Will Ferrell is going to the 'Land of the Lost'

You won't believe the price tag on this kid's show update.
According to Variety's DIANE GARRETT and MICHAEL FLEMING, Brad Silberling (Casper) has been tapped to helm Universal's cinematic adaptation of Sid & Marty Krofft's NBC Saturday morning series Land of the Lost.

The film will begin shooting in March. And it will star Will Ferrell (Elf). And it will cost $100,000,000.

Jimmy Miller (Get Smart) is producing along with the Kroffts, who have long tried to get a big-screen version of their 1974 show made. Ferrell has been attached to the project for several years.

The adaptation by Chris Henchy (a.k.a. Mr. Brooke Shields) and Dennis McNicholas (The Ladies Man) revolves around a disgraced paleontologist, his assistant and a macho tour guide who find themselves in a strange world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks.

The decision to greenlight the Ferrell project surprised observers.

"I was surprised that anyone else had even heard of it," wrote Rodney at The Movie Blog, "or even remembered that it existed let alone wanting to make a movie out of it!"

"How much lower can they go for source material for movies?" asked Screen Rant's Vic Holtreman. "No disrespect to the Kroffts intended. But to base a movie on that show? A hundred million dollars? And turn it into a Will Ferrell comedy?"

"Now, don’t get me wrong," added Rodney. "I like Will Ferrell. I am just tired of him. And to put him into this movie means that its just going to be silly scenes of Ferrell running away from CGI dinos and other monsters."

To judge by Rodney's observations, one would think that the new trend in Hollywood might be producing remakes of shows we've forgotten about.


[Thanks to Ain't It Cool News, The Movie Blog, and Screen Rant for additional material.]
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PAnthony
10/17/2007
Variety