It seems that the classic children’s book/film ‘The Neverending Story’ is at the center of a bidding war with several studios all vying for the rights to reboot it. Because that’s just what everyone wants, yet another reboot of a 1980’s classic.
According to Deadline, studios both here in America and in Germany are bidding multi-millions for the rights.
Studios have been trying to obtain the rights to reboot the franchise for at least a decade. Deadline mentioned that both Kathleen Kennedy’s Kennedy/Marshall Company and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way were trying to do another adaptation back in 2011. Luckily Kennedy wasn’t able to secure the rights and decided that maybe it was “not meant to be.”
I hate to think what that adaptation could have been. But I digress.
Rights to the franchise have remained in flux as there have been multiple lawsuits in Germany over ownership. That is the main reason it’s taken this long for it to be rebooted.
The original film was adapted from the first half of Michael Ende’s book by director Wolfgang Petersen and Bernd Eichinger was the producer of the 1984 film. It was partly famous for it being the most expensive film produced outside the United States at that time with a budget of $27 Million. ‘The Neverending Story’ made $100 Million globally.
The second half of the book was also used as it ended up being the loose basis for the ‘The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter’ (1990) that starred the late Jonathan Brandis. A third film, ‘The NeverEnding Story III: Escape From Fantasia” was released in 1994. Most people don’t even remember the second and third films existed.
Renewed interest has been stirred up in the franchise after it was featured heavily in ‘Stranger Things: Season III.”
Personally I wish Hollywood would stop rebooting everything (usually poorly) and start creating new things. The author was not happy with the 1984 film and audiences will likely not be happy with a 2020s version either. There is a reason why not many remember the second and third films. Perhaps a Germany studio would be a better option as it’s where the book originated and it means a lot to them.
I also worry they would water it down. That was some deep and scary stuff for us 80’s kids, and I would hate to see it’s teeth taken out.
But that’s just my opinion.
What do you think? Do you want to see a modern reboot of ‘The NeverEnding Story.”
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