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This Is Such a Great Idea, I Can’t Believe Someone Didn’t Think of It Already

Oh Wait, They Did / Daniel Carlson

Trade News | February 17, 2009 | Comments (48)

So, Elton John’s production company Rocket Pictures is going to work on Pride and Predator, to be directed by Will Clark, who co-wrote with Andrew Kemble and John Pape. I’ve had to decode the logline from that learning-impaired kind of writing used in Variety — ”U prexy ankles for Mouse House,” etc. — but here’s the basics: Clark’s script takes Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and tosses in aliens, who crash their ship into old England and start slaughtering people. Rocket’s David Furnish said of the project, “It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre by literally dropping this alien into the middle of a costume drama, where he stalks and slashes to horrific effect.”

Funny, yes. Fresh … well, the hitch is that there’s already a novel called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies coming out in April, and it’s the same damn idea. Author Seth Grahame-Smith takes Austen’s original text and adds new scenes of zombie violence. Yes, one has aliens while the other has zombies, but modern-day monsters invading the same classic story? Come on. So instead of just kvetching about how Hollywood is so stupid and self-cannibalizing that it always produces the same two movies at once (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact), on top of that you can voice your complaints screenwriters can’t even come up with new ideas and instead have to try and reinvent old ones.


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Comments

It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre

I stopped reading here. How can Jane Austen be done to death? There's a reason people keep revisiting her work, and it isn't because a gone was put to their head. Think before you speak, people.

I'm all for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as it may get more people to actually read Pride and Prejudice. But Pride and Predator? I'll take a shot in the dark and say it probably isn't going to have people scrambling to look up Austen's novel, let alone watch a right proper BBC period drama.

Posted by: Robert at February 17, 2009 11:01 AM

Of course I mistyped "gun". Shoot me now.

Posted by: Robert at February 17, 2009 11:02 AM

What's even worse is that the rights to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies were being shopped around, to be made into a feature film. Is that still going to happen now that this shit is being made?

Elton John ruins everything!

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 11:06 AM

Robert: yes, please do. Who cares if the stupid movie doesn't make people go read Austen's work? In fact, it's better if people DON'T read her books, 'cause then you'll have more justification for your feeling of superiority.

Posted by: SQ at February 17, 2009 11:08 AM

This news bores me, so I will sing to you.

Down in New Orleans where the blues was born,
It takes a cool cat to blow a horn
On LaSalle and Rampart Street , the combo's there with a mambo beat

The Mardi Gras mambo mambo mambo
Party Gras pambo mambo mambo
Mardi Gras mamboOOOooooo
down in New Orleans

You are all very jealous that you don't live here right now. HA.

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 11:09 AM

Isn't it highly, highly possible that the production company simply hadn't heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? I've only read about it here and a few other off the beaten path websites.

It sounds motherfucking awesome, especially as they'll likely cast decent English actors. Also, anything involving the predator is a-okay by me. Always.

Posted by: serena at February 17, 2009 11:15 AM

Jamiepants, I spent six years there, and I am indeed jealous. Are all of the Pre-Katrina Krewes back?

Posted by: MrCreosote at February 17, 2009 11:15 AM

You know what'd be mad fresh? If they dropped some motherboning aliens into the next High School Musical movie. But only if it has a hard R rating, because I want to see some slippery innards and I want to hear some swaggering profanity.

Predator demands it.

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 17, 2009 11:21 AM

That's weird...it only italicized the verse and not the chorus. I THINK you guys need another verse.

In Gert Town where the cats all meet
There's a Mardi Gras mambo with a mambo beat
Join the chief with the Zulu gang ,and truck on down where the mambo's swing

The Mardi Gras mambo mambo mambo
Party Gras pambo mambo mambo
Mardi Gras mamboooOOOoooo
down in New Orleans

And yes MrCreosote, as far as I know we haven't lost a single krewe. Endymion was uptown for the first 2 years, but it's back in Midcity where it belongs. Kid Rock is the Grand Marshall this year..WHOOOOO!! WHOO! Ugh, but whatever. Val Kilmer's the King of Bacchus!! WHOO! Seriously, how do they pick these people?

They still try to shorten some routes, but the parades just go where they used to. Rebels.

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 11:25 AM

OH and if you go here --> http://www.kreweofbacchus.org/html/paradehistory.htm
they have pictures of all of the past kings in regalia...check out that Nic Page pic. Fucking tool.

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 11:26 AM

I am confused...I don't know what to be more excited about. I love Pride and Prejudice, and I love zombie stories. I also love Predator. ::whimpers:: Can I be happy for them both?


