In an era where “access” in hard for writers to come by, it’s pretty damn cool to see major Hollywood players talking to geek sites.
Yes, geeks can be tough on movies, yet if we think a movie delivers, well, as Joss Whedon illustrates, you probably couldn’t find a more loyal army to back you.
Recently, Frank Marshall was interviewed on Collider, and I was curious to check it out because Marshall’s been around forever, he’s worked on a number of ultra cool films, especially for Steven Spielberg. (Remember, Marshall’s wife is producer Kathleen Kennedy, and they’ve been a tag-team match for ages).
As a producer and executive producer, Marshall’s credits include The Warriors, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Goonies, The Sixth Sense, and his most recent flick is The Bourne Legacy.
Yet it wasn’t the major heavy hitter flicks that caught my interest with Collider’s story, it was several films that could have been. We geeks have a special place in our hearts for the Amblin films of the ’80s especially Goonies, and as the interviewer mentioned to Marshall it’s one of his favorite films too.
“I’m just always surprised about The Goonies,” Marshall said. “For your generation it’s this big movie. When we were making it we thought it’s a little goofy, but people really identify with the kids.”
Apparently there was talk of a sequel, Corey Feldman will probably push for one until the day he dies, and Marshall continued “Nobody thought of sequels back in the eighties. Maybe there was talk, but not a lot. We talked about a sequel to E.T., but Steven said it stands on its own.”
Marshall also said a sequel to Roger Rabbit came “very close,” and today’s Hollywood will love this, “it was more of a prequel. It was all about how Roger came to Hollywood.”
The big problem, which CGI could probably fix today, is Roger was in almost every scene, and for hand drawn animation it would have been very expensive.
“If you look at the movie, there’s only maybe 40 minutes of animation. And it was before computer animation, it was still hand drawn.”
As far as another Indiana Jones, Marshall said it’s his “last hurrah” for the series, and indeed, it’s probably time to give it a rest.
“There’s no idea,” Marshall added, “no MacGuffin.” And yes, Marshall does have a pair of Back to the Future Nikes. (He doesn’t wear them, they’re in a glass case, and they do light up).
