In the realm of retro science fiction cinema, “Forbidden Planet” is unanimously considered a Hollywood classic and ranks at the top of almost any serious list of seminal outer space films. This 1956 retelling of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” proudly stands amid the company of other vintage works like “The Thing From Another World,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “The War of the Worlds,” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” as prime examples of that long-past Golden Age.
Of that celebrated group of 1950s sci-fi movies, “Forbidden Planet” also remains the only one that has mercifully not received a Tinseltown reboot, but that’s all about to change with recent news of a Warner Bros. “revisionist” remake in the works from Eisner Award-winning comic book creator and screenwriter Brian K. Vaughan (“Y: The Last Man,” “Saga”) and seasoned producer Emma Watts.
As reported last week by Deadline, Vaughan will pen the script for an updated take on “Forbidden Planet” much to the dismay of purists who believe the material should be left untouched regardless of his solid reputation as a gifted storyteller.
“Forbidden Planet” was originally directed by Fred M. Wilcox and starred Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, and Anne Francis. It was loosely adapted from The Bard’s final completed stage play about marooned sailors on a magical island lorded over by a sorcerer named Prospero — an interesting plot that was revamped into a grand galactic adventure where a crew from the patrol spaceship C-57D lands on the planet Altair IV to investigate a colony of forgotten scientists.
Warned to stay away by its genius sole survivor Dr. Morbius (Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaira (Francis), Commander John Adams (Nielsen) and Co. arrive in spite of the dangers to discover an invisible murderous monster prowling the planet and uncover the mystery of a long-perished alien civilization who’ve left their advanced technology behind. And let’s not forget ‘ol Robby the Robot!
Vaughan is certainly up to the task of composing a competent screenplay for a “Forbidden Planet” remake. His comic book projects also include “Ex Machina,” “Runaways,” “Pride of Baghdad,” and “Paper Girls,” and in Hollywood, Vaughan has been attached to hit TV series such as “Lost,” where he acted as writer, story editor, and producer for three seasons before being anointed by the legendary Steven Spielberg to bring Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” to the small screen in 2013.
But as the old adage goes, simply because something CAN be done does not necessarily mean that it SHOULD be done, and many restless fans would be perfectly content to leave “Forbidden Planet” untainted and unaltered forever.
Bringing her considerable experience with major tentpole releases while serving as the head of 20th Century Fox’s and Paramount’s feature film divisions on sci-fi flicks like “I, Robot,” “Alita: Battle Angel,” “The Martian,” “Maze Runner” and “Avatar,” Watts is a powerhouse producer that could just pull off the Herculean task of conjuring up more Hollywood magic here. This big-budget remake is still in its infancy but we’ll keep our readers in the loop as it continues to move forward towards reality.