell asleep. My older brother on the other hand stayed awake, ‘cos he had Maximilian as a trading card, whereas I had Oscar.

Anyway, the plot. Well, bit intense for a kids film. It’s about a doctor that robbed a spaceship, gave out a distress signal, watched all the crew die, replaced them with robots, and hung around the edge of a black hole with a hard red robot for company. Oh, and also went a bit mad.

If I remember correctly (it was 3 wks ago man) a crew had to stop there for refueling/repairs and found the doctor. (on an aside, Im sure it’s the same fella that played Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon, can LFF work their wonder here? – Nope it’s not that dude. In this one the mad scientist was played by Maximilian Schell and Hans Zarkov was played by Topol – LFF) with his robot staff. Oh that’s it! He converted them into cyborg people to sustain their life.

Now Disney thought they could jump on the Star Wars newly-opened genre with this, but forgot that kids like explosions and fighters, laser beams and hyperspace! all this gave us was a trippy 10 min sequence when they entered the black hole. it was like 2001 for kids!

That aside, watching it as an adult on a Sunday with a beer and nice cigarettes (ahem) it was a different matter. I understood what the doctor was on about! The tension between them, the ‘accidental’ death (still a bit graphic for a kids movie), the token hot scientist. Visually it fine, but its more of a dialogue film, really well written to be honest. Kinda like Reservoir Dogs in space!

I haven’t given it the justice it deserves here, I know. So re-watch it and post your response. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

As a kid – 4/10
Re-watch as adult – 8/10

A hidden gem
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V.I.N.CENT is getting closer

This figure of V.I.N.CENT from Disney’s The Black Hole is looking better and better. Produced by MINDstyle you can see in these photos how production is moving on since the last photos. I really want one when they come out.

Source: ToysREvil

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Timeline of Sci-Fi movies

Dan Meth put together this brilliant chart putting futuristic films into their chronological order. He should have put Star Wars on A long time ago, but apart from that he seems to have got all the major movies.

Has he missed any classics?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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The Black Hole’s V.I.N.CENT is 30 and heading our way

It is the 30th Anniversary of Disney’s The Black Hole.

The Black Hole is Disney’s 1979 science fiction film about a group of space travelers who come across a long missing spaceship teetering on the edge of a black hole, and their discoveries within the ship and beyond… the vast, empty nothingness where space and time end. Anything that crosses its border enters a universe of the complete unknown or gets smooshed to nothing in the intense gravitational field.

V.I.N.CENT (Vital Information Necessary CENTralized and voiced by Roddy McDowall) was one of the cool robots from the film – the other being the sinister Maximilian, who is one of the all time evil robots.

“The Black Hole” was the Walt Disney Company’s first PG-rated production. Directed by Gary Nelson and starred Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, and last but not least, Ernest Borgnine the motion picture has found a loyal fan base.

To honour the anniversary of the film MINDstyle are working on this new action figure and it looks lovely. Still early days as you can see from the concept work, but it looks like they’ve started putting them together. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Source: ToysREvil

The ending of The Black Hole always freaked me out when I was a kid.

The Black Hole – Winner of the Virgin Media Short Awards Grand Prize

Winning film makers Phil Sansom and Olly Williams were awarded the grand prize by host Johnny Vaughan at the awards ceremony held at the British Film Institute. The Black Hole beat off stiff competition from more than 1,400 entries, and was chosen from a short-list of 12 by a prestigious panel of film industry experts including film and stage actor Kevin Spacey, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Bend it Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha.

The team behind The Black Hole receive up to £30,000 towards their next film, as well as nationwide exposure to millions of people across the country. Each of the 12 short-listed films are currently being shown at 212 cinemas across the UK for a whole year, until July 2009. Phil Sansom and Olly Williams met in 2001 at the Wimbledon School of Art and have worked together before, but The Black Hole is their first short film and was made specifically for Virgin Media Shorts. It was shot in just one day at an office in Twickenham, with the help of actor Napoleon Ryan, who the duo met whilst working on a music video for British indie band The Hoosiers.

What do you think of the film?

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