He Who Laughs Last is Lost in the Land

The Land of the Lost movie is in post-production. Directed by Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket) from a script by Dennis McNicholas (The Ladies Man) and Chris Henchy (Entourage), the film stars Will Ferrell as Rick Marshall, Danny McBride as Will, Anna Friel as Holly and Jorma Toccone as Chaka. Scheduled to be released June 5, 2009. Estimated budget was $100 million. It's being called an adventure-comedy and LOTL fans have long been upset at the casting of Ferrell which will likely turn the formerly sober and capable patriarch role of Rick Marshall into a bumbling buffoon. Still, Ferrell is reputed to be a big fan of the original show so maybe he'll want to retain some dignity to the character and cut back on his usual slapstick. Then again, Universal Pictures' website refers to the character as having "questionable smarts" and describes the Land of the Lost as "a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedy." Wonderful, just frakking wonderful. :(

In the film, Rick Marshall is a disgraced paleontologist trying to prove his far-out theories about pre-historic life. Along with his research assistant, Holly and a survivalist named Will Stanton (that's right, Marshall, Will and Holly are no longer related) are sucked into a time-space vortex to the Land of the Lost where they encounter dinosaurs, Sleestak and Chaka. I actually don't mind the change to the family dynamic and the idea of Rick Marshall being a paleontologist (instead of a park ranger as in the show) is a neat idea. The Sleestaks also look very cool, instantly recognizable as based on the original creatures but with the costumes much more detailed and realistic; they also shoot spines from their skin instead of carrying those pathetic crossbow thingies they used in the series...hopefully their aim has improved as well!

Visit my Land of the Lost Movie Page where I will frequently be adding links to articles and photos about the film.