Red Dwarf set to engulf Australia

[The Colonel]

Red Dwarf set to engulf Australia
07:39 AEDT Wed Dec 15 2004


Red Dwarf: The Movie may be shot in Queensland next year, according to the actor who played Kryten in the cult BBC comedy.

Robert Llewellyn said Red Dwarf writer/director Doug Naylor spent time on the Gold Coast last year looking at the possibility of basing the production there.

"He (Naylor) would love to do it out here, certainly because of the facilities, because of the location possibilities and the finance," Llewellyn said from Queensland where he is visiting family.

"If he raises the money in the UK, then every pound goes further in Australia."

Red Dwarf screened on the BBC for eight series from 1988 to 1998.

It starred Llewellyn as Kryten, Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer, Craig Charles as David Lister, Danny John-Jules as The Cat and Norman Lovett as Holly.

According to entertainment website IMDB, Red Dwarf: The Movie will be set in the distant future where Homo Sapienoids, a fearsome combination of flesh and machine, have taken over the solar system and almost wiped out the human race.

The only survivors are the crews of long-haul space freighters that left Earth before the conflict began.

The Sapienoids attempt to wipe out all remaining humans and it is left to the Red Dwarf crew to save the day.

Llewellyn said Naylor had received several offers from larger movie houses for the film but he wanted to keep the project independent.

"We all had lunch with him (Naylor) just before I came out (to Australia) and he is so completely committed to the film," Llewellyn said.

"The script is brilliant.

"It is very frustrating from our point of view because we would really love to do it and it has been a long struggle for him to find the money because it is not a cheap film to make."

Llewellyn said the film would have a budget of roughly $30 million and would be shot at the Warner Brothers complex on the Gold Coast.

Red Dwarf has a strong cult following and is featured regularly at science-fiction conventions around the world.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=24589
©AAP 2004

 

[PJ Marshal]

omfg cant wait!

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Smegheads!

 

[S2H]

This has been in development for years. Hopefully it gets off the ground but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Feez_Giggles]

omg thats awesome!!!

i will be definately going to auditions for that if they need extras!!! how awesome

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

You f**king beauty!

 

[j_tig]

sounds awsome! they better not smeg it up but!

 

[Misanthrope]

Whooot! Can't wait. Red Dwarf is one of the funniest comedies of the past decade.

 

[blackfriday]

im not a sci-fi freak but red dwarf has always been good to watch.

 

[DJ Raida]

oh man! this movie will rock!

 

[Nuke]

I was reading on the Red Dwarf website a few months ago about all the problems they've encountered with trying to get this movie made. The most annoying and stupid was when a big-time american movie-maker agreed to do it. They worked out where and when it was to be filmed, ect ... but there was a catch. This movie-maker only agreed to do it if the British cast were replaced by high-profile american actors. Rob Grant / Doug Naylor (I can't remember which one it was) told him in no uncertain terms to get stuffed.

Good on him!
I bought Series 5 the other day, and on the special features disc, there is a doco called 'Dwarfing USA' which is all about when the yanks decided to do an american version of 'Red Dwarf'. It looks absolutely tragic. The jokes were shithouse and not funny, the storyline was apparently barely there, and Holly was played by Jane Leeves (Daphne Moon from 'Frasier').
It also mentions that the yanks made an american version of 'Fawlty Towers' ... without Basil Fawlty! They didn't like his attitude, so they got rid of him! Some people just have no idea.

 

[jed]

Red Dwarf's one of the greatest comedies ever, along with The Office, The Young Ones, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Ab Fab (among others). I was worried when they added Kochanski to the regular cast, and again when Rimmer left (thank goodness he returned), but I've got to admit I was disappointed with the last 2 seasons.

The only thing that went close to sinking to the depths of US remakes of classic British comedies was the "remastered" editions of Red Dwarf that were released about 10 years ago. :? :? :? At least the DVD's are of the original episodes.


Fingers crossed the movie goes ahead though - I've been hearing rumours of the movie for as long as I've been hearing about The Phantom Of The Opera - thank goodness it's finally been made, 7 days to go.......