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King Of Kong Remake?
It looks like King Of Kong may be getting a remake as a narrative feature film starring Greg Kinnear. We get the scoop thanks to our friends at movieweb:
New Line is currently in the process of putting together a narrative film based on the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. According to our friend Frosty over at Collider, producer Ed Cunningham wants Greg Kinnear to play the part of protagonist Steve Wiebe.
Cunningham stated, “You know it’s funny, we’ve been all over the board. One of the things that really endeared us to New Line is and Richard Brenner in particular was…it’s very easy to say, ‘oh, big comedy have people kicking each other in the nuts.’ But that’s not his vision at all and it’s not ours. We don’t want this thing spoofed, you know. South Park already did it and that’s okay, but we don’t want to make a spoof of this. And so the idea is that it will be dramatic actors – guys who have range, guys that can figure it out. We’ve thrown around names but nothing that has stuck.
I was surprised to see this news. I finally saw King Of Kong and absolutely loved it. It is a documentary that you must go out and buy – now! It was a very touching story about one man’s quest for greatness and the arena of professional video gaming in which he competes. Few films have caused me to cheer for the underdog quite like this one, it was a pleasure to watch and a glorious moment in history forever captured on film.
I am certainly skeptical about a re-envisioning of this film. I don’t want to see the story retold, cleaned up and dramatized. I loved the realness of the documentary and this is one of the reasons why the story is so endearing. It seems like the producer means well and wants to do justice to the tale; and I respect him for that. I cannot deny that this is a great story and could be the base for a quality feature film. Greg Kinnear would also be a decent casting, but part of me just screams “leave well enough alone!”
Campea brought up a solid point that this could potentially introduce the story to a much wider audience, and this is true. I am just concerned that if people see the remake before the original – it will take away some of the surprise and magic from the documentary. I want people to enjoy the film as it is, because it is great. I can appreciate a different retelling of the story, and although no word has yet been released on when this project will start; I think talk about a remake when the DVD has not yet hit the shelves is a little soon.
So there you have it, I am going to be a puritan on this one and say that I personally do not like the idea of a Hollywood remake.
International friends – what are your thoughts?
If the film is as good as you say then it doesn’t need to be remade. I suppose they could add a few car chases and knife fight between Steve and Billy but it might be getting away from the heart of the story.
Johnny Depp is tapped to play Billy Mitchell.
If they do it well, why not?
Werner Herzog’s 2007 film “Rescue Dawn” with Christian Bale was based on his own 1997 documentary film “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” telling the identical story.
Documentaries by their nature have very limited audiences (sadly). If this is a great story, and the characters are as compelling as the word of mouth would indicate, then why not translate this to narrative with big stars and expose a it to as broad an audience as possible?
Re-make???
Doug, how in blazes can you call this a remake? You can’t “remake” a documentary. In a documentary, you deal with real people’s stories, with real people being interviewed, and so on. In a film based off those events for dramatic purposes, you have actors playing those people.
SDDan mentions Johnny Depp and sfsilvermentions Christian Bale. Last week or so, the two were being sought to be in a film based on the birth of the FBI, “Public Enemies”. Is that a remake too? After all, it was announced shortly before The History Channel put out its documentary about the subject on TV.
It isn’t a remake. And no one should see it as such. It is a dramatization of the subject matter and the people involved.
Int’l friends…that goes for you folks too. There is no cause for alarm.
Unless for dramatic effect instead of Kong it is Galaga.
LOL. A knife fight would be awesome.
One thing that settles me about a dramatization of the story is that I believe Seth Gordon would direct this (based on what I’ve heard in interviews), as well.
However, since Wiebe could be Nathan Fillion’s brother, I’d much rather see ol’ Mal Reynolds in the role.
And Johnny Depp as Billy Mitchell would be kinda hilarious.
Just watched the film (upon John and Doug’s advice) and was blown away. Amazing film.. god I hate Billy Mitchell!!! However, there was point during the film (about midway) when I thought… this film reminds me a bit of all those sports underdog comedy films, and Billy Mitchell reminds me of Will Ferrel being an arsehole. BUT then it hit me, Billy isn’t Ferrel.. he’s the mid-management boss in Office Space!! Anyways, bit of a tangent, but in summary (or completely new points!) I could see this working well as a fictionised tale, but I agree that it doesn’t need making. The documentary is near-perfect and I have fallen in love with it.
Glad you liked it!!
I’m glad you recommended it! Seriously though, it’s hard to sell documentaries to the masses.. but surely any fictionalisation would result in a lawsuit from Mitchell?
As much as I love Greg Kinnear (ever since Talk Soup), I was totally sold on Nathan Fillion (check OUT the side-by-side pics on my article). Ah, well. As long as Jon Heder and Ron Jeremy make the cut…
I’m pretty sure I won’t love the remake as much as I do the original, but we’ll see. As much as I love being swept along by the story as it is portrayed, I do feel for the subjects of the film. It’s never nice to have your less than finest moments dragged out into the sunlight for everyone to scrutinize.