9-11 Movies In The Works [Archive]

James Harvey

02-12-2002, 04:29 PM

www.zap2it.com reports:

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) – Susan Sarandon has committed to star and her off-screen partner Tim Robbins to direct a movie about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, based on the James Stewart New Yorker article "The Real Heroes Are Dead," Variety reports.

Sarandon and Robbins' movie will use the World Trade Center disaster as a tragic finale to a love story based on Rick Rescorla and Susan Greer, whom Sarandon would portray. Rescorla was the head of security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and died while evacuating employees when the building collapsed.

Stewart's article focused on how Rescorla and Greer were two broken people who found romance with each other late in life. Rescorla was a highly-decorated soldier, and is also depicted in the upcoming Mel Gibson war picture "We Were Soldiers."

Sarandon and Robbins hope to attain a studio deal soon. MGM and the ABC television network are also developing Sept. 11 projects.

Karkull

02-12-2002, 04:33 PM

Figures.

:yawn:

On the up side: the healing continues. No one would have even considered this a few months ago. It's only a matter of time now before Will Ferrell starts mocking George W. Bush again on SNL.

Nightflower

02-12-2002, 04:58 PM

Wow, that was quick. It took them, what, more than 50 years to make a sappy love story about Pearl Harbor? :P

Calhoun07

02-12-2002, 04:59 PM

It will be a love story? Geez, I am already sick of them making national tragedies into love stories. Titanic was enough, and Pearl Harbor needed to stay unmade.

JustJack

02-12-2002, 05:22 PM

What can I say? Everything bad that happens to America is a joke after a short time. On that very day, one of the first thoughts that came to my mind during First Period, at school..was..."SNL is going to have fun with this in a couple months". And sure enough, They did after only a month, with Bushy saying things like "we're comin' for ya" and "Don't mess with Texas". Geeze. I'm sorry if I sound depressing, but have we gotten ANY progress with this whole thing in the past month? I don't think so.

I like Tim Robbins work..I really do...but things always end up funny with him...haha...sad but true.

Failure

02-12-2002, 06:18 PM

Will this be a theatrical release or a made for tv movie?

It's pretty disgusting how quickly they're moving to capitalize on 9-11. And of course it's another cliche love story that's probably going to glance over all of the background, and end up with a propaganda-ish, smarmy ending with kissing and crying.

I hope it fails miserably.

Rae78

02-12-2002, 07:09 PM

I was looking through an entertainment magazine and saw how the magazine devoted two pages to pictures of various celebrities wearing patriotic gear, from beaded American flag necklaces to $500 white t-shirts especially designed by whatever overrated designers or like, the celebrities themselves!--the shirts were red, white and blue and ripped and tied together in various places...it's just bizarre, this shallow, escapist, high school mentality. I don't mean to sound uppity, it's just depressing to see a fashion layout inspired by this tragedy.

optimal321

02-12-2002, 07:26 PM

Sigh...

I just don't know what to say. This is very disgusting. But i suppose it's to be expected. I guess it's just the "love story" thing that really bothers me :rolleyes: .

DerekPowers

02-12-2002, 07:52 PM

i think it is dispicable how low hollywood will stoop. is this really needed?? can anything real happen anymore without having some corporation or studio package it, distort the actual event, and change the country's perception on the actual events? its just pathetic in my opinion, hollywood is just pathetic. its so fake and commercial that it makes me sick to my stomach.

Karkull

02-12-2002, 07:54 PM

Yay! Cynicism and irony are back in full force! We're cured!

:D

Trent Lane

02-12-2002, 07:58 PM

Originally posted by JustJack
I like Tim Robbins work..I really do...but things always end up funny with him...haha...sad but true.

You ever seen Arlington Road? Tim Robbins was in it, and it was as far from a happy movie as you can get... it was about terrorism, as a matter of fact. I'm not in favor of this project, bu honestly, didn't we all expect this? I mean, it is Hollywood...

RogueMartian

02-12-2002, 08:14 PM

I don't think its any lower of hollywood to make a 9-11 movie than it is to make a love story out of titanic or pearl harbor. I'm kind of curious as to how Robbins will handle it. I mean, will it be completely serious, or will it have some light moments.

joker

02-12-2002, 08:42 PM

i think that hollywood has sunk to a new low, this only happened 4 months ago and were they are pumping out crap to capitalize on it. this is sickening, most of what i want to say has already been said, stupid money hungry movie makers.

