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JOHNNY DEPP - KING OF KONG REMAKE
August 21st 2007 09:04
I thought I was too old for actor crushes, but since working on Film Peek I’ve discovered a strong desire for Johnny Depp that I didn’t know existed to this extent. I’m happy to do research on any stories about him and as for googling for images; well that is a complete joy.
Okay, now that I’ve confessed my yearnings, I’ll tell you about his possible new role in The King of Kong, a film that chronicles the arcade battle between long time top player Billy Mitchell and nonentity Steve Wiebe. Over the last several months, the documentary has generated significant attention, including outstanding reviews from film festivals and praise from people such as actor/directors Eli Roth and Kevin Smith. I have to admit that when I first saw the headline, I thought it was sequel of sorts about the film King Kong but clearly it’s not. This is basically a film about extremist video game fans competing to break World Records on classic arcade games.
The duo has started thinking about a dramatisation of the documentary. The outline is approved and the film is eight weeks away from a first draft. Gordon stated, "My first idea for Billy was Johnny Depp." He also said, "Ed Norton I thought would be good. It's really not about the hair, it's about the eyes. It's got to be a real actor." Gosh, so appearances really do matter.
Among their aims for the remake, the filmmakers want to show different aspects they couldn't capture on film. For example, there was a moment recorded only on audio when Steve was approaching a record on his "Donkey Kong" machine in his garage. As he hopped barrels toward glory, his young son was yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, wipe my butt," and hitting dad with a broom. "I think it will be pretty fun physical comedy," Gordon said.
Beyond the remake, Cunningham and Gordon would still like to stage an ultimate Billy vs. Steve matchup. Cunningham said they've considered pay-per-view. "We'd love to do that. The tricky part is how do you do it? You can't do two-player because they'd get out of their rhythm. They have to play one player. Is it first to a million? To get [the current world record, 1,050,200,] everything has to align."
It sounds like quite an unusual premise for a film, what do you think?
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