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We All Live in the Mo-Cap Yellow Submarine

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (24)

yellow_submarine.jpg

I know! I know — you were hoping that the planned Robert Zemeckis remake of Yellow Submarine (in mo-cap) was some sort of fog dream and that you’d wake up from the nightmare and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he was still sticking to Christmas movies (next up: The Night Before Christmas?!)

Sadly, that is not the case. Zemeckis is not only moving ahead with Yellow Submarine — an animated feature based on the music of the Beatles — but he’s assembled his cast. Cary Elwes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Peter Serafinowicz and Adam Campbell are now in talks to play the Beatles. And yes: That Cary Elwes, who will play George Harrison. The other guys? I don’t even know who they are. Kelly, who will play Lennon, is a cast member of the BBC’s “Robin Hood” series; Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead, Couples Retreat) will play McCartney; and Campbell (Epic Movie, Date Movie) will play Ringo.

Yeesh.

I guess I’m not totally opposed to a remake of Yellow Submarine, if only because it will introduce a new generation to The Beatles, a band that I — unfortunately — did not really grow up with (my Pops was more of a Hall & Oates man, sad to say), though I’m becoming very familiar with all of their music — and not just the hits — through my own kid, whose vocabulary now consists of 30 percent Beatles lyrics.

I don’t, however, see Yellow Submarine doing particularly well at the box office, not in 2010 and not with a movie produced by Disney. It’s a visual movie — The Beates’ Fantasia, and I’m not so sure that modern audiences would have much of a taste for it, not unless Zemeckis put more of a through line into the narrative. But then, Avatar has demonstrated that audiences are not always that interested in good stories, so long as there’s lot of pretty. Whether Zemeckis’ motion-capture technology could be considered “pretty” is a matter of opinion, I suppose. I doesn’t really do it for me.









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Comments

"(my Pops was more of a Hall & Oates man, sad to say).."

So it's safe to say he was a little out of touch then.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at January 12, 2010 1:14 PM

I guess I’m not totally opposed to a remake of Yellow Submarine...

I AM!

Posted by: mswas at January 12, 2010 1:36 PM

Yellow Submarine was NOT a good movie. It was a crap movie, and hardly anyone disputes this except for the most rabid (rabidest?) of Beatles fans. The plot didn't make a lick of sense, the dialogue was horrible, and it was not much more than a cartoon wrapping over a couple of songs, several of which were pretty damn disposable themselves. (C'mon, does ANYONE have "Yellow Submarine" on their favorite song shuffle?)

If all they do is rework into a motion-capture experiment, it will be a crap movie with fucking creepy animation.

Posted by: Wednesday at January 12, 2010 1:51 PM

Jesus Christ, you don't know Pete?!?!?!


Elwes.....pfffft.

Posted by: Jay at January 12, 2010 2:16 PM

Yellow Submarine was a good movie. In the way that Waking Life was a good movie. I'd never force anyone to sit through it and I can't quite explain why I like it so much, but I do.

Several of which were pretty damn disposable themselves.

Eleanor Rigby was in Yellow Submarine.

Posted by: twig at January 12, 2010 2:17 PM

"(rabidest?)"

The word you are looking for is: rabidous

/rabidous

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at January 12, 2010 2:17 PM

M

Posted by: Jelinas at January 12, 2010 2:33 PM

e

Posted by: Jelinas at January 12, 2010 2:34 PM

h

Posted by: Jelinas at January 12, 2010 2:35 PM

.

Posted by: Jelinas at January 12, 2010 2:37 PM

I've had "I Am The Walrus" stuck in my head for days now. I played both versions, The Beatles and Bono from Across the Universe. My parents liked the Bono version better.

I myself am not a Beatles fan, nor a U2 fan, however even I can admit they both have some fantastic songs.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at January 12, 2010 2:51 PM

"And yes: That Cary Elwes . . ."

INCONCEIVABLE!

How bad was the original "Yellow Submarine?"

Even the actual Beatles didn't play themselves in the original movie.