Jedigreedo

02-12-2002, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by Karkull
Figures.

:yawn:

On the up side: the healing continues. No one would have even considered this a few months ago. It's only a matter of time now before Will Ferrell starts mocking George W. Bush again on SNL.

You mean he stopped? :p

Way too soon for a 9/11 attack movie, especially if's just gonna end up in the love/fictional section.

KingKoopa

02-12-2002, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by Jedigreedo

You mean he stopped? :p

Way too soon for a 9/11 attack movie, especially if's just gonna end up in the love/fictional section. He never stopped. He jumped right into the "Don't mess with Texas", and that whole pretzel incident spawned a nice sketch. Sure they avoided it for a couple weeks, but soon after it was back with some new stuff to base everything off.

Still, their Clinton stuff was better.

Palin Dromos

02-12-2002, 10:19 PM

It is far too soon to be making a film or TV movie about 9-11. Why can't they wait a few decades, at least. Or here's a better idea KEEP IT OFF THE SCREEN. We all saw it in living color thanks to the modern miracle ofcamcorders, we don't need to see it anymore, especially with that sick Hollywood twist. I'm an aspiring filmmaker and while I understand how things generally work in Hollywood it still sickens me.
If people want to capitalize on this tragedy write a book, make a comic, paint it, write a song, something besides a moving picture. The only for I would support this coming to the screen would be as a documentary, as a teaching tool, not as a piece of entertainment.

I'm normally not this vehiment but...gach.
I'll stop typing now.

Jowy Blight

02-12-2002, 11:02 PM

I'm not suprised, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I also expected them to make some kind of love story out of it after watching Pearl Harbor. All this does is remind me why I feel Hollywood would do anything if it would make them alot of money. A few dozen people are dead now, and someone in Hollywood is trying to make money off of it.

Sad, really. :(

Mr. Unspeakable

02-12-2002, 11:32 PM

Not suprised in the slightest, but I AM having trouble reconciling the Hollywood who thinks 9-11 = $$$$ with the Hollywood that is rushing around trying to eliminate any reference or occurrence of the World Trade Center in Movies and TV shows. What's the deal? :confused:

Jedigreedo

02-13-2002, 03:50 AM

The really bad thing about this is that we basically know who's who, and from films like Pearl Harbor and Saving Private Ryan, you can be sure they'd show shots from inside the office building of the plane hitting and people jumping out of windows... They'd overload it with CGI and everything. But the thing is, the only reason they're making it for is a new love story idea off of a tragedy to get more money, there is no significant reason to make it but several significant reasons to not make it. Actually I don't think it should ever be made into anything but a documentary.

Like Palin said, alot of us saw the second attack first hand LIVE on the news, and countless New Yorkers saw both WTC attacks first hand not to mention the people around the Pentagon. Why do we need to see them turn it into something it wasn't?

Evil Dr. Reef

02-13-2002, 09:37 AM

Y'know, when I saw the ads for the Pealr Harbor DVD after it came out, I was thinking, "I wonder if in 50 years or so from this, they'll make a movie about 9-11."
Suprise, suprise, suprise, we don't have to wait that long!
Damn Hollywood vultures. It's hardly been 6 months, and you're already trying to make a buck off this tragedy? Greedy bastards.

Calico

02-13-2002, 10:35 AM

Well dollar-wise it's a no-brainer: most of the footage has already been shot. :(

Love story? There are thousands of love stories to tell in this tragedy, why focus on one?

Bad Hollywood, very bad. :mad:

Failure

02-13-2002, 11:44 AM

Well, if all of the net profits go to charity, I guess I could grudgingly accept a crappy exploitation of 9-11. But what's the chances of that happening?

Captain Caps

02-13-2002, 01:04 PM

Yep, they are vultures.

I don't like this, but it's true: Every tragic event becomes humorous in next-to-no time nowadays. I don't laugh at "SNL"'s political sketches, though I laugh at everything else on the show. I can't laugh about the tragedies or our president...once again, I'm the odd man out, it seems.

Karkull says: Yay! Cynicism and irony are back in full force! We're cured!

Yeah, the rest of you may be cured, but I just got sicker. Remember, I gave up on "The Daily Show" and I never liked "Seinfeld". Why? Cynicism and irony!

