By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Brendan Fraser practices a jump before doing a little in-air
wrestling with Greg Cruttwell, left, who plays
Max in "George of the Jungle."
Brendan Fraser practices a jump before doing a little in-air
wrestling with Greg Cruttwell, left, who plays
Max in "George of the Jungle."
"The jungle theme seems to be rearing its head here," said an optimistic Georgette Deemer, anager of the state's Hawaii Film Office.
Disney just last week finished filming "George of the Jungle" on Oahu and three more "jungle" theme films - all remakes of earlier pictures - are being seriously considered for Hawaii and, perhaps more importantly, so is a television series.
(While feature films can bring in substantial revenue there duration here is far more brief than an ongoing series which normally spends about $1 million an episode.)
Disney officials also are considering filming "Mighty Joe Young" here, having twice scouted Oahu and Kauai; then there is Tri-Star's "Godzilla"; and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" by Ivan Reitman's production company, Northern Lights.
Producers agree that Hawaii's renewed popularity is due to its most obvious asset: "location, location, location."
"The comfort level is coming back about Hawaii," Deemer said. "We can give (productions) the locations they need - like jungles in the United States - without them having to travel to foreign countries. And we have an excellent, experienced crewbase."
Nothing has been finalized while producers taken an umpteenth look at their budgets. But if the productions get the green light to film in Hawaii, "Mighty Joe Young" and "Godzilla" "most likely" would start this summer, and the television series for Universal-MCA, "Roar," would begin in March, Deemer said.
"George of the Jungle" cast and crew await directions before
filming sequences on a rope bridge at the Diamond Head studios.
"Roar's" setting is supposed to be Ireland some time in 1200 and 1500 AD period and has a "Braveheart-like" theme.
Hawaii's competition in landing the series is Oregon, where producers like all the lush, open space but are concerned about the foul weather.
IATSE's Burns believes it's a "strong possibility" that "Roar" will be filmed in Hawaii. He called Beanes, who Burns said he has known since "Magnum, P.I." when Beanes was first assistant director, "a straight shooter."
"Dave likes Hawaii and people like him," Burns said. "He was responsible for (Hawaii) getting the "Atlantis" movie of the week production so he knows what we can do."
While Deemer estimated the television series would spend about $1 million an episode, Burns said the figure is closer to $1.4 million, considerably more than the $700,000-$800,000 an episode price tag for the last series filmed here "One West Waikiki."
Deemer estimated the three films and the series would account for about $25 million in productions revenues: 13 episodes of "Roar" at $1 million each, $13 million; Godzilla, $7 million; and "Might Joe Young," $5 million.