Tentpole Trauma

1982 was a big year for genre films, and Disney was hoping that Steve Lisberger’s video game fantasy Tron would be a Star Wars sized phenomenon. Sadly the bits did not fall in their favor and despite…

The Jaws franchise was sinking steadily by 1987, yet no one could have predicted how viciously Joseph Sergeant’s Jaws: The Revenge would be  received. With Lorraine Gary as the only holdover from the…

1986 was a wildly eclectic year for genre cinema, but arguably no offering was as a harder sell than John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. Re-teaming with leading man Kurt Russell and bringin…

Though not a total financial disaster, 1992’s Alien 3 met with a hostile reaction from audiences and earned a toxic reputation that threatened to derail what had proven a sturdy sci fi horror franchi…

Coming hot off the surprise success of Darkman, director/visionary Sam Raimi chose to parlay his newfound studio cred into reuniting with star Bruce “the Chin” Campbell and completing the Evil Dead t…

A sequel to the blockbuster smash The Exorcist wouldn’t have seemed a devil’s bargain in 1977, and with Richard Burton joining returning players Linda Blair and Max Von Sydow, signs were favorable fo…

FLASH! Aaahaaa! After the mega-success of Star Wars, producer Dino De Laurentis hoped to cash in on space opera fever with a big screen adaptation of the comic strip/serial that inspired George Lucas…

By the mid 90s Kevin Costner was riding high as both a leading man and director, so the idea that he should headline (and largely ghost direct) a big budget post apocalyptic blockbuster seemed a fail…

Though universally accepted as a modern classic, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption went virtually ignored at the box office when it wa…

Coming hot off the success of Halloween and Escape From New York, director/composer John Carpenter was the ideal candidate to remake the sci fi horror classic The Thing. With Kurt Russell in the lead…

Video game adaptations are often a dicey proposition but the high fantasy World of Warcraft games seemed ready-made for blockbuster cinema, and hot genre director Duncan Jones seemed a solid pick to …

Harrison Ford’s reign as a superstar was well underway in 1986, so the idea of re-teaming with the director of their previous hit Witness for a no expense spared adaptation of an acclaimed Paul Thero…

The early aughts saw action hero Vin Diesel at the height of his fame, so the idea of re-teaming with director David Twohy for a space operatic sequel to their sci fi hit Pitch Black seemed like a li…

Coming off the surprise hit Chronicle, director Josh Trank seemed a suitable fit to deliver a fresh, youthful take on Marvel’s first family after some lackluster big screen attempts. But stories of o…

Fans of John Carpenter's cult hit Escape from New York were clamoring for more of its iconic antihero Snake Plissken, but despite the creative team and star Kurt Russell returning for another round, …

1986 was a big year for genre movies, and arguably the biggest — solely in terms of its central character — was the sequel to Dino De Laurentis’ remake of King Kong. Despite the presence of Terminato…

Following the success of 300 and Clash of the Titans studios were clamoring for mythological stories to turn into big budget tentpoles, so it stands to reason that the Gods of Egypt would vie for the…

Wait...Fight Club wasn't a hit? It's true, the re-teaming of director David Fincher and superstar Brad Pitt seemed like a no brainer back in 1999, and while the film has gone on to have a huge cultur…