Is it wrong that part of the reason I am excited is that I want to have discussions contrasting Predator and Zombie theory, and how they relate to Mr. Darcy?

Posted by: Morgagod at February 17, 2009 11:27 AM

Is it wrong that part of the reason I am excited is that I want to have discussions contrasting Predator and Zombie theory, and how they relate to Mr. Darcy?

If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. Mr. Darcy would drop the proverbial hammer on those fools. Trust.

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 17, 2009 11:29 AM

Clee Shay, I think your missing a "for realz yo!" somewhere in that statement.

That said if the movie includes Predators and a Schwarzenegger cameo I'm all over this bitch.

Posted by: admin at February 17, 2009 11:30 AM

There is a part of me that wants the zombie one to tank and the predator one to be great. Just to be perverse. Have zombies jumped the shark yet?

Posted by: Anne (in Reno) at February 17, 2009 11:35 AM

I amend my suggested title on the zombie thread to:

"Alien vs. Predator vs. Zombies vs. Jane Austen"

Because it seems like that has a better chance of actually happening.
---
You are all very jealous that you don't live here right now. HA.

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 11:09 AM
---
Maybe right NOW, pants, and maybe for JazzFest week, but July-October ...

"Hurricane Bucdaddy, a Category 5 blowhard packing 180-mph winds, devastated New Orleans today ..."

Posted by: bucdaddy at February 17, 2009 11:43 AM

jamiepants, thank you for caring enough to include another verse of the song. It felt insufficient and I would have felt like I was missing something for the rest of the day.

Also? I want flash you for beads. Or just for funsies. Whatever.

Posted by: Lainey at February 17, 2009 11:44 AM

WTF??? Jesus, this is a HORRIBLE idea!! Just do the zombies, or bring on Thursday Next, but this sounds like a steaming pile of crap!

Umm, I can't believe no one caught THIS yet... Rocket's David Furnish Name familiar, anyone? Anyone? Bueller? That's right, kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Furnish

Got to give the little man at home something to do. Snath is right...Elton John DOES ruin EVERYTHING!!!

Posted by: dammitjanet at February 17, 2009 11:46 AM

Have they said they're doing the actual Predator alien? I was under the impression it was just a random alien, but maybe I am teh stooopid.

Research! To the Interwub Cave!

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 11:53 AM

The lovely people at austenblog.com are calling hoax. :)

And by God I hope it is, as this just sounds like one big gimmick. >

Posted by: Linda at February 17, 2009 11:53 AM

It's just always gonna be too hot for me there, jamie.

Posted by: Jay at February 17, 2009 11:53 AM

Clee Shay It is like you were in my head, at that moment. Are you my internet doppelganger?


It might be the only thing imaginable that could make Mr. Darcy more attractive. Modern men are doomed, I thought my standards were high before. Ha! Spinsterhood, here I come!

I plan on buying a new broach in honour of the occasion.

Posted by: Morgagod at February 17, 2009 11:57 AM

I plan on buying a new broach in honour of the occasion.

And I shall starch my new doilies. I always was terribly hot for Mr. Darcy; I am a sucker for a derisive sideways glance.

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 17, 2009 12:12 PM

My shitty screenplay sense is tingling. Some major studio will go full retard and make a movie involving aliens that are turned into zombies.

Posted by: branded at February 17, 2009 12:18 PM

Posted by: Joe the Plumber at February 17, 2009 12:23 PM

I'm going on limited evidence here, but for someone who became famous singing moving songs to a piano, Elton John has a remarkably good sense of humor. I think it could be funny, as long as they keep it short and tight. And really you're just going to hurt yourself if you try to make sure you only see original material. Everybody is biting from somewhere; sometimes it's just more obscure than others.

Posted by: Eep at February 17, 2009 12:33 PM

Hey dammitjanet, thanks for the Wiki link; without it, I may never have heard of Furnish's sterling work on Gnomeo & Juliet, which I imagine the title tells me everything I ever need to know about.

Unless the gnome is actually an evil leprechaun. That would be the shit.

Posted by: Zuffle at February 17, 2009 12:39 PM

OOOOoohh! Doilies! and little ceramic cats, that I swear look just like Mr. scampers!


Nooooooo! It is happening already! The introduction of this move must have spead up the Maiden-aunt-o-meter!


Blast you Mr. Darcy! and your derisive glances, and throwing money at problems to cover up scandals... and for owning Pemberly.

