Dirty Harry, The Musical?
Plus: The Thing Prequel

It's actually Magnum Force.

Magnum Force, the 1973 sequel to the Clint Eastwood thriller Dirty Harry, is getting a musical makeover and may even be Broadway bound, according to The Guardian. English singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, an admitted Magnum Force obsessive, will compose the score and intends to produce the show with MTV executive Bill Flanagan....

And finally we'll get that sequel to The Thing. Sorta. It's a prequel focusing on the Swedes Norwegians who were attacked just prior to the discovery of the Thing by the Americans and MacReady.

Which is kinda not a good idea, for the same reason the Star Wars prequels weren't a good idea: We already know pretty much what happened, don't we. The end of The Thing was a bit unexpected, with the implication that both surviving heroes actually die. (Actually, not quite so clear, as many speculate at least one is a Thing, and further wonder if they did die after all.)

On the other hand, we know (sorta) that the entirety of the Norwegian base is destroyed and all hands killed. While it's possible a couple of Norgies got away on a dog-sled, they didn't make it to the nearest base over the following days, so even if they "escaped," they die in the snow. Just like MacReady and Childs. The unexpected ending of the first movie is the utterly-expected (well-nigh required) ending of the sequel.

Plus... who cares if some fucking Scandis die? Where is the drama? Plus, wouldn't all the Scandis being killed be too upbeat and life-affirming an ending for the Thing franchise?

Anyway... this should set some geek hearts a-pumpin':

Studio has set "Battlestar Galactica" exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining.

Thanks to Ray Midge for the last.

I'll Say It: I want MacReady back. Just like in Aliens, paid to advise a squad hunting what they think might be another Thing outbreak.

I guess that would be controversial, given that the ending of the first movie pretty much said he died. And that resurrecting him would kind of cheapen that.

Then again, one can escape from Antarctica. Shackleton did it. Why not MacReady?

Okay, okay. They're not going to bring MacReady back. Still, the movie should be a sequel set after the events of the first film, not a prequel.

Ah: Reading more about Shackleton's feat, I see he managed it before winter set on the already frigid continent. The Thing makes it clear that they are already in the winter (albeit "first week of fuckin' winter," I think).

posted by Ace at 06:00 PM

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