HOLY SHIT! Simpsons Movie!

[Unchainme]

Posted 4/2/2006 1:12 PM

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'The Simpsons' to hit big screen
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — The Simpson's are finally d'oh-ing the big screen thing.

After year's of speculation, rumors and false starts, The Simpsons Movie will hit theaters July 27, 2007, the show's producers tell USA TODAY.

"It only took us a decade and a half," says Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, which first aired in 1989 and is the longest running sitcom on television. "We decided that this year, instead of taking a vacation, we'd make a movie."

Fans of the show will get a glimpse of the movie this weekend in the form of a 20-second trailer attached to Ice Age, which opens Friday.

"We didn't want to do a boring press release," says writer and producer James Brooks. "We wanted to do something special to show the Simpsons would be in actual theaters, with fancy glass counters."

But that's about as much as the show's brain trust is willing to reveal about the film, which has a finished screenplay and began voice recordings this month.

The creators say that they are even considering dummy scripts to throw Internet spies off the track.

"If I open my mouth, I'm a dead man," says writer-producer Al Jean. "All I can say is that it will be animated. We've decided not to do a live action Simpsons using children."

But Jean promises that "99% of the characters that the fans love will be in the movie. You might not see barfly No. 3, but everyone else is going to be in it."

With the exception of Phil Hartman, who played a number of characters, including the beloved incompetent lawyer Lionel Hutz, until he was shot to death in 1998.

"We'd never bring back his characters," Jean says. "He'll always be the one and only voice for them."

The film likely likely be rated PG-13 for language slightly coarser than you're used to on the TV show, the executives say. But don't expect much different in the way of tone or humor that's made the Simpsons a hit.

"We didn't become a success with violence and nudity," Brooks says. "Well, maybe some bare butts."

I always thought this was like their Chinese Democracy, But they're auctually going to do it!

[bueno bob]

Glad to hear they're not doing anything with Hartman's characters...that's a show of class.

[Terry]

Can't say as I'm all that stoked about it anymore. Show kinda peaked for me in 1994-1998, but was absolutely brilliant from about season 3 until season 8.

It's been so goddamn awful for so long now that if the current batch of writers and storyline people who have been doing the show for the last several years are involved in it, I'm gonna pass.

Seems really odd for a movie to be coming out after the show is so obviously past its' prime. Will be interesting to see how it ends up doing, box office-wise.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I wouldn't say it is godamn awful. True, its not as funny as it once was, but its still better than most other long-running TV shows.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

Awesome news! Thanks a lot!

[Terry]

Originally posted by Shaun Ponsonby
I wouldn't say it is godamn awful. True, its not as funny as it once was, but its still better than most other long-running TV shows.

I dunno, dude.

When that show was peaking, the humor was being thrown at the viewer so fast that one almost didn't have time to catch all the jokes (I always found when I saw them a second or even third time I'd pick something up that I hadn't noticed before)...

...think a lot of it is a 'seen that already' response I have to the newer ones. And there have been more than a few episodes lately where I'm just not laughing.

[DlocRoth]

Love the Simpsons.....

Always have, always will...

That being said, you still won't see my ass at the theater.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Originally posted by Terry
I dunno, dude.

When that show was peaking, the humor was being thrown at the viewer so fast that one almost didn't have time to catch all the jokes (I always found when I saw them a second or even third time I'd pick something up that I hadn't noticed before)...

...think a lot of it is a 'seen that already' response I have to the newer ones. And there have been more than a few episodes lately where I'm just not laughing.

Its still funnier than, I don't know...Frasier was towards the end. The last series was funnier than the couple before that, but it wasn't as funny as The Simpsons is today, and The Simpsons has been going longer than Frasier.

And, yes, there is a lot of re-hashing old ideas going on-and it is a bit hit-and-miss sometimes these days. But, then, there is only so far you can take it, isn't there? And, as long as they are getting ratings, why should they stop?