The Mothman Prophecies

Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller.

Studio: Unknown.
Production Company: Lakeshore Entertainment.

Project Phase: Development Hell.

Who's In It: No one confirmed as yet.
Who's Making It: Gary Goldstein, David Bales, Richard Hatem (Producers); Based on the novel by John A. Keel.

Premise: A reporter stumbles upon a series of events centering around a mysterious flying humanoid creature.

Release Date: Unknown.

Comments: None.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

[Page draft submitted by 'Widgett'.]

October 8, 1998... The screenplay reportedly was sold in February of this year to Lakeshore for mid-six figures. Cinescape Online reports that the film will more than likely be at Paramount. [Originally appeared in Cinescape; reported by 'ralphie'.]

November 24, 1998... It looks like we have a friend we didn't know about out there in Tinseltown. Earlier this month we received coverage of this project's script by a mysterious benefactor. (For those of you scratching their heads: 'coverage' is when a reader is assigned [mostly paid for, that is] to read a script, then hand in their assessment of the worthiness of said script.) Being the Mothman fans that we are we were overjoyed to learn more about the film version of our cult favorite 'real-life' monster. What follows are our scooper's paraphrased notes they used in their coverage -- and learn the true horror of what being a script reader in Hollywood requires.

"The alien investigation subject matter seems very popular now and the script is basically well-written, but this story lacks the scope of a big feature and offers little distinction from the weekly travails of The X-Files. If the script were more concerned with the main character's personal story rather than the rash of bizarre events plaguing this West Virginia town, this might have seemed like more of a cool, lower budget, almost art-house X-Files movie.

"As it is, many of the details will seem familiar to fans of that show (which would include virtually your entire market for this project) -- strange lapses in time, voices from the past making phone calls, UFO and alien sightings, inexplicable radiation burns, TV interference, lights hovering in the sky, spooky premonitions, etc. Indeed, it would not be surprising that the same recorded events in 1966 West Virginia (apparently true?) had provided inspiration for the X-Files creative team since we've seen so many of the same types of occurrences on that show. Substitute FBI Agent Mulder for our hero, reporter John Klein of the Washington Post, and you basically have a two-parter X-Files for sweeps month. Don't get me wrong -- on one hand this is high praise as millions watch the X-Files every week, the X-Files movie was itself a big hit, and the show sustains a level of quality many theatrical features would be lucky to match. And this script is no ripoff, but at the same time doesn't really distinguish itself by way of original characters or plot.

"Basically well-written, the script tells the story of John Klein, whose wife dies suddenly of a brain tumor, and exactly one year later he finds himself in the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia -- even though he'd been heading for a destination hundreds of miles in another direction. Strange things are happening in Point Pleasant -- a farmer thinks John has come to his door three nights in a row, even though John just arrived in town, for instance. This same man later describes his encounter with a sort-of human named Indrid Cole who has given him information on an earthquake -- this premonition comes true. Eventually, the weight of the weirdness gets to John, who fears he won't be able to stop a great foreseen tragedy from occurring. He returns to Georgetown, but is beckoned back to Point Pleasant by his new love Connie. A twist at the end is intriguing in a Twilight Zone kind of way, but some might find it predictable and see it coming. The twist does, however, provide for a visual climactic effects sequence. The end would be the only significant effects for the sci-fi project -- the rest of the script is rather straightforward.

"Author, for the most part, keeps the screenplay moving along nicely and we genuinely want to know what might happen next. The dialogue is generally quite good, although sometimes we get too much of the town residents 'telling' John what has happened to them, instead of letting us see what's happened for ourselves. Author manages some effective emotional moments between widowed John, divorced Connie and her young son Kevin -- the other townspeople, however, seem merely to service the plot. If we really got to know them and this town of Point Pleasant on a more personal, in-depth basis, what we'd gain from the characters might make up for what we've seen before in the details -- something more personal, more character-driven, is needed to give this story a unique point of view. Otherwise, there are the inevitable comparisons to the X-Files, which will in all likelihood not be favorable given its similarity.

[Big thanks go out to our new friend, 'Anonymous in L.A.' We'll buy you a round next time we head south.]

Another different scooper tells us that because there's a second Mothman project in development (Douglas TenNapel's Mothman), this project's current nom de plume of The Mothman Prophecies may (the scooper stresses that word 'may') be only a working title. One possible choice for a new title might be the name of the town where the events unfold: 'Point Pleasant'.

We're also scooped that the producers are looking to nab an all-star cast. Kathy Bates is the top choice to play the character of a journalist named Mary Hyre, and Harrison Ford has been suggested to play UFO expert Gray Barker (both of which are real-life people.) It is assumed that Ford will turn down the role, but they're not sure yet. [Anonymous.]



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