From Variety, New Line is booking a reboot of its "Vacation" franchise and has tapped Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley to write the newest incarnation.
Property, which started with the 1983 Chevy Chase starrer, spawned three sequels that followed the Griswold family on holiday.
The latest project, which will no longer carry the National Lampoon credit, is being described as more of an update than a sequel and will be closer in tone to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" than the previous chapters. Story will focus on Rusty Griswold, now a grown man, who decides to take his own wife and kids on a road trip to Wally World before it closes forever. Chase is expected to reprise his role as Clark Griswold, now a grandfather.
17 comments:
Looks really dumb.
Agreed.
The first Vacation movie wasn't all that great to begin with.
I'm glad they're closing Wally World. Stupid moose.
I rewatched the first Vacation recently and it hasn't held up well over the years. I think it falls into the category of outdated humor. I feel the same way about Stripes, Meatballs, The Jerk, Fletch, etc (IMHO).
I agree with all of those examples JPX and I would add Caddy Shack and the Blues Brothers (was that EVER funny?)
I still enjoy Dangerfield and Knight in Caddyshack but I always found Bill Murray's character to be grating and unfunny.
I find Bill Murray grating and unfunny most of the time. I never realized how much I disliked him until Zombieland.
Christmas Vacation is the best of the Griswold family if you as me.
You know what else doesn't hold up? Mel Brooks films. I used to think that History of the World was up there with Life of Brian but have you tried watching it lately? On the other hand the campfire farting scene in Blazing Saddles will still be hilarious long after we're dead.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't be dissing on the Blues Brothers, JSP. I will always love that movie.
Although I agree with your assessment of the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles.
I still like The Blues Brothers because it's sort of the last epic screwball comedy. Those police car pile-ups are just ridiculous.
And Bill Murray is great! Although he can be really annoying. I love what he's done in Wes Anderson movies (I'm a big fan of Life Aquatic.
His character in Caddyshack is awful hard to take most of the time, but I love when he says "Au revoir, gophair." I was thinking of using that in a haiku yesterday but I wasn't sure how "au revoir" plays out syllable-wise.
1) Vacation was the first John Hughes movie. it was his transition from National Lampoon staff writer (he wrote the original short story "Vacation '58" for that magazine) to film guy. He didn't direct National Lampoon's Vacation but he wrote it (since he was adapting his own story). Presumably he established his rapport with Anthony Michael Hall while working on Vacation.
2) Blues Brothers is one of the greatest fucking movies of the 1970s! John Landis is so underrated as a screenwriter and filmmaker. American Werewolf in London and Blues Brothers are my favorites of his. He's made crap, too, but he's a very serious minded and talented film guy. But it's not just Landis. Blues Brothers put Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway and John Lee Hooker on a movie screen during a time when American had so lost interest in blues that none of those people could even get jobs. Also, technically, Blues Brothers is one of my favorite movies in the way it's photographed and paced. It's a much more sophisticated movie than it seems to be, just because it's so flat and unpretentious. Anyway, I like it.
In the original Hughes story, "Vacation '58," it's Disneyland. "Wally World" was the cinematic replacement for obvious reasons. (Also, they moved the story into the present, for no good reason, and invented the Christie Brinkley subplot, for very obvious cynical reasons.
Ok goddammit. I'll give Blues Brothers another chance.
Let me know what you think, JSP.
The first five minutes of Blues Brothers are just outstanding, in my opinion; one of my favorite movie openings ever. The odd, solemn tone of the movie (and its reverence for Chicago) comes across so beautifully.
Plus, without going all music geek, the "Blues Brothers Band" is actually made of remnants of Booker T and the MGs, including Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, etc. the guys who backed so many soul and blues classics. Belushi's a mediocre singer with heart, but there's nothing second-rate about the music throughout the movie. Listen to the opening number, "She Caught the Cady," with those incredible '70s bass funk arpeggios.
I'm going to watch that opening right now!
Also, the Cook's County assessor clerk at the end of the movie? The little guy eating a sandwich whom Jake and Elwood lift onto the counter and then give their money to, in the last scene? Steven Spielberg. (No beard that year, so he doesn't quite look like himself, but it's him.)
I love Blues Brothers too, it's not just the chase scenes and the total destruction of a mall or the music as Jordan mentioned. I've always been fond of Dan Aykroyd's monotonic humorless yet somehow still funny Elwood character and the penguin (nun) scene is classic.
Wow, I want to read "Vacation 58"! I hope I can locate it online. I love the idea of the story taking place in the 50s, which is when Disneyland was created. Thanks for the cool info, dude!
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