Posted by: Morgagod at February 17, 2009 12:43 PM

In my opinion, women (and men) who look to Mr. Darcy as the "perfect man" are suffering the same delusions as those who look to movies like Sex and the City and Confessions of a Shopaholic as the example of how romance and love is supposed to work.

Wake up, people! You'll be a lot happier when you're not judging every person and relationship on a book or a movie.

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 1:17 PM

Wake up, people! You'll be a lot happier when you're not judging every person and relationship on a book or a movie.

Never!

That being said, Confessions of an Insufferable Asshole and Sex and the City's Dryest Twats can kiss my black ass.

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 17, 2009 1:21 PM

Robert: yes, please do. Who cares if the stupid movie doesn't make people go read Austen's work? In fact, it's better if people DON'T read her books, 'cause then you'll have more justification for your feeling of superiority.

I can tell we are two very different people, SQ. I take great pleasure in reading the classics of literature, while you take pleasure in harassing other people for having distinct preferences. Forgive me for not blindly praising a really, really bad film idea (I'd say the same for a film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - print might be an amusing gimmick, I don't see it working well on screen) because some people don't care for Austen. She's not my favorite writer, even in that period, but I can actually look past personal issues with her style to see the merit in her work.

I also forgive you for missing the point of that post. Since I took great pleasure in reading Pride and Prejudice a few years ago, I would hope others who were unfamiliar with the work could look at a goofy concept like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and actually gain interest in a very good novel. I also expressed my doubts that any good - a quality film, an interesting screenplay, a good performance, solid effects, or public interest - would actually come from Pride and Predator.

Just because I'm confident in my appreciation of good literature does not mean I feel superior to anyone who chooses not to read it. If anything, I'm more often the victim of people with superiority complexes because I argue that genre fiction, especially horror, has merit.

Furthermore, saying someone should kill themselves because you do not agree with their opinions is probably a sign of insecurity; better to get rid of people with different ideas than attempt to open up a mature dialogue.

And, since you are harping on my reading habits, I suppose it's worthless to say I expressed frustration over a simple typographical error by sarcastically encouraging someone else to shoot me; this acknowledged my mistake and helped turn a minor embarrassment for me into a small moment of dry, arguably dark, humor (since I replaced "gun" with "gone" by accident in the initial post).

Furthermore, as I continually attempt to do, I match my commentary to the material at hand. This film will attempt to take the beautiful, dense prose style of the late 18th/early 19th Century and integrate it with the often violent, one-liner filled action of a sci-fi shootemup. As such, the gun comment in the initial context was a reference to the violence, and my rhetorical choices were meant to reflect the disparity between the source material and the adaptation style.

Do I expect everyone to pick up on such tiny cues? Of course not. Do I look down on someone like you who so clearly missed the point? No. I've been judged and harassed enough in my life to understand how easily cruel words come to some people and the detrimental impact they have on the intended target. I understand this is "scathing reviews for bitchy people", but one thing I do not step back from is when this attitude is applied to commenters and defended by the tag line of the site. Harassment is a serious issue in American society, one that I invest far more time in trying to change public opinion on than I do defending great works of literature. Joking around here is one thing; telling someone to go shoot themselves really crosses the line.

Posted by: Robert at February 17, 2009 1:24 PM

The whole Jane Austin / Zombie / Predator thing has ALREADY BEEN DONE BY PBS! Yes, you heard me right. PBS. It was called Regency House, and they took a bunch of real singles, and dressed them up in Regency era clothing, stuck them in a country house, and told them to mate.

Posted by: BWeaves (from a different IP addres) at February 17, 2009 1:28 PM

Wake up, people! You'll be a lot happier when you're not judging every person and relationship on a book or a movie.

Never, Indeed.

Not to be redundant (although Clee Shay is my internet doppelganger for the day so it would be repeating myself) It is the personality traits of a character rather, than the imaginary man himself, his flaws and motivations that we find ourselves attracted to. People are inspired by art, that is part of its function. Why would you criticize people for being inspired by literary works? How is it different than what anyone else bases their preferences off of?

Posted by: Morgagod at February 17, 2009 1:38 PM

Can we get a cuontdown on the inevitable follow-up:

Milla Jovo-whatever (who starts the movie naked in a lab somewhere)as Emma, the superpowered leader of a tiny band of surviors trying to save the planet from invading aliens who have turned everyone into zombies.

Her problems are threefold:

1. Aliens have invaded
2. Most of humanity has turned into Zombies.
3. Everyone who is not an alien or a zombie needs her matchmaking services so that the planet can be re-populated - comically she can't actually manage her own love life.

oh. the. utter. joy.

