As we all know, Hollywood is slowly but surely working up the courage to make a film version of the greatest talking horse comedy in the history of entertainment, Mr. Ed, by making film versions of every other popular 1960s sitcom. (They figure that if they practice by making movies out of The Brady Bunch, Lost In Space, The Addams Family, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, Car 54, Where Are You?, etc. by the time they attempt Mr. Ed they'll have the whole translation-to-film thing down.)
The latest in this interminable line of test runs is Gilligan's Island. Obviously.
From Variety:
The seven castaways of "Gilligan's Island" have found a home at Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment.
The studio and production company have begun development on a feature film based on the iconic CBS sitcom, which generated solid ratings during its three seasons between 1964 and 1967 and then found something close to eternal life in syndication.
Plans are for a contempo take on the well-known premise and characters, with the studio and the Schwartzes' blessing Copeland's initial idea for the screenplay. Roven told Daily Variety that he's hoping to start production as early as next year but won't move forward on seeking a director or cast until Copeland's script is completed.
"The characters are so good," Roven added. "We think it's going to be a great story to transport these cultural icons to the modern day."
It does sound like a great story: transporting the Gilligan's Island characters to the modern day, then putting them on a boat that crashes on a deserted island where it doesn't matter what year it is. Very Contempo Casuals.