Dreamcasting: The Remakes #2: Thunder... Thunder... THUNDER...

[compound]

THUNDERCATS HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Same rules as last time.

1) The winner of the last round becomes the moderator of the round, and thus gets to choose the property or story in question to be adapted. Winner may also declare whether this property is an animated film, or a live-action one. He must also name the core characters to be cast, which should be at least 4, but no more than 9.

2) Participants may not use actors who have played the role before in the same medium before. Voice talents may not reprise their role, nor can film/TV ones.

3) After the time period set by the moderator, the round is declared closed. People will vote via PM and send it to the moderator, who will count the votes and declare winner. Like the Ultimatization Game, you CANNOT vote for yourself. REMINDER: Moderators don't vote either.

4) The winner declared gets to choose the property in the next round.


For this round, you must cast a remake of:

THUNDERCATS

Please keep in mind the following guidelines:

- This is meant to be a live action film. Contestants may decide the plot, tone, budget, and other factors, as necessary. You may also determine the intended audience of the remake.

- The line-up of characters will be based on the original cartoon series. You must include the following characters:

Lion-O - The fledgling leader, and hereditary ‘Lord’ of the ThunderCats.

Pantrho - Noble veteran, and ostenible 'heavy hitter' of the team.

Tygra - The scientist, engineer and all-around smart guy on the team. Also wields a bolo-whip, and can become invisible to the naked eye, ninja-style (which is ****ing awesome, if I do say so myself).

Cheetara - Level headed warrior woman, with heightened speed and a 'sixth sense'.

Jaga - Patriarch of the ThunderCats; archetypal "wise old sage". Died while escaping Thundera, but appears to Lion-O as a kind of spirit guide.

Osbert J. Snarf - Lion-O's loyal companion; acts as occasional nursemaid and care-giver to his young charge.

Mumm-Ra - Principal antagonist, and self-proclaimed "ever-living source of evil" on Third Earth.

The remaining characters -- including traditional mainstays Wilykit and Wilykat -- are optional.​

- For those of you who are unfamiliar with the original series, the Wikipedia entry linked above provides an adequate introduction to the property, and its basic concepts.

Round ends at June 10 at Noon, Eastern US Time.

 

[ourchair]

This is going to be so weird, I know it.

I approve.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

Is it really a remake if it's being transferred to a new medium entirely? I don't know, this seems a little fishy to me.

 

[ProjectX2]

I think it would be interesting if we had to create a synopsis or a plot summary for the movie/TV show/cartoon or whatever. Especially for those who aren't as creative with the casting choices.

 

[ourchair]

Is it really a remake if it's being transferred to a new medium entirely? I don't know, this seems a little fishy to me.

It counts I'd say. Sure, the medium is different, but it's still reviving and remaking what is ostensibly a stagnant pop cultural property.

Remake: From stagnant, to alive and made cool by a UC member.

I think it would be interesting if we had to create a synopsis or a plot summary for the movie/TV show/cartoon or whatever. Especially for those who aren't as creative with the casting choices.

I think it's perfectly alright to make up a synopsis... or rather, a concept treatment, but the emphasis of the participants AND the voters should be on the casting.

The concept merely gives CONTEXT so that people can understand why you cast who you cast, since clearly one guy's Adam Baldwin Wolverine maybe just as valid as one guy's Dougray Scott Wolverine, and another fella's Paul Walker Captain America may just be as valid as Mark Wahlberg.

It's the reason why I wrote such long Dreamcasting Pitches. I wanted it to be clear that the actor chosen isn't necessarily BETTER, but is cast for the betterment of the production's slant.

In any case, don't spend too much time on synopses, be concise and focus on clear-cut in your concept as it relates to the casting rather than trying to WOW people with your awesometitude of re-imaginingness. Otherwise we might as well bring back the Ultimization Thread and just call it Ultimatizing Pop Culture.

 

[ProjectX2]

Which reminds me, I believe I or Zombipanda was supposed to create a Pop Culture Revamp game...

 

[SSJmole]

Director – Christopher Nolan (Batman begins) The reason for this was easy. He did a great job re-inventing batman. Even more so when it had become a joke with films like Batman and robin that I think he could do a very good serious action film of thundercats.

Writers – Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowsk. (Matrix) They did a great job coming up with a story for Matrix and a great script for V for Vendetta that I wonder what they could come up with in terms of story for this.

Lion-O – Tom Welling (smallville) We know Tom Welling can play the young struggling hero and unless you watch smallville he is still kind of unknown so people won’t think “oh that *insert character*” they would believe he is Lion-o



Pantrho -Vin Diesel (xXx) – He’s tough , He popular in action flicks and could get in a different audience that might not take film seriously with out a well known action star. His voice and personality in a few films is pretty much Panthro



Tygra – Liam Neeson (Batman Begins) A good actor which would be important to pull off Tygra , He could easily do the intelligence and the toughness of Tygra so I think he could pull it. This was the hard one though as Tygra is a tough person to cast. But now that I think about it , Liam Neeson could also pull of the wise element to Tygra.


Cheetara – Sarah Michelle Gellar , She’s beautiful but as we have seen on buffy she can kick ***. She embodies what Cheetara’s character was . Also she can act very well as well which is very important to making the thundercats film work.



Jaga -Ian McKellen (X-men) I think he is great actor with an old school Shakespearian feel to him which could add a lot to Jaga while also hitting all of Jaga’s best features. In my mind he is Perfect for Jaga


Osbert J. Snarf – CGI like Garfield but voiced by Michael J. Fox (Back to the future). Michael J. Fox’s voice is cartoony at times and also has the nice guy feel too it. It would sound different to the show but still It’s Michael J. Fox.



