The history of shark movies is littered with the corpses of failed attempts to recapture the majesty of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, but a new Hollywood combo may offer fresh hope of reviving the genre. Paul Schrader, the esteemed writer of Taxi Driver and director of such offbeat joys as American Gigolo, Cat People and The Walker is to collaborate with author Bret Easton Ellis on new psychological horror, Bait.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the story will focus on a worker at an expensive beach club who takes revenge on its wealthy and obnoxious members by steering their yacht into shark-infested waters. Schrader will direct and work with Ellis on the screenplay.
The latter has taken great pleasure in satirising the lifestyles of the vacuous rich in novels such as Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. His book American Psycho displayed his knack for detailing extreme violence, so scripting a horror film would appear to be the logical next step.
"Pairing Schrader and Ellis, two of the greatest literary minds of their generations, will elevate the genre," said producer Matthew Perniciaro of Picture Machine films. The project aims to shoot in November in Puerto Rico.
I'll give it a shot.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:35 am
Without folks like Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley, Verna Fields, Roy Scheiner, Richard Dreyfus, Robert Shaw, and mostly importantly: JOHN MOTHERFUCKING WILLIAMS, I doubt it'll come close.
Looks like they've got their priorities wrong, or have simply underestimated what made JAWS a critical and commercial success. Not the first, and definitely not the last. I also suspect this might be Schrader's way of getting back at Spielberg for rejecting hi CLOSE ENCOUNTERS screenplay. Personal self-interest, in other words.
Could be wrong though, but it sure smells fishy... or sharky.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:38 am
Hmm... Dunno. I always considered the shark movie genre to be pretty much dead in the water by DEEP BLUE SEA.
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:22 am
Sharky wrote:
Without folks like Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley, Verna Fields, Roy Scheiner, Richard Dreyfus, Robert Shaw, and mostly importantly: JOHN MOTHERFUCKING WILLIAMS, I doubt it'll come close.
Perhaps. I can't see this being popular during its initial release, simply because of the number of people out there in Cinema Land who are just plain-old satisfied with JAWS, and don't need another shark horror flick.
Quote :
Not the first, and definitely not the last. I also suspect this might be Schrader's way of getting back at Spielberg for rejecting hi CLOSE ENCOUNTERS screenplay. Personal self-interest, in other words.
I can't blame him. After all, Spielberg ripped off most of the material for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS from Schrader. Stupid, egotistical move, and he hasn't been able to get a hold of a screenwriter who comes close to Schrader's talent since.
Regardless, can't be any worse than JAWS 4: THE REVENGE...
bitchcraft Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3372 Member Since : 2011-03-28 Location : I know........I know
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:29 am
I hate CGI sharks....either use the real thing or nothing at all.
Louis Armstrong Q Branch
Posts : 853 Member Since : 2010-05-25
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:36 am
Mrs Aural Sects wrote:
I hate CGI sharks....either use the real thing or nothing at all.
I hate them, too. What people don't realize is that the CGI ones are even more dangerous.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:02 am
Mr. Brown wrote:
Sharky wrote:
Without folks like Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley, Verna Fields, Roy Scheiner, Richard Dreyfus, Robert Shaw, and mostly importantly: JOHN MOTHERFUCKING WILLIAMS, I doubt it'll come close.
Perhaps. I can't see this being popular during its initial release, simply because of the number of people out there in Cinema Land who are just plain-old satisfied with JAWS, and don't need another shark horror flick.
Yup, there's not much of a unique selling point. They'll have to put a spin on it, or some kind of subtext for it to work.
Mr. Brown wrote:
Quote :
Not the first, and definitely not the last. I also suspect this might be Schrader's way of getting back at Spielberg for rejecting hi CLOSE ENCOUNTERS screenplay. Personal self-interest, in other words.
I can't blame him. After all, Spielberg ripped off most of the material for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS from Schrader.
Quote :
The departure ponit for Schrader’s script was a short story called “Experiences,” written in 1970 by Spielberg when he was still a television director. Spielberg’s concept was to combine a UFO encounter and a massive Watergate-style cover-up of the sighting. Schrader must have found some comfort in the fact that he did convince Spielberg to junk the Watergate cover-up plot and focus more on the mystical encounter with the spaceship. “The only thing I deserve a credit for is changing Steve’s mind about doing the film as a UFO Watergate. I thought it ought to be about a spiritual encounter. That idea stayed and germinated,” Schrader told author Tony Crowley in 1983.
Phillips also credited Schrader with creating the Dreyfuss character. However, Spielberg had otherwise so thoroughly rejected Schrader’s script that the writer didn’t even protest… when his name was left off the “screenplay by” or “story by” credits.
