#PreMakeAMovie

One of the things that has been trending among movie buffs on Twitter recently is #PreMakeAMovie. The premise is simple: take a recent film (or a relatively modern one) and "premake" it--that is, pretend the movie had been made years before, with a cast and crew befitting the times.

It's a great and fun idea, and it gives film geeks like me a chance to let their imaginations run riot. I was so excited when planning this post that I decided to ask some of my friends (all hardcore film buffs) to come up with some premakes on their own. All the posters shown here were designed and created by Joshua Kennedy.


First up, a few premakes of my very own:

WONDER WOMAN (1968) From Amicus Productions. Martine Beswick as Diana, Robert Conrad as Steve Trevor. Directed by Freddie Francis.

TAKEN (1956) Robert Ryan, Natalie Wood (as the daughter in peril). Directed by Don Siegel.

AIR FORCE ONE (1963) James Stewart (as the President), Maureen O'Hara (as the First Lady), Eli Wallach (as the main villain). Directed by Anthony Mann.

HEAT (1954) Kirk Douglas as Lt. Hanna, Burt Lancaster as McCauley, Dan Duryea as Chris, Julie Adams as Charlene. Directed by Robert Wise.

DARKMAN (1928) Lon Chaney, Conrad Veidt (as Durant). Directed by Tod Browning.

1917 (1964) Albert Finney, Peter O'Toole. Directed by Val Guest.

THE LIGHTHOUSE (1946) Boris Karloff, Kent Smith. Produced by Val Lewton. Directed by Jacques Tourneur.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1937) William Powell, Carole Lombard. Directed by Howard Hughes.

My good buddy Tim Durbin (who has his own blog, viewingtheclassics.blogspot.com) has some intriguing entries:

A QUIET PLACE (1957) Richard Carlson, Mara Corday. Directed by Jack Arnold.

KNIVES OUT (1948) Van Johnson, Katy Jurado. Directed by John Huston.

MALEFICENT (1955) Bette Davis. Directed by Richard Fleischer.

AD ASTRA (1960) James Stewart. Directed by Michael Curtiz.


Multi-Rondo nominated independent filmmaker Joshua Kennedy (who made all these wonderful posters) unleashes his inventive talents with these productions:

KILL BILL (1977) Judy Geeson. Directed by Sidney Lumet & Cheh Chang

CAST AWAY (1944) Henry Fonda. Directed by John Ford.

BASIC INSTINCT (1951) Kirk Douglas, Faith Domergue. Directed by Howard Hawks.

JOKER (1963) Michael Gough. Directed by Billy Wilder.

AVATAR (1956) Kenneth Tobey, Yvonne de Carlo. Directed by Jack Arnold.

300 (1959) Charlton Heston. Directed by Cecil B. deMille.

THE AVENGERS (1920) Directed by Fritz Lang. (a lost film)


Writer and prolific audio commentator Troy Howarth goes really, really deep with his eye-opening choices:

CRIMSON PEAK (1965) Christopher Lee as Sir Thomas, Barbara Steele as Lady Lucille, Erika Blanc as Edith Cushing, Basil Rathbone as Carter Cushing. Directed by Mario Bava.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (1968) John Cassavetes as Pat, Barbara Boucet as Tiffany, Edward G. Robinson as Pat Sr., Thalmus Rasulala as Danny. Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, directed by Billy Wilder.

BONE TOMAHAWK (1970) Gian Maria Volonte as Sheriff Franklin, Tomas Milian as Arthur, Jason Robards as Chicory, Klaus Kinski as John Brooder. Directed by Sergio Corbucci.

KNIVES OUT (1936) Melvyn Douglas as Det. Blanc, Myrna Loy as Marta, Gloria Stuart as Joni, Miriam Hopkins as Linda, Claude Rains as Walt, Randolph Scott as Ransom, Lionel Atwill as Morris, Lionel Barrymore as Harlan. Directed by James Whale.


How'd you like to watch a film festival made up of those titles??

I really enjoyed putting this post together, and I'm already thinking of writing a sequel to it. If you are one of my many film geek internet friends, and have some prequels of your own, please let me know about them...and even if I don't know you, and you are reading this and have some titles, leave a comment. Remember, when it comes to #PreMakeAMovie, the only rule is to use your imagination to the fullest!!!

*Many thanks to Tim, Joshua, and Troy for their participation in this project.