Sincerely,

John "Captain Caps...or to use his 80sxchange name, outofplacechild" Kilduff

Zorakfan

02-13-2002, 01:09 PM

Damnit, Fetch the hit-map, Reefie.

Lets see...Nick...Fox...

Hey, what studio's making this revolting trash?

...aw screw it....

*Marks a big red X on map*
Hollywood. There.

Honestly. God, This is horrible. Already Hollywood's making a LOVE story about it. A curse on whatever actors choose to star in it. Curses on anyone whom takes place in it's production. I don't care if it's Steven freaking Spielberg. The will make the ever growing list of people I loathe. It's disgusting that some bastard could actually pitch this idea and get it greenlighted. I'm disgusted. Seeing as the Polisher inadvertantly blew up unit 00, We'd best get unit 01 out and make a run to Hollywood.

Maxie Zeus

02-13-2002, 03:35 PM

It's not the greed I object to. It's the arrogance of Robbins and Sarandon.

Look at it this way: These are not people who get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say "How am I gonna make a buck today?" Their angle is for the "relevant" and faintly politicized films like "Bob Roberts" and "Dead Man Walking."

What this says is that these two think they're good enough and intelligent enough to make an impossible film: A tasteful movie about 9/11 that is released within two years of that horror.

I always thought these two had gas between their ears. This just confirms it.

Mattashell

02-13-2002, 04:29 PM

I came from NY and I live in Seattle. The news of that day's events devestated me for months, and to a lesser extent they still do. One thing that made me furious is that people around here don't seem to care. Why should they? It happened in someone elses city, right?

I just want to say how happy I am to see that this film is so unanimously condemed on these boards. I am so glad that there wasn't a single possitive reaction to JH's news. I wander if anyone would be interested in helping me start a petition reguarding this, or direct me to one that exists. This is truely an outrage and I once had a great deal of respect for Mr. Robbins, It is gone now.

It's an insult.

Mattashell (and not gonna take it)

Bud 'n Lou

02-13-2002, 07:06 PM

Actually, the only thing that really surprises me about this is that they even waited as long as they did to make a movie about it. I agree that this really seems to just be an excuse to cash in on the attack. Something that bothers me even more, though, is the fact that it's a fictionalized account of the events. I mean, it's based on actual events, but no one will ever really know all the things that these people experienced that day. It just seems wrong in so many ways to make up a story like this about them. First of all, I think it's kind of disrespectful. Secondly, in supposed "true life" stories like these, I always wonder if perhaps the people were actually as nice as they are portrayed in the movie as they were in real life. As if their deaths, while certainly undeserving and horrific, is some sort of excuse to display them as perfect, upstanding, productive members of society. Just somethin' I think about...

JustJack

02-13-2002, 07:26 PM

I just thought up a questions: You think people will see it because it might be a good movie, or out of pity or fear, since it is a big American flick. Hmm...I'm guessing pity & fear.

Pearl Harbor...It's been a long enough time that when it came out, I didn't want to see it because I thought it was a crappy looking movie. I saw it because I had a number of friends who wanted to see it, & I came out of the movie, still not liking it(I'm sorry, Pearl Harbor just tried to hard to be something it wasn't. It was 3 hours of crap, to me). 9-11: The Movie, I doubt I'll see it at all unless it looks really good.

Whoever said Patriotism carried on into movie theaters?

Calico

02-13-2002, 07:49 PM

The more I think about this movie focusing on two people the more it makes me mad. :mad: Thousands of people died: NYPD, FDNY, WTC, FOUR air flights, and the Pentagon! Did you know a tourist managed to get out of one of the Twin Towers, but his sister was on the flight that crashed into it! To make matters even more bizarre, a friend of hers and her daughter were on the flight that went into the other tower. How can they pull out a single story????? A much better idea would be to do a docu-drama about the real victims and the real survivors, and donating all proceeds to relief funds. Nothing about this tragedy needs to be fictionalized, because all that will do is make it less realistic, and less dramatic by taking away from the rawness it has left on all of our souls. I, for one, remember the most overwhelming feeling of horror while watching with my co-workers as the first tower collapsed. That cannot and should not be entertainment.

