The Invisible Man Returns - Exclusive Report
The movies are now turning from real life to fictional characters and
invented heroes of the comics such as Superman, Batman and Spiderman. Thus it is
not surprising that a remake of The Invisible Man is production. It differs from
the others in that it is not based on the dark vision of the comic strip, but
the kitsch television series of the seventies.
Producer Russell Stratton: "I've been a fan all my life, used to read
the comic books and so on. Sadly I threw them all out; Jesus, some of them must
be worth well over a fiver each nowadays... I wanted to recapture some of that
wealth."
Stratton set up his own production company to see this dream come true, and
for the past decade it has produced toothpaste adverts. He then met the youthful
Scott McLaren, who had been the toad wrangler on Return to Broad Marsh, and felt
that here was the person who could bring the project to the silver screen.
"It's a very visual film," says Stratton, "and Scott is used to
working in the dark"
"We had a whole bunch of problems when I came along," recalls
McLaren. "Russell wanted to have Nicholson in the role, but that was no-go
to start with. My total budget was about two million, and Jack wouldn't come
cheap. This is a pity because Jack has such wonderful eyes. We had to settle
for, er, whatisname, a complete unknown in fact"
Some people might argue that the choice of the central actor is unimportant,
since the character is only seen until he invents the invisibility machine. I
put this to McLaren. "Well, you're wrong there. This guy is already
invisible at the kick-off. He's actually in a coma." So do we ever actually
see him? "That would be giving it away"
As far as I can make out the plot involves the doctors' attempts to revive
the invisible man, or to at least render him visible so that people don't trip
over him. The only way that this can be done (surgery and red paint having
failed) is to administer a potion of Hawaiian snake blood.
Filming began last June, but after three weeks it was realised that
something was missing from the film: action.
"It was all so kind of static," says Stratton. "The problem was
in the blasted title. Invisible Man. I wanted thousands. Colour. Spectacle.
Music: Like the films around in my youth - The Maltese Falcon and so on."
So began a period of arguments, threatened litigation, and the writers
having to draft all through the night for a week. At the end, the creative
differences were solved and McLaren took back what he said about Stratton and
his sister. And The Invisible Man - The Musical was born.
"Sure, I was skeptical at first," admits McLaren. "But the
producer knows best There's no place in the cinema for artistic integrity. What
hurt the most was the loss of John Cage's soundtrack. He had only produced four
minutes thirty three seconds' worth, but it was some of his best work. Even now
I hope to salvage some of it, in
a disco re-mix. But the film actually does work now. I watched some rushes this
morning, where we have a thousand invisible extras, all tap dancing in
unison."
It still looks as if McLaren can save the British film industry. Certainly a
lot of money will be made. Stratton: "Nowadays the only thing about movies
is the cinema release. We tend to lose a helluva lot on that The money comes on
TV sales and video. And merchandising, which Britain has been slow to capitalize
on in the past So we're gonna have badges, stickers and t-shirts. I'm currently
negotiating with a multi-national toy manufacture who wants to make plastic
miniatures of the Invisible Man, in various action poses. This is the way
forward. One recent film made twenty million bucks in just the first weekend
before it opened. I can see the day when the film won't be made; we'll just put
the hype on general release."
The Invisible Man - The Musical will open in London, 29th February 1990