Recently, veteran producers Walter Parkes and Laurie McDonald were interview by THR during TIFF 2015, where they discussed the future of the ‘Men in Black’ franchise. Check out the excerpt from the interview with the relevant information below:
You produced Men in Black. Has there been talk of reviving that franchise with the new Sony regime?
PARKES We’re in the middle of it. It’s very active.
Is Will Smith going to be part of it?
PARKES Most likely no.
MACDONALD It will be reinvented as a trilogy.
What did we learn? Not only has Sony not forgotten about the ‘Men in Black,’ but they are rebooting it sans its original star, meaning they can get a lot more bang for their buck without having to pay an exorbitant fee to Will Smith. Some say that the whole reason ‘MIB 2’ and ‘MIB 3′ failed was that Sony spent so much money getting Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith to come back there was hardly any budgeted money left for writing, effects, or the rest of the production. A reboot would work nicely as there is a lot of source material from the comics to base the stories on, as the MIB is much bigger than just Jones and Smith. Plus it would allow Sony to cast actors with more manageable salaries, so they can keep the focus on the quality of the films. And being a trilogy buff, I’ve always loved it when a studio plans a trilogy right from the get-go, as long as they do it right. Nothing is more embarrassing than when a studio starts a “trilogy’ assuming the first film will be good enough to warrant the next two, and then fails to deliver because the first film underperformed. (See ‘Terminator: Salvation,’ and then more recently, ‘Terminator: Genisys.’)
What are your thoughts on rebooting the ‘Men in Black’ franchise into a trilogy? Another desperate ploy by Hollywood to woo audiences without having to come up with something original? Or does the source material warrant another go on the big screen? Let us now your opinions in the comments below!
Source: Collider