Elven Moon

02-13-2002, 10:24 PM

This just makes me feel very ill. This is very disrespectful and way before its time if you ask me. If they HAVE to sugar-coat 9-11, do it 50 years from now. But it hasn't even been a YEAR, folks! It's only been about half a year! That is just so... I can't think of the right word :mad:

I am so angry at the people who try to make a social event out of it, and find a way to make more money because of it. Thousands of people died, have they forgotten already? Are they completely engulfed in coal-black hearts? My thinking is yes.

That does it! I'm filing for Canadian citizinship! Don't try to stop me...

Evil Dr. Reef

02-13-2002, 10:58 PM

Wait up Elven Moon, I'm comin' with you. The more I think about this, and the more posts I read on it, the more disgusted I get with the whole damn idea. What kind of respect is this showing to the people who died in the attacks? Hollywood apparently doesn't even have the decency to wait a damn year before attempting this pile of trash. And it's not even about the actual attacks! They're just a backdrop for a crappy-ass love story! Whoever greenlights production of this movie should take a long time to think about the reprocussions of it, and about how much of their soul/credibility is going to go with it.

Squall

02-14-2002, 02:40 AM

Wow. I honestly thought it would be 2020 before we saw our first movie and/or TV show based on Sept. 11, 2001 (is there even a formal name for this terrorist attack yet?).

I'm ususally the one on these Message Boards to say "Let the market decide", but in this case, I'll make an exception.

The market shouldn't have to decide. This movie shouldn't even be made. What are they thinking? Are they so desperate to make money that they'll try anything? What twisted focus group thought this would be a good idea?

Well, whoever is making this movie does have a right to make it. And we have a right to not go watch it, and let whoever is making it lose all the money (and then some) that they put into it. Then the failure of this Sept. 11, 2001 movie will serve as a giant 'red flag' warning other movie studios away from even trying.

I thought Pearl Harbor was total crap, but I think that Saving Private Ryan and Shindler's List were both masterpieces. Saving Private Ryan and Shindler's List did what good movies based on the tragedies of the human existence are supposed to do: you leave the movie hating war, realizing that real people, not just statistics, fought the war, and you leave respecting past generations because of the sacrifices they made. After seeing Saving Private Ryan, I never saw my grandfather (who fought World War II in Europe) the same way again.

The only way they could make a movie about Sept. 11, 2001 and make it respectable, in my opinion, would be to make it Saving Private Ryan style. Make it about a division of firefighters, and the sacrifices they made on that day. Show how evil these terrorists are, and why we must do everything to stop them before they can do something like this again. Then you'd leave the movie thanking God you're alive and well, praying for the families and friends of loved ones who died in the terrorist attack, and with a respect for the hard work firefighters, police officers, and EMTs do putting their lives on the line every day that we usually don't even think about.

Personally, when it comes to entertainment, I prefer to get as far away from reality as possible, not deeper into it. When you see what soap operas and those Lifetime Channel movies are all about, it's no wonder that the people who loves those things are depressed all the time. They have no escape!

"In the end, the World didn't really need a Superman. Only a brave one."
--Superman, "Apokolips... Now!", Part II

JustJack

02-14-2002, 03:24 PM

Originally posted by Elven Moon
Thousands of people died, have they forgotten already?

Of course! Heck, they forgot about it 2 1/2 weeks after it happened. I forget the name of the woman who said it, about her husband who died during this..."He was a Hero yesterday, but is trash today"

James

02-17-2002, 07:36 PM

What irritates me is the two faced attitude of people. You can bet that as soon as 11/9 occurred, there was a surge of potential producers/writers/studios looking into the rights of making a movie.. and those same people have been counting down on their little watches the time it would take before this sort of film would become 'acceptable' to the public.

Whats more irritating is the reason they make it is because people will WATCH it. There is a demand.

If it was factual and accurate, I'd have no problem, but it's not. It's to make money and to do that the viewers will want to see more than 'facts', they want to see action and a good tear jerking story to go with it....

... if the death of 3000 people wasn't enough..

Nightflower

02-17-2002, 07:41 PM

Originally posted by Elven Moon
This just makes me feel very ill. This is very disrespectful and way before its time if you ask me. If they HAVE to sugar-coat 9-11, do it 50 years from now. But it hasn't even been a YEAR, folks! It's only been about half a year! That is just so... I can't think of the right word :mad:

I am so angry at the people who try to make a social event out of it, and find a way to make more money because of it. Thousands of people died, have they forgotten already? Are they completely engulfed in coal-black hearts? My thinking is yes.

