# How many ideas for movies do you have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488 "2013-10-06T05:24:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/81 "2013-10-09T15:18:23Z")
The Longest Fart. It’s a 90-minute feature. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/82 "2013-10-09T15:32:48Z")
I’ve been kicking around a space opera for about a decade now. Originally it started as one story that could basically summed up as “What if the aliens invading Earth were the protagonists of the story?” Now it’s become 3 separate trilogies, spanning several hundred years and following the ruling family of an empire that spans half the galaxy. The first trilogy, set in modern day, follows three brothers, the sons of the emperor. When one gets stranded and imprisoned during an exploratory mission on Earth, a rescue mission is mounted for him. When seems like an accident is really part of a military coup, and the brothers must form an alliance with a secret organization on Earth in order to save both their world and Earth. The second trilogy, set a few hundred years earlier, tells the story of how the Empire was formed, following an invasion of planet X (part of the reason why I haven’t put anything down on paper is I can’t think up names for anyone or anything) by an unknown force. When all hope seems lost, three friends save the day. However, the fame and fortune that follows their heroics eventually tears their friendship apart, creating a ripple effect that will affect the empire for centuries to come. The third trilogy, set a few hundred years in the future, follows the sole daughter of the royal family. Earth and Planet X have formed an alliance and are the two cornerstones of the empire. The daughter leads a small expedition into the one section of the galaxy that has never been explored, and ends up releasing a horror that is unlike anything the empire has faced. I’ll admit it’s pretty damn derivative (seriously, in one first draft I had one of the villains reveal to the hero that he was his father), but I’m constantly making tweaks to it. (I need to make a change now, because the whole first act of the final move was basically _Gravity_). It’s basically an homage to all the Sci-Fi epics that I love. I know it’ll never get made, but I still like imagining watching it on the big screen. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/83 "2013-10-09T16:19:24Z")
I’d make a bio-pic of [Effa Manley](http://baseballhall.org/hof/manley-effa), Negro League team owner who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, starring Halle Berry or Kerry Washington. Her husband was supposedly a gambling kingpin. My other idea is a fantasy about the American Revolution set in the modern day. How would the Founding Fathers react to having the Continental Congress broadcast 24/7 on MSNBC? How would it be to have George Washington’s army labelled as terrorists by Fox News, etc. It needs work, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/84 "2013-10-09T17:17:07Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’ve been kicking around a space opera for about a decade now. Originally it started as one story that could basically summed up as “What if the aliens invading Earth were the protagonists of the story?” Now it’s become 3 separate trilogies, spanning several hundred years and following the ruling family of an empire that spans half the galaxy. > > The first trilogy, set in modern day, follows three brothers, the sons of the emperor. When one gets stranded and imprisoned during an exploratory mission on Earth, a rescue mission is mounted for him. When seems like an accident is really part of a military coup, and the brothers must form an alliance with a secret organization on Earth in order to save both their world and Earth. > > The second trilogy, set a few hundred years earlier, tells the story of how the Empire was formed, following an invasion of planet X (part of the reason why I haven’t put anything down on paper is I can’t think up names for anyone or anything) by an unknown force. When all hope seems lost, three friends save the day. However, the fame and fortune that follows their heroics eventually tears their friendship apart, creating a ripple effect that will affect the empire for centuries to come. > > The third trilogy, set a few hundred years in the future, follows the sole daughter of the royal family. Earth and Planet X have formed an alliance and are the two cornerstones of the empire. The daughter leads a small expedition into the one section of the galaxy that has never been explored, and ends up releasing a horror that is unlike anything the empire has faced. > > I’ll admit it’s pretty damn derivative (seriously, in one first draft I had one of the villains reveal to the hero that he was his father), but I’m constantly making tweaks to it. (I need to make a change now, because the whole first act of the final move was basically _Gravity_). It’s basically an homage to all the Sci-Fi epics that I love. I know it’ll never get made, but I still like imagining watching it on the big screen. Sounds like it might make a better novel than movie. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/85 "2013-10-09T18:38:42Z")
A Star Wars movie I thought would be interesting: “The Empire attacks Earth!” What if Earth today was attacked by the Empire? Assume they want conquest and don’t use the Death Star. Go by the Original Trilogy movies, not EU. I think Earth would stand a pretty good chance against them. Empire has better technology… however it may not be as effective against solid projectile weapons (like a shell or missile). The Falcon had no trouble getting through the Star Destroyer’s shields in ESB. All it takes is a kamikaze A-Wing, or in our case, an explosive-laden drone. Supersonic jets would be too fast for TIE fighter blasters and turrents. Our radar-guided missles would give us a huge advantage over long distances. SAMs firing at the TIE fighters. Much more accurate than the lasers. Many of the Empire’s ground weapons don’t have indirect or long-range fire capabilities. Tomahawks and batteries miles away would have easy pickings. We all know the Stormtroopers’ aim is bad, but they would get cut down by automatic weapons before they could recalibrate their aim. Stormtroopers’ armor is weak, if it can’t deflect Ewok rocks, bullets should have no problem. Nuclear weapons. Empire doesn’t have the equivalent of that. If a crashed A-wing can take out a super Star Destroyer, imagine what a well-placed nuke could do. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/86 "2013-10-10T01:08:22Z")
