If You Were to Helm a Cinematic Universe, Reboot, or Adaptation, How Would You Direct It?

[Forresto]

People would hate it.

I'm not saying that to be rude but no matter how good it was you would face the same level of criticism every Star Wars movie has faced since Return of the Jedi.

A vocal group loathe Rogue One and Solo, the two most neutral, decent quality films produced.

I wouldn't touch Star Wars with a ten foot pole if I was a director or film-maker. The fanbase is far too toxic.

The problem is its universe has become an escapist fantasy for many, so everyone thinks their vision is how the story should be and will be intolerant of any disruption to that.

Your version, Retroinferno''s version, my version. We would all take a clear stance on the direction of the universe should take and there will always a vocal cohort who will hate you for it.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Forresto

[x105Black]

Fair enough.  But, like Rian Johnson, I will be free to dismiss any criticisms and enjoy my version regardless...

[Ghost Onyx]

Since it's around the 1 year anniversary of when the Lego Ninjago Movie first came out, I thought now would be a good time to mention my take on remaking the Lego Ninjago Movie.

One year ago, the Lego Ninjago Movie was made. This year, it's about to get REBUILT. 

Ninjago: Project Rebuild will be a brick comic remake of the Lego Ninjago Movie but more in line with the spirit of the tv show. All the Ninja will have proper character development, which is something I felt was lacking in the movie. My goal is to condense the essence of 9 seasons of the tv show into one cohesive story, while following the basic plot of the original movie.
But wait, there's more! Tirelessly seeking out all promotional material for the movie (i.e. trailers, junior novel, the "Making of the Lego Ninjago Movie" book, the toy theme sets. etc), I have struggled to reconstruct this cohesive story with as many deleted concepts I could fit it. It's an adaptation distillation, if you will.

Synopsis: Lloyd Garmadon, the Chosen One, stands at the center of the battle between good and evil. As the Green Ninja, he is beloved by all as the constant savior of the city of Ninjago. But as the son of the evil Lord Garmadon, he is hated by the very same citizens he saves. Under the guidance of the wise Master Wu, Lloyd and his team, the Secret Ninja Force will need all the help they can get to keep it together and defend the city from Lord Garmadon and greater threats. 

I'm still working on the comic but you can read the script HERE.

I liked the original movie, but I felt it didn't quite stick to the Lego Motto of "Only the best is good enough." I want to elevate it to the level of the "The Lego Movie" and "The Lego Batman Movie". This may very well be the most ambitious Lego-related thing I've ever attempted. I was nowhere near ready a year ago, but I think I've learned enough by now to give it a shot.   

Is it the greatest Lego story every written? Probably not! But is it the greatest pseudo-jukebox-musical-styled Ninjago brick comic ever written by a female Asian person of color? You bet it is! 

Disclaimer: Ninjago: Project Rebuild is a fan made story/brick comic which will be made available for free. I do not own the rights to its characters. Ninjago is owned by the Lego Group of Companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this story/brick comic. 

[Kintobor]

I've debated for the past few months, explicitly when the Super Mario Bros. movie was announced, and more importantly that it was being helmed by Illumination, how to handle a movie with the characters from Super Mario Bros. The answer is, well, you don't. Not without taking extreme creative liberties do I think you can make a Super Mario Bros movie, and I don't think that's something Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the series, would allow. He's kind of a curmudgeon in that sense, but oh well. 

So, instead, I turned to franchises owned by Nintendo that could actually make decent films. I came up with three, and I know one of them will be surprising. This may be a little bit of a ramble, so apologies if some ideas seem to trail off while others end, and if some seem half baked.

1. Starfox: It's anthropomorphic animals in space shooting stuff in space ships. Fun, pulpy, space opera action cartoon series. I think you could do some interesting stuff with Fox McCloud believing he has to live up to his father's legacy and ultimately coming to the conclusion that he doesn't have to: he's his own person. His relationship with Peppy is something I want fleshed out, being the person who told him and his mother about his father's death at the hands of Pigma Dengar: the man who betrayed Peppy and James McCloud, and how ultimately Peppy became the father figure in Fox's life. I'm going to have James McCloud die shortly after his son is born. Fox McCloud has only been told stories about his father from his mother and Peppy, and most of what he knows of his father has been told to him by others. There's a character I want to see more of too: Fox's mother. I think she could have some pivotal scenes with Fox before he decides to bring back Star Fox and take on the mantle as team captain like his father. I'm kind of shocked there's been no real attempt to adapt it into an animated TV show, as I think it could be fun. It doesn't need to be groundbreaking, but a fun action series that follows a young pilot as he comes to terms with himself and the father he never knew. I can see it lasting for a twenty episode season to tell it's story, and if need be a second season that completely reworks the plot of Starfox Adventures could be interesting. I'd ensure that Krystal doesn't get captured in the Krazoa palace right of the bat and her and Fox have some time to actually establish a romantic relationship.

2. Metroid: Where Star Fox has a space opera vibe to it, Metroid is definitely got more of a horror vibe going on. The original game was inspired by Alien, and I feel like a film with a more mature tone could work. I'm going to pitch this one as a series, something similar to Pitch Black, with Samus Aran being wrangled into assisting a group of colonists or settlers on an alien planet with a problem they're having. It starts off rather mundane, with Samus and the colonists merely believing their problem to be dangerous but ultimately mundane until all hell breaks loose, Space Pirates get involved, Metroid wind up being involved, and Samus has to get into another confrontation with Ridley, the creature that murdered her parents, and ultimately a body count starts to tick up. Samus can't save everyone in the colony, and the film should push a PG-13 to keep Nintendo's family friendly appearance intact. It'd be a hard movie to get right, because ultimately it'd be an action/horror film with aliens being blasted left right and centre, but it's certainly one of Nintendo's easier properties to adapt. My idea definitely draws some cues from the Mad Max series, as Samus acts more as a character who's gotten involved in the plight of this colony and has no real stakes besides getting her pay, at least, until Ridley shows up. We learn about Samus's past, but enough to know that when Ridley and the Space Pirates show up that she takes her fight with Ridley personally. It'd end with Samus seemingly killing Ridley, saving what's left of the colonists, dealing with the Metroid problem, and Samus going off on her next adventure.

3. Splatoon: Oh boy, here we go. The oddball, the one no one was expecting. Splatoon's got the more focused plot out of any of the above movies, focusing on the relationship of Off the Hook's Pearl and Marina, how they met, and their career. It's a parody film of all of the biographical films on music groups while still being an adaptation of Splatoon. I'd cast actual actors to speak a language that's not whatever language is used in Splatoon, but I'd also use music from the game as a reminder that the movie is taking place in a world not our own. It's very much a movie about Off the Hook trying to keep their independence as artists, while still making it big, and trying to keep their group together as Pearl begins to find out that Marina's holding out on her when it comes to her past, and that Pearl is unintentionally doing the same to Marina. Pearl starts the movie off as a death metal singer with barely any fans but a lot of talent in terms of her vocals. She finds Marina on Mt. Nantai during a career crisis, and week after week the two meet up until Pearl decides to drag Marina to Inkopolis where she introduces her to the city and it's colourful cast of weirdos. Marina, worried about getting Pearl in danger with her former Octarian military squad who is hunting for her since she ran, is hesitant to do anything about Pearl's insistence on starting a band. I think a film about Pearl and Marina has more places to go than a movie based off of the Squid Sisters, although if I did, it'd be a much more sarcastic and sardonic movie about the Squid Sisters selling out and making oodles of money off of their music and likeness but losing what made them special in the first place.