Mumm-Ra – Ian McDiarmid (Star wars) The only man for this role. When mumm-Ra transforms it would have to be cgi but untransformed with the hood , Ian McDiarmid’s voice an look (maybe with some makeup. It’s like he was born for the role



Wilykit – Taylor Dooley (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl) This was hard as well. I had to pick a child actor who could act and do action scenes. She was ok in Sharkboy and Lavagirl so I’ll have to pick her.


Wilykat – Daryl Sabara (spy kids) Same trouble as Willykit so I looked for child actor who could do action scenes again and this seemed like the best choice.

 

[Bass]

Considering Alec Guinness is permanently unavailable, Ian McKellan is a good choice for Jaga.

I honestly couldn't improve on your cast. Tom Welling, Ian McDiarmid, even Vin Diesel - great, great choices.

Except for the Wachowski bros. They suck.

 

[SSJmole]

Considering Alec Guinness is permanently unavailable, Ian McKellan is a good choice for Jaga.

I honestly couldn't improve on your cast. Tom Welling, Ian McDiarmid, even Vin Diesel - great, great choices.

Except for the Wachowski bros. They suck.

No it's the Wayne brothers that suck. :lol:

Thanks dude.

 

[Gideon Stargrave]

No it's the Wayne brothers that suck. :lol:

Thanks dude.

It's the Wayan Brothers Mole. :wink:

And your cast is excellent. Definetly the best I've ever seen you post in Dreamcasting.

 

[Bass]

The cast IS excellent. The only problems I have with it at the Wilykit/kat because I don't know the actors at all, and thus am indifferent. As for Cheetara - I'd go more with Eliza Dushku than Sarah Michelle Gellar. SMG is too inherently bubbly, Cheetara was very.... husky, y'know? Gravelly and sultry. Which is more Dushku than SMG. Peri Gilpin (Roz from Frasier) has that kind of feel to her too.

 

[compound]

And your cast is excellent. Definetly the best I've ever seen you post in Dreamcasting.

The cast IS excellent.

Yeah, there are many awesome choices BUT they're also some of the most obvious/conventional high-budget "upper-B-list" picks. They're the reliable choices for a "genre" film, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But I suspect there are other, alternative ways to cast Thundercats, and I'm hoping that some other people will step up to the plate to challenge Mole, before the round ends.

You're not just going to allow him to win the round uncontested, are you?

 

[Victor Von Doom]

You're not just going to allow him to win the round uncontested, are you?

I really wasn't gonna do this round as I find Thundercats to be quite boring. I mean yeah it was awesome when I was younger....but the novelty of the franchise just doesn't have lasting power like say G.I Joe.

But....the idea of Mole winning uncontested just doesn't sit well with me. So I might have to come up with something. Maybe.

 

[SSJmole]

But....the idea of Mole winning uncontested just doesn't sit well with me. So I might have to come up with something. Maybe.

Is it the uncontested part that doesn't sit well or me winning? :lol:

 

[Victor Von Doom]

A little from Column A....a little from Column B.

 

[compound]

...but the novelty of the franchise just doesn't have lasting power like say G.I Joe.

For me, Thundercats lasting appeal has to do with its structure as an immigrants' narrative. It's exactly the kind of thing that resonates with Jews, Chinese, Filipino, any ethno-cultural group who have experienced diaspora or mass displacement...

They've lost their homeland. They've been forced to become an 'instant community' (sort of like Lost, really), for the sake of their own group survival, even if they don't necessarily like each other, as individuals. Even in their harsh adoptive home, they feel the need to use old traditions, as the basis for testing the mettle of their leaders (hence the whole 'Trials of Lion-O' storyline that seems to be fondly regarded by fans of the series).

So I wouldn't say that Thundercats, as a property, necessarily has any more or less "lasting power" than the G.I. Joe franchise, even if the latter would seem more immediately relevant to the post-9/11 world.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

You guys are lucky I didn't win last round. I'd have you guys Dreamcasting "Defenders of the Earth" or "Bionic 6".


The where would your God be? :lol:



Anyways back on topic.....


They're not bad choices Mole. A far cry better than what you casted in previous rounds. I'm still not a fan of giving Tom Welling any work in Hollywood. Period. I don't even wany him as an extra playing a waiter in the back of a diner on CSI.


Same with Vin Diesel. He should only ever be seen in "Boiler Room" and "Man Apart"........in small doses..........every 7 months.

 

[compound]

You guys are lucky I didn't win last round. I'd have you guys Dreamcasting "Defenders of the Earth" or "Bionic 6".

Hot damn! I would have been SO game for that. We oughta set up a seperate, non-competetive thread, for dreamcasting lesser-known properties.

Both of those series are just BEGGING for a revamp!

 

[Victor Von Doom]

Hot damn! I would have been SO game for that. We oughta set up a seperate, non-competetive thread, for dreamcasting lesser-known properties.

Both of those series are just BEGGING for a revamp!

You know this is how this thread got created. :lol:


Me and Ourchair were going back and forth about dreamcasting via PM and both of us were chomping at the bit to cast more stuff. Thus this.


But yeah....a general non-competitive dreamcasting thread could work. Same as the All About COmics thread. A catch-as-catch-can thread where people could just dreamcast and then discuss. Or not.

I currently have 5 projects I'm casting right now on the side.

 

[ProjectX2]

I think we could just make a General Revamp thread, where we can Dreamcast odd projects or write up fictional pitches and summaries for dream projects.