The Spill Movie Community
If it's crap ... We'll tell you
Follow Spill!
Latest Activity
Aaron posted a status
English Motherfucker posted a status
Anthony Stokes posted a statusPhotos
Music
MGM Seeking To KO 'Raging Bull' Sequel
Of all the films to which we were clamoring for a sequel, 'Raging Bull' was not at all in the arena. Martin Scorsese's masterful account of the life of boxer Jake La Motta, based on the man's own autobiography, is not the kind of story that demands a followup...especially thirty-two years later. However, that's just what RB II Productions sought to bring us when they purchased the rights from La Motta to produce a film version of his followup memoirs. The new film was planned to be equal parts sequel and prequel to Scorsese's movie with William Forsythe stepping into the role of La Motta, the role so memorably portrayed by Robert De Niro in the original. MGM has filed suit against RB II and La Motta claiming that La Motta signed a contract that would give MGM dibs on any potential "author-written sequel." The 1986 second book was never brought to MGM and now they want production shut down, and aim to never let the sequel see the light of day. They are also demanding punitive damages.
For once, I find myself 100% behind the studio filing the lawsuit. Sure, they had their contract and La Motta and RB II are in clear violation of that contract, so their case is airtight. However, the real reason I am in the studio's corner here is that I too hope a 'Raging Bull' sequel never sees the light of day. The ridiculous thing to me is that the book is supposed to partially be a prequel and the only actor they've mentioned in conjunction with the project is William Forsythe. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but he's not exactly in peak physical condition. He might be able to play even-more-bloated Jake, but asking us to buy him any younger than De Niro was at the end of the first 'Raging Bull' is absurd. MGM feels that this slapped-together cash-grab of a sequel will tarnish the value of the first film. While I don't agree with that, a bad sequel/prequel/remake should never make you like the original film less, I am glad that there will be one less needless, low rent, and entirely unnecessary sequel sitting on the shelves of my local videostore.
Source: Deadline (via Film School Rejects)
Comment
-
Comment by AndrewWILLSON Cyborg Cowboy on July 8, 2012 at 8:48pm -
IS THIS FOR REAAAAAAAAAAL?????
-
Comment by Michael on July 8, 2012 at 7:09pm -
Why do we need sequels?
-
Comment by The Film Rebellion on July 8, 2012 at 12:22am -
Ok, I'm 100% with MGM on this. Raging Bull is one of the greatest films of all time (and is one of my personal favorites) and De Niro's performance is one of the best.
However, this sequel wouldn't be such a huge problem if it were called something other than Raging Bull II. If it were called The Bronx Bull or Lamotta or something cliche like that, it wouldn't be such a "fuck you" to Raging Bull's legacy. Technically, they're allowed to make another biopic. Nothing stopped the makers of Infamous, not even the fact that it came out a year after the Oscar winning Capote. Sure, the movie would still be bad, but technically it wouldn't be a sequel.
PS Forsythe isn't playing the younger Lamotta. He'll play the older Lamotta and some younger actor will play the young Lamotta.
-
Comment by Sum Random Guy on July 7, 2012 at 8:19pm -
@Mindful Lunatic....Actually I was leaning more towards this De Niro classic for a sequel
-
Comment by Ha-Ra on July 7, 2012 at 6:30pm -
Kill whoever proposed the idea with fire
-
Comment by the Mindful Lunatic on July 7, 2012 at 9:12am -
Hollywood, stop messing around, and give us the sequel/prequel to our favorite classic DeNiro movie.
-
Comment by Crosshair on July 6, 2012 at 10:40pm -
Some faith in Hollywood has been restored.
-
Comment by Nicholas Collier on July 6, 2012 at 8:49pm -
Thank you MGM :)
-
Comment by Sam. on July 6, 2012 at 1:12pm -
Why not make a sequel set in a parallel world whereby 'Jake Lamotta' is in fact a fighting robot who is controlled by the motion captured actions of William Forsythe?...Could work.
-
Comment by DarkMasterZIM on July 6, 2012 at 1:08pm -
Thank god for MGM cause if there is any film that should never even think about giving a sequel to is Raging Bull simply because the only person that made Jake La Motta a film icon is another film icon Robert De Niro so yes, MGM made the right decision
© 2013 Created by The Spill Crew.
You need to be a member of The Spill Movie Community to add comments!
Join The Spill Movie Community