John - John Clive
Paul - Geoff Hughes
George - Peter Batten (uncredited, that's how bad it was)
Ringo - Paul Angelis

Posted by: BWeaves at January 12, 2010 2:56 PM

i think you may be wrong about the lack of audience.
Tie the movie in with a Rock Band video game, and BOOM!

Posted by: Scott at January 12, 2010 3:06 PM

Dean Lennox Kelly is one of my favourite English "Hey, It's That Guy!" guys. He's probably most recognizable to people here as Shakespeare in Doctor Who. Cary Elwes gets a lifetime pass. Serafinowicz occassionally comes off as a douche, but Simon Pegg seems to think he's okay.

Plus, Beatles music.

I might be able to get past the uncanny valley for this one.

Posted by: Sarah at January 12, 2010 3:08 PM

I'd like to bonk the studio and Zemeckis with giant green apples for this fuckery! Where's a Snapping Turtle Turk when you need one?!

Posted by: Chickaboom at January 12, 2010 3:30 PM

Cary Elwes is either a British man with a terrible American accent, or an American man with a terrible British accent. Every role he's in I think, "That is a terrible accent."

Maybe he's just a bad actor.

Suddenly I can't stop thinking about how hard the audience was laughing when I saw "Saw" in the theater and he had to finally cut off his own foot. Oh the cheap look of anguish on his cheap face.

Posted by: superasente at January 12, 2010 3:30 PM

I just put on "Yellow Submarine" for my kid so I can have some coffee and recover from schlepping him around day long, when I happened upon this little Pajiba nugget of news.

Look. YS maybe isn't the best movie ever made, but it's fun and silly and keeps a 15-month old entertained for up to 20 minutes at a time so mama can get her Pajiba on. And it beats the crap out of some kids' programming today. I've put a ban on the Wonder Pets in this household until there's an episode where they all get run over by a car.

My point is: Yellow Submarine > Wonder Pets, but maybe not worth a remake.

Posted by: Your Mom at January 12, 2010 4:25 PM

Superasente: "Cary Elwes is either a British man with a terrible American accent, or an American man with a terrible British accent."

Yes, that's exactly what I keep thinking.

Posted by: BWeaves at January 12, 2010 4:26 PM

Hum, YS as childrens' electronic babysitter. Let's see:

Barney vs. The Beatles? Beatles win.
The Wiggles vs. The Beatles? Beatles win.
Electric Mayhem vs. The Beatles? Beatles loose.

Posted by: BWeaves at January 12, 2010 4:29 PM

Your Mom, I think my mom thought the same thing a couple of decades ago, because I now know the entire film by heart, including all dialogue. And I went to the rerelease when it was in theaters. And bought the extended DVD edition with Hey Bulldog. And the soundtrack with the orchestral instrumentals. So just be warned. It can be addictive if you start 'em young.

Posted by: Anne (in Reno) at January 12, 2010 4:34 PM

BWeaves: Agree. A little bit.

Anne: I'm counting on it!

Posted by: Your Mom at January 12, 2010 5:06 PM

"Cary Elwes is either a British man with a terrible American accent, or an American man with a terrible British accent."

I'll third that.

When I think of Cary Elwes these days, I either think of Saw (lame) or I think of the scene in Liar Liar where Elwes, as the potential step-dad, does the lame wussy version of "The Claw! The Claw!" game that Jim Carrey likes to play with his son.

I was soured on Elwes the first time I saw him, though, because I read The Princess Bride long before I saw the movie, and although I love the movie in its own right, he never met my expectations for Wesley. Sadness.

Oh yeah, on topic, Yellow Submarine... uh, never saw the movie, but I do love the album. Would get upset about this news, but I have so many other news-es to get upset about...

Posted by: MM at January 12, 2010 6:38 PM

Electric Mayhem vs. The Beatles? Beatles lose.
BWeaves, you just won your way into my heart.

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Posted by: Celia at January 14, 2010 2:20 AM