That does it! I'm filing for Canadian citizinship! Don't try to stop me...

LOL! Well you're always welcome in Ottawa... heck! You can share my room. Don't mind the mess :)

James

02-17-2002, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by JustJack

Of course! Heck, they forgot about it 2 1/2 weeks after it happened. I forget the name of the woman who said it, about her husband who died during this..."He was a Hero yesterday, but is trash today"

That's the papers for you. They make sure people don't forget as long as it's considered news and then move on when they get bored. People, who do unfortuately have short memories unless it directly involves them, forget and have nothing to remind them so they carry on with their lives...

But that's people - thats what we are.

What annoys me (private rant), is that up until December I worked in an airport in London - I watched the airport slowly collapse as people, still frightened, refused to fly. The industry was crippled (I lost my job) and I know, that with the short memories people have, the people who refused to fly will be back by the summer with their buckets and spades and be horrified to find that there are no airlines left, or at the very least, very few - and they are expensive.

'Why are there no flights/why is my flight so pricey/where's the old airlines' they will demand (and working in an airport, I know now that they will demand - loudly).

That's because you didn't fly last year and you gave into fear - precisely what terrorism is about - and this is the knock on effect.

At least they will be able to go home and watch a factual movie to refresh their memories ... - oh no they won't, they'll be watching some romantic dross which will do nothing but distort people's memories of the facts more than they will be able to muster themselves...

PeppeRaskell1

02-17-2002, 10:24 PM

Originally posted by Jim Harvey
www.zap2it.com reports:

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) – Susan Sarandon has committed to star and her off-screen partner Tim Robbins to direct a movie about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, based on the James Stewart New Yorker article "The Real Heroes Are Dead," Variety reports.

Sarandon and Robbins hope to attain a studio deal soon. MGM and the ABC television network are also developing Sept. 11 projects.

We saw this coming at ten parsecs, didn't we, people?

spectre316

02-17-2002, 11:39 PM

I have the same feelings as most of you do, but Tim Robbins is a good director. I'm sure he'll handle the subject matter in a good light -- meaning that he won't make a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.

Edit: I do feel, however, that they're going to make this film for the publicity of the VERY controversial nature. They'll get money in the box office, no doubt... and that's probably what they're thinking. I'm hoping it won't be Pearl Harbor II so badly...

Trent Lane

02-18-2002, 12:01 AM

Originally posted by KingKoopa
He never stopped. He jumped right into the "Don't mess with Texas", and that whole pretzel incident spawned a nice sketch. Sure they avoided it for a couple weeks, but soon after it was back with some new stuff to base everything off.

Still, their Clinton stuff was better.

Not to bring this back up and get off topic, but the "Don't mess with Texas" thing wasn't all that funny as it was a slam to Osama. He in a round about way says Osama can ask some Texans about his style of justice when he gets to Hell. I thought it was one of the more brilliant pieces of writing from the SNL writers, not a "Hey, let's make fun of the president" skit as they normally are. Besides, if Gore had won the election we'd have really nothing to poke fun at- besides Gore-Bot needing oil for that slow talking mouth of his...

And yes, their Clinton stuff was better- that's because for eight years there, the presidency was a joke, mainly due to the hillbilly who was "running" our country as he took up several girlfriends, or as he called them, hobbies... :rolleyes:

SilverKnight

02-18-2002, 12:34 AM

This isn't sick. Watching Britney Spears is sick. Listening to boy bands is sick.

*This* doesn't even have a word for it.

This is deplorable. This is *beyond* deplorable. Honestly, I always assumed that the Hollywood machine would capitalize on the 9/11 attack sooner or later. However, I never once suspected they were so callous to assume to make it only four months after it occured. I can understand someone trying to show their support, or trying to express themselves. I have no qualms with artistic expression. But, this isn't about artistic expression. This is disrespect.

Susan Surandon and Tim Robbins are excellent actors and directors, but are they so blind and unfeeling to believe that whatever movie they'd make would have *any* positive impact upon that date? Are they so full of themselves that they would disregard the horror of that day, and the still bleeding wounds of those who survived, to try and shove *their* take of it down our throats? Do they *honestly* think that what they're doing is right?

It's beyond sick. It's beyond disrespectful. It's beyond sad. It is simply *wrong*.

And you can quote me on that.