Screen Rant » the prisoner

Chris Nolan Leaves ‘The Prisoner’ (For Batman 3?)

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:59:34 +0000

Sure sign that you’re a smash-hit as a Hollywood director: people start analyzing every move you make. A lot of bloggers have been doing just that to Chris Nolan, ever since the first doubts arose about the acclaimed director returning to the Batman franchise after The Dark Knight.

When Nolan announced that his next film after Dark Knight was going to be the sci-fi thriller Inception, people were like, “Ok, he wants to do something non-Batman for a minute, that’s cool.” However, when word started circling that Nolan was also eyeing a big-screen adaptation of the 60s TV series The Prsioner, people started getting worried that Batman 3 was either a long way off or that the film was moving ahead without Nolan.

Now comes word that Christopher Nolan has left the The Prisoner, leading people to immediately jump to the conclusion that Batman 3 is the reason.

The guys over at Cine Fools were the ones to scoop this tidbit of news. While attending the Sydney, Australia, premiere of Funny People they caught up with the film’s producer, Barry Mendel, to ask him about the status of The Prisoner. That’s when Mendel let this little jewel slip:

Chris Nolan has dropped out of it but we have a first draft by David and Janet Peoples who wrote Twelve Monkeys and David wrote Unforgiven and it’s a good draft and we’re working on the script right now.

Note the way that Mendel phrases it, “dropped out…” If you know Chris Nolan, you know that he’s pretty reliable (read: dedicated) about the commitments he makes as a director. So if he WAS attached to The Prisoner, and suddenly detached himself from the project, there would have to be a pretty good reason for him to do so.

Could the lure of Batman 3 be too strong for Nolan to put off any longer?

We already had Gary Oldman spilling the beans at Comic-Con that the next Bat film would start shooting next year – only to have him retract the statement almost immediately afterward (must’ve pissed off somebody at Warner Bros.). Now comes this news about Nolan leaving The Prisoner… I’m not saying… I’m just saying…

Of course, the biggest indicator in all this has to be Screen Rant’s recent piece discussing what Batman 3 will be about. Surely Nolan and Co. read that article and the creative juices just flooded their brains!

Hey, I can imagine, can’t I?

For now this is all just speculation, but rest assured we’ll keep you up to date on every single move Chris Nolan makes from now until the cameras start rolling on Batman 3.

Source: Head over to Cine Fools for more info about the status of the The Prisoner movie.

The Making Of ‘The Prisoner’ Remake

Niall Browne — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:10:48 +0000

When a TV mini-series stars both Jesus Christ and Gandalf you have to have sit up and take notice.

When it’s also based on an iconic television series it becomes “must see TV.”

Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen will star in a “re-imagining” of the late Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisioner for AMC.

The new production would appear to have a slick modern sheen, but it seems to lack the odd twisted sixties drug trip vibe of the original British series.

The Prisoner followed “Number 6″ (McGoohan), a retired secret service agent who was kidnapped and left in “The Village,” a strange paradise ruled by “Number 2″ and a mysterious giant balloon-like ball. The exteriors to the show were originally shot in idyllic Portmeirion village, Wales. The new Caviezel (Number 6) version with Ian McKellen (Number 2) was shot in the more exotic and less iconic Cape Town, South Africa – which appears to swap the small town location for vast desert landscapes.

You can check out a behind the scenes video below where cast and crew discuss bringing McGoohan’s baby into the 21^st Century.

While the new six part version of The Prisoner has a fantastic cast and good locations (as well as $1 million per episode) it just seems a bit generic. I’m sure it’ll be good TV, but I don’t think that it will hold a candle to the original.

I hope McGoohan’s legacy isn’t tarnished – the star/producer of the original declined a cameo in the series, while Christopher Nolan is circling a film version of the show – as did Mel Gibson before him.

The Prisoner airs on AMC in November 2009.

Source: AMC TV (hat tip to Ain’t It Cool)

Prisoner Star Patrick McGoohan Dies

Niall Browne — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:06:31 +0000

2009 brings its first cinematic and television casualty. Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner and Danger Man fame has passed away at the age of 80 years old.

McGoohan died following a short illness at his Los Angeles home.

In the 1960’s Patrick McGoohan starred as John Drake in Danger Man, and then as Number 6 in Danger Man’s unofficial spin-off The Prisoner, a surreal but iconic show that has gone down in cult-legend despite only lasting seventeen episodes. The success of Danger Man and The Prisoner led to McGoohan being offered the role of James Bond, however the actor turned down the offer, refusing to be typecast in spy roles.

An Emmy and Bafta award-winner, McGoohan starred in several Columbo episodes between the mid-70’s and late 90’s, and Peter Falk recently stated that the British actor was his favorite co-star in the detective series.

In recent years, McGoohan played small but pivotal roles in films such as A Time To Kill, The Phantom and Mel Gibson’s Oscar winning 1995 film, Braveheart, in which he played King Edward. Other notable roles were in the 1960’s thriller Ice Station Zebra and a cameo in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons, in which he spoofed his Prisoner role.

The actor will be sorely missed with his sophisticated gravitas adding much to television and film over the last fifty years.The Screen Rant team would like to offer our deepest condolences to Mr. McGoohan’s family and friends in their time of grieving.

You can learn more about Patrick McGoohan’s celebrated career from his IMBD page.