Compound, Frustrated Hollywood Producer

compound

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At last, I have made my triumphant return to UC! And what better way to celebrate than by starting my own thread, dedicated to fantasy Hollywood ideas?

Mods: If you feel this can be happily merged with the similar one, created by my alleged "alter-ego", Ourchair.

So without further ado, I give you my first idea. This is my first genuine attempt to conceptualize something that passes as "family entertainment". It's for a CGI-based animated film, with no particular title in mind. For now, let's refer to it as...

Flying The Coop

Greg Gallus (Lou Taylor Pucci, Thumbsucker), a teenage spring rooster, is the lowest chicken in the pecking order. The scrawniest c0ck born during his incubation period, he is teased and picked on by his 'classmates', and the hard-nosed war vet gym instructor, Col. Cornish (Chris Cooper, Syriana, American Beauty).

Greg's only friends in the chicken coop are the kooky, indefatigably optimistic pullet Polly (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Thurston Sebright (Ben Foster, X-Men 3, Alpha Dog), the rebellious spoilt-brat son of the coop's macho but good-natured Alpha Rooster, Thor Sebright (Patrick Swayze, Donnie Darko). Thurston helps Greg ward off the other chickens who bully him, looking out for him like a brother.

One day, while off exploring a part of the farm on his own, Greg barely escapes a fatal accident, but saves himself -- by flying away! His mom (Wendie Malick, Just Shoot Me!) figures out how Greg survived the accident, seemingly by "mother's intuition". But as a former show hen (and thus a well-respected member of the coop), she urges him to keep his new-found ability a secret, especially from his well-meaning but narrow-minded dad, a former Best of State also-ran obsessed with past near-glories (Kurt Russell, Sky High).

Greg continues to use his "power" in secret, especially to help out around the farm, in various ways.

For advice, Greg seeks counsel from Old Streaky (Christopher Walken), an incontinent alleged former racehorse, who took part in a fabled "Tijuana Derby", and claims to have intimate knowledge of the goings-on in the world beyond the farm. (Including a fanciful account of a gung-ho escape from a glue factory, if he is indeed speaking the truth.) He talks about sinister conspiracy theories, most of which sound like patent nonsense or harmless "crazy talk" (misinterpreting ordinary aspects from the "outside world") -- including an obtuse hint about genetically modified feed, which might explain Greg's "talent". All of this fuels Greg's imagination and sense of possibility.

Greg also wins the unlikely respect of a himbo-ish turkey (Duane "The Rock" Johnson), the smartest of the ordinarily simple-minded turkeys (which really isn't saying much), who gives him frequently inappropriate encouragement.

Meanwhile, dominant hen Bonita Bantam (Melinda Clarke, The O.C.) -- who feels that she has been wrongly denied control over the pecking order, due to unspoken gender discrimination -- begins to hatch a plot to overthrow Thor's rule, by turning Thurston against him, preying on the younger c0ck's insecurities. With the help of her snivelling faux-European assistant Etienne (Samm Levine, Freaks & Geeks), they will launch a coup in the coop.

Greg's confidence is boosted when Polly accidentally discovers his abilities, and she reaffirms her belief that Greg was "special", all along. But this newfound pride backfires, when he begins covertly using his talents to rise up the pecking order. His popularity slowly gets to his head, nearly alienating him from the ones who genuinely care for him.

This also has the unintended side-effect of upsetting Thurston by messing up the comfortable dynamic of their friendship -- which in turn makes him more suggestible to Bonita's manipulations. Jealous, he begins stealing parts from a disused feeder machine to build a set of articifical metal wings (which look like real, organic feathers -- at least initially), enabling him to gain flight, as well. He uses this as his claim to be the new Alpha Rooster, and confronts his Dad.

All of this leads to a climactic confrontation between Greg and Thurston. But after the feathers have flown, will there be a new way of distributing power in the chicken coop?


As usual, general feedback, praise, or violent objections are all equally welcome!
 
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Greg also wins the unlikely respect of a himbo-ish turkey (Duane "The Rock" Johnson), the smartest of the ordinarily simple-minded turkeys (which really isn't saying much), who gives him frequently inappropriate encouragement.
There needs to be a scene where his tail feathers get set on fire. Then when they put out the fire, he will point to his smoking hiney and yell, "Can you smell what part of me is cooking?!?!"
 
Elysium

This started out as my entry for the Sailor Moon Dreamcasting round, but it eventually deviated so far away from the basic concept, that it became an original property, in its own right, despite certain similar motifs (heroines based on planets in the solar system, etc.)

I believe this property is a lot more directly influenced by the aspects of the modern Western zodiac, for one thing. I practically used the basic concepts of the horoscope to set up the character dynamics. Hopefully, it will hold its own, as a concept.


THE PLOT

Basically, the high concept is Desperate Housewives crossed with Promethea.

The story unfolds in the exclusive gated community of Elysium, in Balboa County, Southern California. Six stressed-out women in their late-30s/early-40s reluctantly sign up for what they believe to be a New Age-y spa retreat. The experience grants them cosmic-themed powers. The group become unlikely allies, joining forces to ward off a death cult, bent on summoning a Cthuloid entity in the middle of their bourgeois paradise.

It's a dark comedy, appealing to the same demographic as "quirky but mainstream" properties like Addams Family Values, The Riches, Pushing Daisies, and Weeds.


