Will Ferrell on Board for Manimal Movie

[Deleted]

insidemovies.ew.com/2014/07/22/will-ferrell-adam-mckay-manimal/

On a desperate network that aired shows about a talking car and a sarcastic, cat-craving alien, Manimal still holds a special place in the annals of programming infamy. Simon MacCorkindale starred as Dr. Jonathan Chase, a wealthy crime-fighter who could morph into all sorts of fierce animal creatures. Since it was still 1983, you can imagine how cheesy the special effects were, and the series was cancelled by NBC after only eight episodes, forever making Manimal a punchline.

Adam McKay and Will Ferrell are now hoping to get some more fresh laughs out if it. Their Gary Sanchez Productions is partnering with Sony Pictures Animation, which acquired the rights two years ago, to make a live-action/animation hybrid action-comedy based on Manimal. “I think it’s right down our alley, it’s what we do—it’s tongue-in-cheek and has an action component, but overall it’s a comedy,” McKay told Deadline, which reported the news. “Like The Catcher in the Rye or The Sound and the Fury, Manimal has always been one of those elusive projects every producer dreams of taking to the silver screen.”

No director has been announced, but Jay Martel and Ian Roberts (Key & Peele) are writing the script.

McKay and Ferrell have a soft spot for cheesy, so-bad-it’s-good, cult TV shows, bringing Land of the Lost to the big screen in 2009. It remains unclear if Ferrell will star as the dashing Dr. Chase, but when it comes to lions fighting tuna, no one is better positioned to make that call.

Brad Jones is none too happy with this news

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

So these two learned absolutely nothing from the Land of the Lost debacle, hmm?

[Michael Coello]

He should lose it by paragraph one.

"Cheesy" special effects, no mention it was done by STAN MUTHAF###IN' WINSTON.

[Kevin Hamilton]

That sounds just terrible.

Manimal wasn't exactly a quality show, but as a Ferrel vehicle it sounds even worse.

[Hit Girl]

Manimal was a good show. Imaginative actually. The special effects were decent for the time, and considering they were on a TV budget. Simon MacCorkindale was always a likeable actor who brought a kind of dignity to it. It's a shame they are going to piss all over that for the sake of a shitty comedy vehicle for Will Ferrell.

[Rumble McSkirmish]

To quote Marvin The Paranoid Android: "This will only end in tears."

[Capt Lunatic]

Jul 22, 2014 16:34:59 GMT -5 @fsinfan said:

insidemovies.ew.com/2014/07/22/will-ferrell-adam-mckay-manimal/

 It remains unclear if Ferrell will star as the dashing Dr. Chase, but when it comes to lions fighting tuna, no one is better positioned to make that call.

Change your thread title.

I'm with everyone who says this is gonna suck. It will get the same treatment as Land of the Lost and that was neither funny nor exciting. I'm kinda sick of...

"No director has been announced, but Jay Martel and Ian Roberts (Key & Peele) are writing the script."

I'm 100% on board for this.

[The Unconquered Sun]

Yeah, remember the Jim carrey/6 Million Dollar Man project from 11 years ago?
Don't worry about this till it really happens.

[arrogantmodel]

Ok, for those who watch Key & Peele (which is hilarious) I can't be the only one who thinks of Rick and Jake when I see the Martel/Roberts credit at the end of the show.

Can we get a serious blindfold match again? Not that Kane/DB trash from a while back. Is it dumb? Sure, but it gets the crowd to participate.

['Foretold' Joker]

To be honest from what I know of Manimal it was a terrible tv show that lasted 8 episodes, what harm is a movie made in 2014 going to do it?

[willywonka666]

How exactly was NBC desperate? And Knight Rider and ALF were huge hits!-I'm tired of these writers putting their sarcastic spin on everything-nobody gives a f*** about who these people are-just write the damn story.

[Deleted]

I'll probably go see it. Not all of Will Ferrell's movies are hits, but the vast majority of them do well at the box office and are actually funny. For every Will Ferrell movie I didn't like or didn't see, I can name three or four that I did.

[The Unconquered Sun]

Jul 23, 2014 7:54:49 GMT -5 willywonka666 said:

How exactly was NBC desperate? And Knight Rider and ALF were huge hits!-I'm tired of these writers putting their sarcastic spin on everything-nobody gives a f*** about who these people are-just write the damn story.

Suddenly I want an ALF remake, it could work.

[ERON]

Jul 23, 2014 9:35:01 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

Jul 23, 2014 7:54:49 GMT -5 willywonka666 said:

How exactly was NBC desperate? And Knight Rider and ALF were huge hits!-I'm tired of these writers putting their sarcastic spin on everything-nobody gives a f*** about who these people are-just write the damn story.

Suddenly I want an ALF remake, it could work.

Andy Dick as Willy, or I riot!

And keep Will Farrell as far away from it as possible. I never liked Manimal, but this still pisses me off. I don't mind when they make a movie version of an old TV show, but I hate when they turn a serious show into a goofy comedy film. The only time it worked was Dragnet, and they took great pains to be respectful to the original, even as they spoofed it.

[Deleted]

Jul 22, 2014 21:23:38 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Manimal was a good show. Imaginative actually. The special effects were decent for the time, and considering they were on a TV budget. Simon MacCorkindale was always a likeable actor who brought a kind of dignity to it. It's a shame they are going to piss all over that for the sake of a shitty comedy vehicle for Will Ferrell.

If you want more original Manimal action, check out the epsidoe of NightMan titled "Manimal".

[Goldenbane]

The only stuff I know about Manimal is from Brad Jone's top ten list of it. I don't understand why this show is considered terrible or why it flopped so horribly and is considered an embarrassing joke. Detective uses his power to assume the form of any animal he wants goes out and fights crime. That, IMO, sounds like a pretty fun concept to me. Did it just fail in execution or something? His favorite form, if I recall, as the panther...so it's not like he became a dung beetle or sea slug or some other silly sounding useless animal. Being able to turn into a panther sounds pretty bad ass to me. What exactly was the deal?

[mizerable]

I swear, the only reason why Ferrell stays remotely relevant is because of McKay's boner he's always had for him.

[Nikki Heyman]

Jul 23, 2014 16:13:17 GMT -5 Goldenbane said:

The only stuff I know about Manimal is from Brad Jone's top ten list of it. I don't understand why this show is considered terrible or why it flopped so horribly and is considered an embarrassing joke. Detective uses his power to assume the form of any animal he wants goes out and fights crime. That, IMO, sounds like a pretty fun concept to me. Did it just fail in execution or something? His favorite form, if I recall, as the panther...so it's not like he became a dung beetle or sea slug or some other silly sounding useless animal. Being able to turn into a panther sounds pretty bad ass to me. What exactly was the deal?

The show was pretty ambitious, but blew a lot of its budget on the transformation sequences that had to be re-used through the episodes.

So most of the time the lead turned into a panther or a hawk, IIRC. 

Get this as far away from Farrell as possible. I want someone to do this series some justice.

[Sir Woodrow]

Jul 22, 2014 23:02:29 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

Yeah, remember the Jim carrey/6 Million Dollar Man project from 11 years ago?
Don't worry about this till it really happens.

The rumour now is that Mark Wahlberg will be Steve Austin

[The Unconquered Sun]

Jul 23, 2014 23:12:51 GMT -5 Sir Woodrow said:

Jul 22, 2014 23:02:29 GMT -5 The Unconquered Sun said:

Yeah, remember the Jim carrey/6 Million Dollar Man project from 11 years ago?
Don't worry about this till it really happens.

The rumour now is that Mark Wahlberg will be Steve Austin

now that's more like it! that i would want to  see.