This is not an original idea. I swiped it from an old book. The idea is simple:
Change ONE LETTER in a movie title to produce a new one
(optional) Identify the new cast
Identify the setting and period
Give a brief synopsis of the new plot
Try not to use the exact new title as someone else has used, but changing ANOTHER letter in the same original title is okay
Try to have at least one feature in common with the original as in setting, theme, character(s), period, etc.
Since they’re so quick to produce sequels, prequels, slightly altered plots, and even reuse the same cast in something that’s a spinoff, why not just give the titles a retread?
Example 1:
Gone With the Wine
James Woods, Marlee Matlin, Chill Wills, Zasu Pitts, Pee Wee Herman, Jesse Jackson, Victor Mature
Turn of the century California
An old Italian immigrant (Chill Wills) fears loss of the family’s vineyard in the upcoming Mexican uprising by Pancho Villa (James Woods). He instucts his opera singing daughter Valsetta (Marlee Matlin) to keep the old place at all costs. She enlists the help of her slave Philadelphius Neames (Jesse Jackson) and the straw boss Garner Ted Leech (Pee Wee Herman) to organize the itinerant farmers into a guerrilla troop that can help to hold off the approaching army. Valsetta’s younger sister Melissa (Zasu Pitts) is pregnant with her father’s child and they discover water on the property that has an oily smell. Unfortunately, wealthy cattle baron Lorne Brown (Victor Mature) needs the vineyard’s land for expanding his new-fangled idea of a shopping mall, and attempts to sidetrack the itinerant farmers to help with the paving.
Excample 2:
Capablanca
Antonio Banderas, Kim Novak, Chubby Checker, Geraldo Rivera, Doris Day, Jon Stewart
Pre-WWII Cuba
Jose Raul Capablanca (Antonio Banderas) owns a combination coffee shop/chess club in Havana. His old girlfriend Elsa (Kim Novak) and her new lover Vincent LaRue (Geraldo Rivera) are in town to open a new casino. Chief Inspector Louis B. Minor (Chubby Checker) and his assistant Virgil (Jon Stewart) are trying to uncover the syndicate connection between Capablanca’s operation and that of the nearby bordello owned my the madam Cloretta von Sweet (Doris Day). Plot thickens quickly as war breaks out.
In honor of digging up an old, neglected thread: Forrest Bump. A continuation of the story, in which Forrest’s connections through his early stock in Apple send him an internet ready computer, with a blazing fast 1200 baud modem. Quickly, Forrest gets addicted to BBS, and stubbornly refuses to let any thread he begins die.
How about My Fair Lads, a combination of two prior films, in which Rex Harrison’s Prof. Higgins wagers that he can turn the lot of youthful pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger into a group of young gentlemen. Musical numbers abound.
Or Star Cars, Pixar’s fanciful sendup of George Lucas’ epic space opera.
Smither – Montgomery Burns’ sycophantic aide is realy an alien creature trying to take over the world. The Grunge Sarah Michelle Gellar and Bill Pullman are the Westerners pulled into a Japanese horror film in which a family tries to become a Pacific Northwest-style band. But it takes more than whiteface, wild hair, and making inhuman noises. Pyrites of the Caribbean – Captain Jack Sparrow hunts for treasure, but it’s Fool’s Gold
Sim City – It’s murder, mayhem, Shooting, Castrations, cartoony violence, and YOU get to program it!
Dial M for Mulder: the sequel to the X-Files movie.
X: A pronographic superantihero takes on the fascist government in 21st century Britain.
Duck Stop: Zeppo Marx tries to get his girl to come home to Idaho, aided and hindered by Rufus T Firely, Sr Chiccolini and his harp-playing sidekick. MArgaret DuMoint guest stars as Grace.
King King – Due to an error in the line of descent from the throne and a scheduling conflict after the death of Elizabeth II the noted CNN talk show host has a brief stint as monarch of England. Special guest OJ Simpson explains a simple way to get out of the gig.
**Pocky ** – John Belushi stars in this inspiring tale of a washed-up sumo wrestler given one shot at the championship title.
Shitty Chitty Bang Bang – A crazy inventor turns a wrecked Pinto into a magical flying wonder car. It blows up during its first test drive, incinerating everyone inside. Starring Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise.
A previous thread of this type gave rise to one of my all-time favorite lines on the board:
Winnie-the-Pooh’s Homeric journey through the depression era south in:
Follows the adventures of Autolycus after he has a plexiglass dome installed in his head and finds himself surronded by sycophantic Dopers seeking the wisdom of his new enlightenment.