THE HEROINES
[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/masterson.jpg[/IMGL]Mary Stuart Masterson (Some Kind of Wonderful, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) is Sue Luna, an also-ran fantasy novelist, recently widowed. Like the Moon, she now lives off the reflected glories of her family members: her late husband, a celebrated astrophysicist; her teenage son, a brainiac honor student with a pot habit; and her young daughter with a genius IQ and early onset Aspberger's syndrome.

After her stay at the Helios Institute, she gains the power to sway the tides of people's emotions. She is the group's moral ballast, holding their fragile alliance together.

"It's like we can't talk about our feelings anymore without referencing Oprah or self-help gurus. When are we going to realize that we can't just manage emotions, like they're credit card debt?"

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/linney.jpg[/IMGL]Laura Linney (The Savages, John Adams) is Celine Hermes, a detail-oriented control freak with a Mercurial personality, who has terrorized her family in pursuit of domestic perfection, ever since her early retirement from her own PR firm, Quicksilver.

After the spa retreat, she is able to perceive "the structure of all things": material objects, social relations, anything with a pattern or trend, making her the ideal strategist for the group.

"Oh, I see things all too clearly now... We're living in one big cosmic household together, and i'm about to do some major home improvements."

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/forbes.jpg[/IMGL]Michelle Forbes (Global Frequency, Escape From L.A.) as Diana Mars, uber-driven biofuel lobbyist with anger management issues. She de-stresses through a never-ending series of martial exercise fads. She joins the retreat looking for for peace of mind, and relief from a messy ongoing divorce settlement.

She develops flame-based powers, and serves as the group's muscle.

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/carpenter.jpg[/IMGL]Charisma Carpenter (Angel, Veronica Mars) plays Becky de Milo, the youngest of the group, a has-been beauty queen and shameless gold digger. She joins the spa retreat to hide from goons, hired by former associates from her brief stint at "Venus Adult Entertainment".

After her experience at the spa retreat, Becky can cast illusions replicating the ideals and paranoias of love, beauty, and desire.

"You know, it's really quite sad how much you can achieve with just a sheer cocktail dress and full control of your gag reflex."

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/hunter.jpg[/IMGL]Holly Hunter (The Incredibles, Thirteen) as Liz Juniper, Sue's free-spirited best friend, and the subject of much intrigue for her open marriage, and age-defying lifestyle experiments. She joins the retreat just for the experience itself.

She is rewarded with daredevil reflexes, enhanced agility, and no sense of fear, making her the perfect front-liner for their ragtag alliance.

"Oh please! I was a Motley Crue groupie in '85. So don't you dare tell me what 'dangerous' is."

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/thompson.jpg[/IMGL]Lea Thomspon (Back to the Future movies, Jane Doe) as Gloria van Stratten, Sue's "frenemy" and rival. Over-competitive and emotionally repressed, she rules the Homeowners' Association with an iron fist. She ditches the retreat early, and gets no apparent powers.

Later on, she finds she can dampen other people's abilities (Saturn = planet of limits, restrictions, in contemporary Western astrology).

Her loyalties are questionable.

THE SUPPORTING CAST

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/quinn.jpg[/IMGL]Ed Quinn (Eureka) as "Cal Strangeheart", the roguish domino-masked protagonist of Sue's novels, a Phantom Stranger-esque character. Prior to the retreat, Sue believes she's verging on a nervous breakdown, after she begins to see him discretely following her, in her peripheral vision, during various everyday situations.

Afterwards, he becomes her lover and ally, much to her disbelief. Sue remains unconvinced by Cal's assertions that her novels contain an element of prophesy.

Their relationship is further complicated by the fact that she had written Cal to embody many of the qualities that she found wanting in her late husband.

[IMGL]http://www.dumplingpress.com/kalokohan/elysium/burstyn.jpg[/IMGL]Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream, The Wicker Man) as Vivian Helios, enigmatic founder of the Helios Institute for Total Wellness. She personally leads the spa retreat, then disappears mysteriously, after gifting the heroines with their abilities.
The remaining citizens of Elysium may all be potential accomplices of the Darkling Way, whether knowingly or not. Others may simply be typically amoral, self-interested Southern California bastards. The story is deliberately constructed to build suspicion about people's allegiances.

langella.jpg
hopkins.jpg
stpatrick.jpg

(L to R: Langella, Hopkins, St. Patrick)

Frank Langella (Superman Returns, Masters of the Universe) as Hunter van Stratten, influential real estate developer, and father of Gloria.

Josh Hopkins (Brothers and Sisters, Ally McBeal) as Jack Flint, cocky would-be Mayor; portrayed as a charming scoundrel. He makes advances towards both Sue and Gloria.

Matthew St. Patrick (Six Feet Under) as Sheriff Ron White, a seemingly nice guy, who begins to make dangerous guesses about what's happening in Elysium; he eventually takes a romantic interest in Sue, as well.​
 
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Oh, snap! I almost forgot about Elysium. I still quite like the idea. And i'm pretty sure it would draw attention from the same kind of viewers who follow True Blood (which hadn't aired yet, when I first posted this.)
 
Man, I found TRUE BLOOD so poopy. Until TRUE BLOOD, HBO was my violent, adulterous, cursing Pixar.
 
I'm sure I've commented on that Elysium idea before... maybe it was in another thread?
 

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