THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606220069
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 99 lines
ONE DAY SOON, perhaps, ``The X-Files'' will leap from the small screen to the large. Agents Scully and Mulder 20 feet tall in a theater near you!
That would please Raymond Stone; the manager of the United Artists five theaters in Lynnhaven Mall's upper level looks forward to another ``Mission Impossible.''
He can't wait for the next major motion picture based on a popular television series.
`` `Mission Impossible' has been humongous,'' said Stone. ``I can't help wonder what a film inspired by `The X-Files' or another series with a large following among Baby Boomers would do for us.''
These films, said Stone, come with the advantage of needing no introduction. ``They are brand names and easy to sell,'' he said.
There are no plans to put ``The X-Files'' up on the silver screen anytime soon, as producer Chris Carter is busy with that series and a new one (``Millenium'') for Fox. However, approximately 20 major motion pictures - live and animated - with their roots in television's prime time are in the Hollywood pipeline.
The flow picked up of late with the news that Tom Cruise's ``Mission Impossible'' has exceeded $100 million in domestic grosses.
Warner Brothers is pushing ahead with plans to produce ``The Avengers,'' based on the cool ABC drama from the 1960s about secret agents Jonathan Steed and Emma Peel, as well as the ``The Wild, Wild West,'' which NBC began running in 1965 with Robert Conrad in the starring role. Disney said it will bring ``My Favorite Martian'' to the movies 30 years after it signed off on CBS.
MGM plans to launch ``The Mod Squad'' (1966-1973) and ``Sea Hunt'' (1957-1961 and 1987-88) as big-screen features.
Turner Broadcasting's motion picture divisions (New Line and Castle Rock) are looking into bringing ``Gilligan's Island'' and ``Lost In Space'' to the movies. They were on TV in the 1960s.
Turner also intends to do big-screen animated features based on ``The Jetsons'' (1962-1963), as well as the cartoon characters Scooby Do and Johnny Quest. (Disney is reportedly considering the feature-film treatment for Mr. Magoo).
Fox wants to put ``Green Acres'' (1965-1971) in the movies with Arnold the pig, who could rival Babe in porker popularity. Universal says it intends to transport three old TV shows to movie houses - ``Leave It to Beaver,``(1957-1963) ``Bonanza'' (1959-1973) and ``The Green Hornet'' (1966-1967).
According to Variety, the show business bible, Val Kilmer has already been cast by Paramount as Simon Templar in ``The Saint,'' a series which made Roger Moore a TV star in the 1906s. And Variety also says that ``Pulp Fiction'' producer Quentin Tarantino wants to do ``The Man from U.N.C.L.E'' as a motion picture. It ran from 1964 to 1968 on NBC.
Sony Pictures is thinking about graduating ``Bewitched,'' (1964-1972) ``Honey West'' (1963-1966) and ``I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965-1970) from TV to the movies.
``A Very Brady Sequel'' - the second movie based on ``The Brady Bunch'' (1969-1974) - opens in July. ``McHale's Navy'' (1962-1966), with Tom Arnold, is scheduled to be released early in 1997. This year, we've already seen ``Sgt. Bilko,'' a remake of ``The Phil Silvers Show'' (1955-1959); ``Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie;'' ``Mission Impossible,'' which ran on CBS from 1967 until 1973 and was revived for two seasons in 1988; and a ``The Kids in the Hall'' movie based on the comedy of the Canadian TV sketch group.
And the beat goes on.
TriStar has ``Zorro'' (1989-1993) in the works. Universal announced it has a script for ``Tales from the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood,'' based on the series seen on Home Box Office and Fox.
Are you ready for ``Beavis and Butt-head, the Motion Picture''? Paramount will put Mike Judge's brain-dead losers from MTV in the movies. The eighth ``Star Trek'' feature - ``Star Trek: First Contact'' - is to begin filming at Paramount in November.
In announcing that Turner will bring ``Lost in Space'' and ``Gilligan's Island'' to the movies in 1997, publicist Courtney Purcell said while the series' name makes it easier to sell as a film, that is no guarantee the TV re-make will be a hit.
``The movie has to stand on its own,'' she said.
Not all do. Steve Martin's ``Sgt. Bilko'' was not a hit, even though the TV series was a top 25 show. Nor was Hollywood's version of ``The Beverly Hillbillies,'' TV's highest-rated show in 1962.
But for every ``Sgt. Bilko,'' there has been a ``The Fugitive,'' which is among filmdom's top money makers. The original series ran on TV for seven seasons.
The ``Star Trek'' motion picture franchise has pulled in $550 million. ``The Addams Family'' TV show (1964-1966) inspired two hit films.
``The movies made from TV shows tend to start strong at the box office,'' said Tony Bennett, assistant manager at the Regal Cinemas Pembroke in Virginia Beach. ``The real young kids don't get excited by these films, but people who grew up watching the shows will come in for a look.''
As for ``The X-Files,'' Carter said he's been approached by Fox to do a big-screen version. It's not likely to happen until the series runs its course.
``For the moment, I would like to see `The X-Files' roots be left where they are as a very big cult television show,'' said Carter.
One day perhaps, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will bring the Mulder and Scully characters to a movie screen. No problem with casting there. But who would you want to see play Napoleon Solo in the movies' version of ``The Man from U.N.C.L.E''? ILLUSTRATION: VIACOM by CNB