As we already know, Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin are developing a feature film based on the 1970s hit sitcom “Good Times” – news that, as I recall, many of you weren’t too enthused by – and “Black-Ish” creator Kenya Barris was hired last summer to pen the proposed film’s scipt, apparently replacing Phil Johnston (“Wreck-It Ralph” and “Cedar Rapids”) who was initially hired.
No director is attached yet.
Rudin will produce the film with Eli Bush, with a story (as was initially revealed in 2013) that will be set in the 1960s, although we know nothing more than that, as in what specific story the film will tell (likely about a black family to start with), what approach the studio and producers take, whether it will be a straight comedy, more of a drama, or a mixture of the two; and also will all the characters from the TV series feature in the film? Questions, questions, questions…
And since it’ll be set in the 60s, I assume it will reflect the social and political climate of the time; there’s certainly plenty of relevant material to mine.
It really could go down any number of paths.
But there’s apparently a second “Good Times” movie in the works, with the original surviving cast members all involved in its making, and this one is not connected to the Sony project. A Kickstarter campaign was launched earlier this year to raise a whopping $1 million to get the film made. Initially, I thought this was maybe a joke, but it turns out that it’s very real. Although the campaign will fall far short of its goal, raising just $8470 with just 3 days left to go until it expires. Needless to say, unless there’s a sudden surge in contributions over the next 72 hours, the campaign won’t reach its $1 million target. And when you take a look at the campaign itself, you’ll probably see why. In short, it’s poorly put together, and tells us nothing about what to expect, other than just, “hey, we’re the original ‘Good Times’ cast, and we’re making a ‘Good Times’ movie, so help us out.”
Here’s the pitch: “From the day we walked off the set of ‘Good Times,’ forty years ago, all we have heard is ‘When are you going to have a “Good Times” reunion?’ Our audience have told us they need completion. They tell us we are not finished with the first Black T.V. family show. We want to see our favorite family show back on T.V. Well, here it is a chance to make that happen. We as a cast have always said maybe one day, we will have a reunion. That one day is here now. It is not just up to us, it is up to our millions of fans who have the power to make it happen. During these forty years as a cast we have been giving a numerous amount of scripts that were written about what happened to the Evans’ family. The ideas are countless, but as a group we have made a decision on where each character should go and what this long awaited script should be about. We are bursting at the seems to bring this exciting movie to you. All that we can tell you at this point is that it will be exactly what you expect from us and more. I am sure you will agree that the ones who can tell the stories of each character are those who have lived with those characters for forty years. That would be each one of us in the cast. Therefore in this movie we will have great input into what our characters will be about now. The success of kick-starter will give us as a cast control of what this movie will be about. Therefore bringing great satisfaction to our audience and to us as a cast who wants to bring nothing but the best to you. We as the cast have decided to go on the Kick-starter website because we had heard this would be excellent in making the dream of a ‘Good Times’ Movie Re-Union happen. We checked it out, studied the success of some of our favorite artists who have decided to bring their projects right here on kick-starter and have been very successful in seeing their projects become a reality through the help of their fabulous fans. This is exactly what we want our fans and ‘Good Time’ lovers to do for our project. Support us in making this movie happen. You will become an active part of bringing this generational movie to the big screen.”
Their beloved fans who they say have been badgering them about “Good Times” closure haven’t quite come through, given that the campaign hasn’t been able to raise even just 1% of its target, with 3 days left.
The campaign doesn’t really tell us much, notably the creative talent behind it (writer, director), and some idea of what the story will be. I think a campaign that’s better put together might draw more interest.
Watch the video pitch below, and if you’d like to add to the $8470 that’s been contributed so far, click here (although, unless a ton of money is given in the next 3 days, this is very likely a dead campaign. I also wonder about rights issues here. I don’t think there can be 2 different “Good Times” movies):
