Robert Zemeckis has directed two of my favorite films — Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit — and even won an Oscar for directing Forrest Gump (and although many have argued that Oscar should have gone to Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction instead, it’s still a great film). But Zemeckis hasn’t directed a ” live action film” since 2000’s Cast Away (also great!) — instead he’s been directing movies utilizing motion capture technology (The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol) with varied critical and box office success. Zemeckis also produced the motion capture films Monster House and Mars Need Moms, and has more-or-less became the leading “name” behind the technique. However, you may have heard the news that Mars Needs Moms, which opened last Friday, had a disastrous opening according to the Box Office Mojo figures. Disney had already announced that it was closing the ImageMovers Digital studio which produced Zemeckis‘ motion capture back in March 2010, with the final closing coming this past January. Now comes the news that Disney has canceled Zemeckis‘ next motion capture project, a remake of the 1968 Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine. Is it possible that we’ve seen the last of Zemeckis‘ motion capture films?
Initial reports suggested that Disney canceled Yellow Submarine because of the horrid performance of Mars Needs Moms, but Disney representatives responded on Deadline that the Beatles project had already been canceled because of the above mentioned closing of the IMD studio. Although Disney is allowing Zemeckis to take the property elsewhere, it cannot be denied that Disney certainly picked a bad week for Zemeckis to announce the project’s cancellation. After all, why would another studio want to pick up a film when a film utilizing the same techniques had one of the worst opening weekends in box office history?
While Disney can blame motion capture for Mars Needs Moms failure — and many have criticized the motion capture process, at least the kind done by Zemeckis‘ studio — Disney is forgetting that the Beatles do have a much wider audience appeal than Mars Needs Moms. Although the last Beatles-ish film, Across the Universe, didn’t set the box office on fire, it was very well received and did well for a film that was mostly in limited release for a movie aimed at 20 year olds with 40 year old music. Yellow Submarine — which has already been approved to use 16 original Beatles recordings — would have appeal from six to seventy. The intention was to release the film in time for the 2012 London Olympics to cash in on what will likely be a very English summer. There’s definitely box office potential there, even if you are rolling your eyes at the thought of yet another remake.
Whether another studio will see the potential of Yellow Submarine — or whether another studio can even afford to bankroll an expensive motion capture film — is anyone’s guess. Will this mean a return to live action for Zemeckis? Zemeckis himself has constantly expressed interest in another Roger Rabbit film, which, if nothing else, might serve as a good “transition” film to take him back to live action filmmaking.
Do you see a future for motion capture? We’re interested in your thoughts… let us know in the comments below!
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