Genre: Adventure/Science Fiction/Animated.
Studio:
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Production Company:
Working Title Films.
Project Phase: Script Stage.
What Type of Animation: Computer generated.
Who's Voices Are In It:
Kristen Scott Thomas (as Lady Penelope or her daughter) has been rumored for months, but it's still
unconfirmed.
Who's Making It:
Peter Hewett (Director); based on the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson television series, Thunderbirds.
Premise: Outfitted with cutting-edge technology, a family of adevnturers place themselves in harm's way at trouble spots around the globe. Known as 'International Rescue', the Tracy family is on-call at anytime to assist the world's nations when disaster strikes, or to avert criminal activity. They are known to the world as the Thunderbirds. Now they must prevent a villain from taking the Earth's atmosphere away.
Release Date: Unknown.
Comments: Filmed in 'supermarionation', the Thunderbirds originated from the mind of Gerry Anderson. Utilizing extensive miniature models and marionettes instead of 60's special effects and live actors, the show offered a different alternative to other action-adventure fare on your telly. While the kids loved it, the show quickly assembled a legion of older fans who got as much a kick out of trying to figure out how the show's designers made those really cool looking models week after week, only to have them get pyro'ed near the episode's conclusion. (Well ok -- that and tuning in to watch Lady Penelope get involved in the melee, too.)
If the current rumors about a CGI Thunderbirds pan out to be correct, this could be a fun project to tune in and see. But if true, we still hope somehow the show's developers find a way to keep that much-beloved 'puppet' walk all the television characters had. It's just not the same without it...
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
November 26, 1997... We get a major break in the latest development with this project: a consortium of digital artists are planning to release an updated, all-digital version of Gerry Andersons' Thunderbirds puppet TV series. The plan is to utilize computer generated imagery (CGI) to update the story into the twenty first century. The consortium, composed of British, Japanese and Italian designers, are negotiating rights with the current owners, Channel 5 Video/ITC. Although Gerry Anderson is no longer involved with the series, it is hoped he will be brought in as a consultant. The voice talents of some of the original Thunderbirds (Shane Rimmer, Sylvia Anderson and David Graham) are hoped to reprise their original roles.
It has not been decided whether to make it for TV or film, as ultimately the decision resides on the financial backing of the investors, but they hope to produce a 90-minute feature using the latest digital effects. CA was told that, until recently, CGI was not of high enough quality to adapt the classic TV series characters into believable digital images, but the success of Toy Story has persuaded a number of serious financiers that now is the time to pursue such a venture.
Although the plotline is still sketchy, one idea proposed at this stage places the Thunderbirds organization twenty years on from the one we remember in the series. New, sleeker craft, and possibly a couple of new ones, are now used by the Tracy family to assist in world disaster relief. The leader of the series Thunderbirds, Jeff Tracey, has died, leaving his son Scott to run the "family business". Again, this is just one idea being toyed around with at this early stage of the process, and it may not wind up being the final plotline at all. [Thanks to 'Tryptych' for the ultra cool information - SIG!]
January - November, 1997... Rumors that actress Kristen Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Four Weddings and a Funeral) has been 'cast' to portray the live-action role of Thunderbird Lady Penelope are totally false, but we keep getting 'em. Also mentioned is that the rights reside with Working Title Films, but we haven't been able to confirm that.
December 3, 1997... Our latest rumor places director Peter Hewitt (whose next film is The Borrowers) as the man chosen to helm the big screen debut of supermarionation starting in spring '98. [Thanks to an anonymous chap.]
January 6 - 17, 1998... While trying to pin down some of the things we've heard from a scooper, Variety beats us to the punch...kinda. The industry magazine reports today that Kristen Scott Thomas is considering the Thunderbirds movie as her next project, which goes against what we were hearing all last year. But Variety did confirm director Peter Hewitt's involvement.
But, we've been privy to some more info that Variety doesn't know about. Our scooper 'Miranda' tells us that Thomas' role is actually the voice of the daughter of Lady Penelope, and not the original character. With a budget of $45 million, the team assembling the project want to push the envelope with the new revitalized Thunderbirds: by making everything, including backgrounds and vehicles CGI, they'll be able to bring the team into some new situations, including as 'Miranda' said, "Real-looking daytime situations. This new movie is meant to make the series known to Americans and other viewers who know knothing about the series." She signed off with the promise that in addition to Thomas' involvement, other well-known American actors are being courted for the other voice roles. [Clearance given by 'Miranda'.]
Meanwhile, to add to the confustion (and buzz, we suppose), the January 11th edition of London's Express newspaper reported Joanna Lumley (Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous) was up for the Lady Penelope role. [Filed by 'xibalba'.]
February 5, 1998... On Simon Wickes' TV Century 21: The Gerry Anderson Homepage, Wickes has posted a rumor that Pete Postlethwaithe will voice Lady Penelope's chauffer Parker in the movie version. The page also credits Karey Kilpatrick as the screenwriter working on the project right now. [Sent in by Eric; information originally appeared on 'TV Century 21'.]
April 19, 1998... The April 11th Financial Times ran a story about this project -- which legitimizes it in our books. The Times article states the film's budget at $75 million (cool!) which places it as one of the United Kingdom's most expensive films ever. Production is scheduled to begin this summer with Working Title Films awaiting a final approval from PolyGram to go full speed ahead. A revised version of the script has been tendered to Michael Kuhn, President of PolyGram's Filmed Entertainment division; in the script International Rescue must prevent a diabolical villain from stealing the planet's atmosphere. Once any requested script revisions have been completed the project's greenlight will be issued.
Here's an interesting point any CGI FX employees reading this might be especially interested in. According to the Times, there's insufficient CGI resources in the UK to handle the demand this production requires; one of the possibilities is PolyGram setting up its own in-house CGI division.
On a side note of interest, PolyGram aquired the rights to the property when it bought out ITC Entertainment in 1995 for $165 million. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the show's creators, sold their rights to ITC's former owner, Lord Grade. [A very cool scoop by informed Times reader 'lutzifer'.]
May 2, 1998... We've been told that the film won't be CGI animation but instead live action. No casting decisions have been made yet. [Thanks to 'kelleyc'.]
Related Sites:
Thunderbirds Page -- A resources containing many images from the 60's TV series as well as a FAQ about the Gerry Anderson series.
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