Written By: Ken HulseySources: Paul Bales / Avery Guerra
Infamous actress Traci Lords, yes the same Traci Lords who did the nasty as an underage porn star and tried her hand at being a trance DJ, has been cast in the upcoming film from The Asylum called "Princess of Mars."
I can smell a lawsuit a brewing, because just last month it was announced that Andrew Stanton was directing "Princess of Mars" for Disney. That film is set to star Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe and Lynn Collins as the princess.
Both films are based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel by the same name. In fact Burrough's penned several novels about John Carter, a wounded Civil War veteran, who mysteriously finds himself transported to Mars where he encounters savage Martians, strange creatures, a slew of sexy maidens.
From what I can gather, the Disney version will stay true to the original story, and the version produced by The Asylum will be a modern redo. I think that it would be safe to assume that Disney would take a more 'family-friendly' approach to the story, while The Asylum would take a more 'colorful' path with Traci Lords.
I honestly can't see two films called "Princess of Mars" coming out without there being legal trouble, so guess what? My money is on The Asylum changing the name of their film in the near future to save themselves the hassle.
Other news from the independent studio, who has brought us such classics as "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus" and "Transmorphers 2", includes a very good article about how the studio makes a profit from their 'mock-busters' in Variety and a brand-new effects sequence from their upcoming disaster flick "Megafault". Hey, if "Mega Shark" could muster a ton of international attention, why not "Megafault?"
Asylum must have a pretty good legal team, since they've avoided any serious lawsuits from major studios to date. If they start messing with the Burroughs estate, however, they may be in for a fight.
ReplyDeleteWell they have already gone there with the remake of "The Land That Time Forgot", which is based on Burrough's 1918 short story.
ReplyDeleteThey get away with these kinds of films because they have become experts on knowing just how far they can go without violating copyright.
Some people like this, others don't.
You must not be very familiar with Asylum. What they do is rush out hurried, very low-budget films that are in some, or all, ways similar to a current Hollywood picture. For example, for Alien vs. Predator 2, they had Alien vs. Hunter, for King Kong, they had King of the Lost World, for DaVinci Code, they had DaVinci Treasure, for Snakes on a Plane, they had Snakes on a Plane, for The Day the Earth Stood Still, they had The Day the Earth Stopped, for Cloverfield (even before it), they had Monster, and I really could keep going.
ReplyDeletePoint is, this is how they make their money. It's nothing new. And as far as I know, they've never had a legal battle (although they haven't messed with Toho yet).