Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Paging Mr. Herman, Mr. P.W. Herman

Not much going on in Advancement the last couple of days, so let's have this instead (from MTV):
[W]e may be on the cusp of the return of Pee-wee in the form of two feature films starring the wide-eyed perennial man-child. "I feel like the time is really ripe right now," [Paul] Reubens said. "A lot of the kids who grew up with the show are young adults. The college kids are middle-aged adults. I feel like I have enough of a built-in audience to make back an investment."

Reubens said he has two Pee-wee scripts ready to go. One is an extension of the famed TV show, "Pee-wee's Playhouse," only this story would take Pee-wee and his friends outside the house for the first time. "We never really went out into what we call puppet land," Reubens recalled of the show. "And this [film] takes place out of the playhouse. I think there are one or two scenes in the playhouse in the beginning. Basically it's all in a fantasy land," he said. "It's like a 'Wizard of Oz,' H.R. Pufnstuf epic adventure story." Reubens added that the story would bring back all of the original characters from the playhouse — live-action and puppets alike.

...Reubens said he had a backup plan nonetheless for the Pee-wee movies should he not be up for the part. "My second option is to have Johnny Depp play Pee-wee," he said. Pie-in-the-sky casting or a realistic plan, Reubens insisted that he's even spoken to Depp about it, saying that the actor told him, "Let me think about it."
Now that would truly Advanced. He could get tips from James Brolin.

1 comment:

Failgoat said...

I can't decide if Reubens' role in Blow was overt, Advanced, or just desperate.

The fact that he played the role spectacularly well (like, Best Supporting Actor-quality) makes it interesting. But I don't think Pee Wee Herman really qualifies as an "artist," which removes him from the Advancement debate. Interesting guy though.

By the way, I think Johnny Depp has the potential to be Advanced, but he's far too self-aware at this point in his career.