I think that's a far leap to saying "Spielberg ripped off most of the material." Roy Neary and the spiritual dimension come from Schrader, but next to nothing else.
Mr. Brown wrote:
Stupid, egotistical move, and he hasn't been able to get a hold of a screenwriter who comes close to Schrader's talent since.
Stanley Kubrick > AI comes damn close, As does Spielberg himself. That said, Schrader's had his fair share of turds.
Mr. Brown wrote:
Regardless, can't be any worse than JAWS 4: THE REVENGE...
Or JAWS 3D.
Watched that the other night with the girlfriend, along with PIRANHA 3D...
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:18 am
Sharky wrote:
Mr. Brown wrote:
Quote :
Not the first, and definitely not the last. I also suspect this might be Schrader's way of getting back at Spielberg for rejecting hi CLOSE ENCOUNTERS screenplay. Personal self-interest, in other words.
I can't blame him. After all, Spielberg ripped off most of the material for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS from Schrader.
Quote :
The departure ponit for Schrader’s script was a short story called “Experiences,” written in 1970 by Spielberg when he was still a television director. Spielberg’s concept was to combine a UFO encounter and a massive Watergate-style cover-up of the sighting. Schrader must have found some comfort in the fact that he did convince Spielberg to junk the Watergate cover-up plot and focus more on the mystical encounter with the spaceship. “The only thing I deserve a credit for is changing Steve’s mind about doing the film as a UFO Watergate. I thought it ought to be about a spiritual encounter. That idea stayed and germinated,” Schrader told author Tony Crowley in 1983.
Phillips also credited Schrader with creating the Dreyfuss character. However, Spielberg had otherwise so thoroughly rejected Schrader’s script that the writer didn’t even protest… when his name was left off the “screenplay by” or “story by” credits.
I think that's a far leap to saying "Spielberg ripped off most of the material." Roy Neary and the spiritual dimension come from Schrader, but next to nothing else.
Perhaps Schrader was being a bit modest back in '83, as I could recall a lot of interesting "coincidences" between his script and Spielberg's film when I read Schrader's version last summer.
Quote :
Mr. Brown wrote:
Stupid, egotistical move, and he hasn't been able to get a hold of a screenwriter who comes close to Schrader's talent since.
Stanley Kubrick > AI comes damn close, As does Spielberg himself. That said, Schrader's had his fair share of turds.
Kubrick's came damn close, indeed. I have a hard time giving Spielberg all of the credit for any decent screenplay he's used in his films, however, considering how much he tends to rip off from the people who work on the first few drafts. (I'm not trying to be cynical here, either. )
But, perhaps I'm partial, as I find TAXI DRIVER to be one of the best films ever written. AFFLICTION and CAT PEOPLE were great, too, along with OBSESSION--though, I must admit that it would have been interesting to see how the film panned out had they left in the rather twisted romance between Michael and (unknowingly to him) his daughter. But, his original ending couldn't have matched the final version's.
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:20 am
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:28 am
Sounds like this outing is based on my inexplicably unproduced screenplay, 'Eat the Rich'. (Peter Richardson already stole my title so Schrader et al may as well take the rest.) Anyway, I'd like to see Michael Fassbender as the shark and maybe Miley Cyrus as the young streetwalking porpoise Iris.
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:09 pm
Also featuring a CGI Peter Boyle.
The White Tuxedo 00 Agent
Posts : 6062 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : ELdorado 5-9970
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:04 pm
Sharky wrote:
Or JAWS 3D.
I LOVE JAWS 3D. I had an absolute blast watching it last year, and that scene takes the cake. Along with someone going, "Holy shit!" or something.
For me it's definitely in the "So bad it's good" category.
Lazenby. Head of Station
Posts : 1274 Member Since : 2010-04-15 Location : 1969
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 15, 2011 2:29 am
Doesn't make sense to get these two together just to make another "shark eating people" flick, so either there's something special about this that we haven't been made aware of or both writers are just being paid really well for it.
You get two guys of this calibre together, the last thing you should be wanting them to do is a "shark eating people" flick. This collab could have been f*cking awesome and a contender for my film of the decade (hardly a contest awash with competition, but still...) with more interesting subject matter as I've usually got plenty of time for both these guys.
Schrader + Ellis + F*cking CGI sharks = probably some good black humour at best, but a sh*tload of shots of sharks that don't look real and the words "oh what could have been" scratching away in my head like nails down a blackboard.
I'll watch it on TV in about five years, probably.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis looking to rival JAWS... Mon Aug 15, 2011 10:47 am
These guys have been coasting for 25 years.
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