Posted by: Killa at February 17, 2009 1:45 PM

I man-love you, Robert.

ROBERT ANGRY! ROBERT SMAAAAAASH!

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 1:51 PM

You've all made some very good points...

The Mardi Gras mambo mambo mambo
Party Gras pambo mambo mambo
Mardi Gras mamboooOOooooooo
down in New Orleans

laineyboobs, (actually, i have nothing to say...I just wanted to call you laineyboobs)

Jay, I'll have you know it is a fabulous 60 degrees all week. Fabulous for you, I mean...I'm fricking cold. I can brave it though because my friend, Poboy, made me a gorgeous puffy jacket covered in beads in doubloons. We take this shit serious around these parts. I'm sure there will be a picture on my facebook soon.

Oh, and Robert, your defense of your previous comments was sexy as hell. I wish I could say something fascinating that you may wish to argue further, but my brain is mush and all I can come up with is "Jane Austen is dumb." BETTER YET, Robert, you are the one that is dumb. So there. Buttface.

Mardi Gras mambo mambo mambo...

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 2:11 PM

It's 60 degrees and you're wearing a jacket? What is WRONG with you Southerners? Is your skin made of tissue paper? Hehehe.

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 2:21 PM

Snath: It's just when you're used to 90 and 100 degree weather, 60 degrees is about 40 degrees colder than you're used to. It's not about the actual number, and more about the different in temperature from the norm. Yeah, it's 60's in Florida today, and I'm wearing layers and sweaters cause I'm chilly.

Posted by: BWeaves (from a different IP addres) at February 17, 2009 2:46 PM

Shit. There's surely other novels that could benefit from an invasion of something or other.

Les Aliens Miserables !
A Tale of Two Cities....OF WEREVOLVES!
The Grapes of Godzilla's Wrath!


I'm gonna make a FORTUNE.

Posted by: figgy at February 17, 2009 2:48 PM

Shutup, Snath! Brrr. It's all overcast...and there's a breeze...brrrr.

OOOoooh continuing with the John Steinbeck edition:

Of Mice and Minotaurs
Feast of Eden's Inhabitants
Cannery Row OF DEATH!
The Red Pony OF DEATH!

Word.

Posted by: jamiepants at February 17, 2009 3:05 PM

I love you, jamiepants.

Posted by: figgy at February 17, 2009 3:09 PM

Snath: It's just when you're used to 90 and 100 degree weather, 60 degrees is about 40 degrees colder than you're used to.

We need an admin in here right now. John Madden is fake-posting as BWeaves.

Posted by: branded at February 17, 2009 3:20 PM

Fabulous for you

Nope! I'm sick of afternoon highs above the 50s. Sick of them!!

Posted by: Jay at February 17, 2009 3:33 PM

The! Fuck!?

60 degrees!? Jacket?! Is!?

I'll be in Florida February 2010 BWeaves and if it's 60 degrees I'ma rocking my thong, tha thong thong thong!

branded maybe we should wait to see if she starts talking about making sammiches using x's, o's and arrows. Then we'll know for sure if BWeaves has been consumed by Madden.

Posted by: admin at February 17, 2009 3:43 PM

All I know is it's about 40 here today, and I have no jacket, short sleeves and I drove with the windows down.

Of course, I know why people in other parts of the country react to cold weather like they do. If I lived there and got used to it, 60 would be cold for me too. In the summer here in Minnesota it can easily get to 100 degrees, just like anywhere else. July and August can be really hot. So then when fall starts and it's getting down to 50, everyone is suddenly freezing and wearing jackets.

Come spring, when it's 50 degrees it's practically short-wearing weather again. Damn shifty climate.

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 4:12 PM

Barn Burning In Hell

The Old Man and the Sea of Zombies

Great Expectations of the Undead

Posted by: Morgagod at February 17, 2009 4:35 PM

As I Lay Undying

Lord of the Flies, Maggots, and Other Assorted Carrion Creatures

To Kill a Zombiebird

The Great Zomsby

Call of the Wild Zombie

Posted by: Snath at February 17, 2009 4:56 PM

Ooh, Robert, you're sexy when you talk all intellectual-like.

Posted by: Anna von Beaverplatz at February 17, 2009 5:18 PM

So wait, is the Predator the new Elizabeth Bennett? Cause him in love, with zombies to boot would be kinda cool...

Posted by: some Guy at February 17, 2009 6:57 PM





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