John Johnson’s PLAN 9, a remake of Ed Wood’s infamously bad PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, was hyping itself up for a release on 09/09/09. Since it missed that date by a long shot, we haven’t heard much from the flick other than a teaser trailer (below). Now we have a whole slew of updates.
The filmmakers scoured YouTube for talent and have recruited the talents of some popular internet stars, including “The Angry Video Game Nerd” James Rolfe, Nigahiga’s Ryan Higa, and Chad Vader’s Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda.
A web series entitled “Criswell Predicts” has been launched to tie into the film. They are based on the old television show of the same name, which starred The Amazing Criswell (who appeared as himself in the original PLAN 9). You can watch a slew of the series’ brief episodes on YouTube.
There is also a film competition being held. From now until March 20th, filmmakers can submit 1-3 minute takes on the original PLAN 9. Ten finalists will be selected to make another 5 minute short based in the same universe. The top five, as voted by the fans, will be featured on the remake’s DVD release. Details on the contest can be found on Facebook.
Finally, John Johnson has plans to make the movie public domain after the investors and distributors make their money from the film. This means that any website will be freely and legally able to host the movie. It’s not a very good business plan, but Johnson says, “This is the best way to see Ed’s vision live on.”
Sounds like these guys have a lot of respect and admiration for the original, which is always good for a remake. Now let’s just hope they can get things going production-wise.