You know what September 9th, 2009 is? That'd be 9/9/9. And it's not just the devil's number upside-down, no, it's also the 50th anniversary - or at least close enough to it - of the release of Ed Wood's classically horrible Plan 9 From Outer Space. And what to do about that? If you're director John Johnson, you remake it, only this time to try to create the legitimately frightening film that Wood intended rather than the hysterically inept film he actually produced.
Simply titled "Plan 9", the remake will be a serious-minded retelling of the original story, paying homage to the spirit of Wood's film without resorting to camp or parody. The film will focus on the horror and science fiction aspects of the original, but will also be largely character-driven. Johnson's goal for "Plan 9" is to make a film that honors not only the original source material, but also Ed Wood's intentions when he made "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Wood's plan was to make a very scary sci-fi/horror film, and Johnson wishes to do exactly that - create a film that Wood would have enjoyed, or perhaps even made himself, if not bound by the technological limitations placed on filmmakers 50 years ago.
Really.
(But I do like the approach John Johnson (he needs another John in his name) is taking with this project. If there has to be a remake, then this seems like the right way to go.
I thought that I was the only one out there that was interested in seeing what this director could do. Considering that it's original director meant to make it a serious horror film, then why not??
Ed Wood was constrained by more than a lack of technology.
Plan 9 MySpace page is up.
www.myspace.com/plan9movie