Set in Europe during WWII, a young Jewish girl is hiding with her family from the Nazis in a friend’s attic. Unfortunately they are discovered and sent to a concentration camp, where she soon dies. Her father, an eccentric scientist, survives. He vows revenge against those that murdered his daughter and, using equipment he found in an old castle, manages to bring her back to life to destroy those who destroyed her. The title?_The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein_ ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/87 "2013-10-10T01:21:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Set in Europe during WWII, a young Jewish girl is hiding with her family from the Nazis in a friend’s attic. Unfortunately they are discovered and sent to a concentration camp, where she soon dies. Her father, an eccentric scientist, survives. He vows revenge against those that murdered his daughter and, using equipment he found in an old castle, manages to bring her back to life to destroy those who destroyed her. The title?_The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein_ I would actually watch that movie. But I liked _Dead Snow_, so my vote might not count for much. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/88 "2013-10-10T01:28:15Z")
**Raising A Little Hell:** a young woman is seduced by a charming devil, and it turns out that it’s literal. Unfortunately for her she’s really pro-life and realizes that she has to carry the baby to term, even though she’s scared to death what’s going to happen with her half-evil offspring. The baby’s born and he looks normal so she’s relieved, at least until he’s about 18 months old and instrumental in the nanny’s death. Mom can’t prove it, but she worries. And her worry goes up as the body count rises. Determined to love the evil out of him, she nervously attempts to keep more people from dying, but there are a few failed attempts along the way. Towards the end Mom gets committed for believing that he’s evil despite trying to pray it away, and the hospital convinces her that it’s all in her mind. Armed with anti-psychotics, she’s released and has a reunion with her boy. She happily arrives at the foster home, though the foster mom doesn’t answer the door so Mom has to let herself in. The final scene is her son holding out his arms to her for a hug, and instead of a hug the camera slowly pans towards the floor: a vicious red puddle slowly crawling towards Mom, a pair of pumps with very still feet in them enter the scene, fade to black as mom screams “no!” It’s not a comedy, not a horror movie, but a dark drama with hints of both. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/89 "2013-10-10T01:28:26Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > How about cutting it down to one group. I don’t think I’d watch that for even 8 minutes. > > You ain’t getting responses because your ideas are highly derivative, and they suck. > > No one is going to steal your ideas. This coming from a user who hasn’t posted shit about any movie ideas _he/she_ might have. Sheesh. > [@Munch](#): > > Um…that’s not how it works. The sun goes supernova - in 8 minutes, everyone realizes it for about a millisecond, because “realizing” it also coincides with “the Earth being engulfed by the supernovaed Sun”. > > So in reality, you’d have to show what people are doing for that 10 millisecond period between “realizing the Sun has gone supernova” and “dying in a blazing inferno”. Your 120 minutes will likely entail a lot of screaming. No, you misunderstood. We see the last 8 minutes in various people’s lives _even though they don’t know it’s their last 8 minutes_. It’s not one of those ‘my life’s almost over, what do I do?’ kinda movies, it’s just a snapshot of various people and what they happened to be doing their last 8 minutes, oblivious to their impending fate. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/90 "2013-10-10T01:54:20Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > [SNIP]This coming from a user who hasn’t posted shit about any movie ideas _he/she_ might have. Sheesh. > > [SNIP]No, you misunderstood. We see the last 8 minutes in various people’s lives _even though they don’t know it’s their last 8 minutes_. It’s not one of those ‘my life’s almost over, what do I do?’ kinda movies, it’s just a snapshot of various people and what they happened to be doing their last 8 minutes, oblivious to their impending fate. I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth, but: I think that was **Cheshire Human** ’s point: normal, mundane, everyday life is boring. Why would I go to the movies to see that? I _live_ that shit everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/91 "2013-10-10T01:58:25Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > This coming from a user who hasn’t posted shit about any movie ideas _he/she_ might have. Sheesh. > > No, you misunderstood. We see the last 8 minutes in various people’s lives _even though they don’t know it’s their last 8 minutes_. It’s not one of those ‘my life’s almost over, what do I do?’ kinda movies, it’s just a snapshot of various people and what they happened to be doing their last 8 minutes, oblivious to their impending fate. I can walk down the street and see that for free. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/92 "2013-10-10T02:01:33Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth, but: I think that was **Cheshire Human** ’s point: normal, mundane, everyday life is boring. Why would I go to the movies to see that? I _live_ that shit everyday. Well, first of all, I got the impression that Cheshire was referring to more of my ideas in this thread than just the 8 Minutes on Earth one (he used plural, ‘ideas’). I’ve shared like 25 ideas in this thread, and gotten feedback on only a handful from a few users. Sheesh. Second of all: the 8 minutes in people’s lives we see will be profound, representative of different aspects of human existence, morality, good, evil, intelligence, stupidity, hatred, love et al, all of which is about to be vaporized (unknown to any of the characters). It’s a commentary on what man is in the universe and whether he should or shouldn’t be vaporized from it. Here’s another idea I have: **One Shot** : this guy has one shot to save his friend, but the movie is also filmed on a digital camera in one shot, no cutting or editing, which would be the first action movie to be filmed thusly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/93 "2013-10-10T02:04:54Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Here’s another idea I have: **One Shot** : this guy has one shot to save his friend, but the movie is also filmed on a digital camera in one shot, no cutting or editing, which would be the first action movie to be filmed thusly. Stuntwork without cutting away, getting all the stunts right the first time through with no time for setup or doing safety checks? Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/94 "2013-10-10T02:08:38Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Well, first of all, I got the impression that Cheshire was referring to more of my ideas in this thread than just the 8 Minutes on Earth one (he used plural, ‘ideas’). I’ve shared like 25 ideas in this thread, and gotten feedback on only a handful from a few users. Frankly, for someone claiming to have a lot of ideas for “major motion pictures”, most of your ideas wouldn’t even make it as art house “B” movies. They are highly derivative and mostly unworkable. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/95 "2013-10-10T02:11:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Stuntwork without cutting away, getting all the stunts right the first time through with no time for setup or doing safety checks? Impossible. Naysayer. 🙂 Also, I’m thinking that if a bad enough mistake happens, we can edit out the image of it on the final film, which isn’t cheating maybe because we’re not cutting the film we’re just erasing an image from the film. But even then, I probably wouldn’t do that either, I’d just leave in all mistakes and only change the final film by adding sound effects, music, and credit sequences. I was also thinking that the night we filmed it a live broadcast of the filming could be beamed by satellite to paying viewers, like through the net, Netflix, and even select movie theaters, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/96 "2013-10-10T02:14:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Frankly, for someone claiming to have a lot of ideas for “major motion pictures”, most of your ideas wouldn’t even make it as art house “B” movies. They are highly derivative and mostly unworkable. If you want to critique my ideas, do they one by one, with specific criticisms for each, don’t just label them all bad as a group. Now you know why I’m trying to start that website I posted about. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/97 "2013-10-10T02:14:45Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Naysayer. 🙂 > > Also, I’m thinking that if a bad enough mistake happens, we can edit out the image of it on the final film, which isn’t cheating maybe because we’re not cutting the film we’re just erasing an image from the film. But even then, I probably wouldn’t do that either, I’d just leave in all mistakes and only change the final film by adding sound effects, music, and credit sequences. I was also thinking that the night we filmed it a live broadcast of the filming could be beamed by satellite to paying viewers, like through the net, Netflix, and even select movie theaters, maybe. It can’t be made because no state in the union would allow something that unsafe to go into production, and no union member would go near it with a ten foot pole. ---
**Author:** ![Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Came_in_like_a_Wrecking_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/98 "2013-10-10T02:16:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It can’t be made because no state in the union would allow something that unsafe to go into production, and no union member would go near it with a ten foot pole. Then we’ll film in Canada, Mexico, \_\_\_\_, wherever. Gimme a break. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/99 "2013-10-10T02:22:00Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > If you want to critique my ideas, do they one by one, with specific criticisms for each, don’t just label them all bad as a group. Here are the three you put out as your best: > [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > The Towers: Titanic for the World Trade Towers. A woman engaged to be married to a jerk she doesn’t love (who works in the other World Trade Tower than she does) begins working at one of the World Trade Towers a week or two before 9/11. She meets and falls in love with a hunky pretty-boy Dicaprio type janitor/repairman who works in the same tower as her fiancé. He actually lives in the tower, because he’s homeless but friends with the people who own the World Trade Towers, and at night he has all the keys and is king of the World Trade Towers. He saves her in every way a person can be saved , then 9/11 happens and he dies like Jack in Titanic (not by freezing and drowning, though) and she survives and has a great life and doesn’t marry jerk. James Cameron would sue your ass for both stealing and defamation. > [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Shooting up Harris High: Three guys decide to shoot up their 10 year high school reunion (dark comedy, parody of school shootings and gun violence and lots of other things). They plan for a week, then go, realize their classmates have changed and high school is not the end of life, decide not to do it, then some terrorists come to shoot up the place and they use their guns to kill them and save the school. Then they get laid. Are you tryng on purpose to make a movie that people will protest at the _very_ few theatres that will show it? > [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Teen Movies Must Die: A Scream parody in which a masked killer kills off teenagers while reacting scenes from teen movies (Breakfast Club, Pump up the Volume, et al). Here’s an even better title for you: _Scary Movie_:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488/100 "2013-10-10T02:23:39Z")
> [@Came\_in\_like\_a\_Wrecking\_Ball](#): > > Then we’ll film in Canada, Mexico, \_\_\_\_, wherever. Gimme a break. Let me clarify it for you: _No stuntman with an I.Q. over 45 will go anywhere near such a dangerous production._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-ideas-for-movies-do-you-have/670488.md?page=6)