Walt Disney Productions is becoming a major player in Hawaii's film productions, planning to remake "Mighty Joe Young" on either Oahu or Kauai or both in May for about two weeks.
The studio last month filmed part of "George of the Jungle" on Oahu and has scouted the island several times for its "Krippendorf's Tribe" that's expected to film for one week, said Georgette Deemer, Hawaii Film Office manager. "Krippendorf's Tribe" is a comedy about an anthropologist who has fabricated the discovery of a lost tribe in New Guinea and is trying to pull off the fraud.
"Moon and Sixpence," an independent production to be directed by Christopher Hampton, who directed "Mary Reilly" starring Julia Roberts, is a dramatization of Somerset Maugham's book about a painter in Tahiti. The picture will film on Kauai for two weeks in May. And TriStar is expected to remake "Godzilla" sometime this summer primarily on Oahu, Deemer said.
Budgets for the films or revenue estimates for Hawaii from the productions are not yet available, Deemer said.
On the small screen, "SoulMates" an independent production for the Fox network, plans to film an hour-long pilot on Oahu in mid-March if the makers find "a particular" Waikiki hotel where the production can be based and most filming done, Deemer said. "SoulMates" - described as a story "about past lives" - will be filmed in Hawaii and San Francisco; no star has been announced.
"The only thing that could make this production go somewhere else is if they can't find the kind of hotel they need; they don't want to use the (Hawaii Film) studio," Deemer said.
The film office's confirmation of these productions followed yesterday's announcement by CBS Television that the network has ordered a "Hawaii Five-0" pilot to be filmed on Oahu. "Five-0" will be written and co-produced by Stephen J. Cannell, one of television's most successful screenwriters and producers. Filming is scheduled to begin March 17 and last about two weeks. The pilot will air during May's sweeps and CBS hopes to have the show on its fall schedule, Deemer said.
Film office officials learned about the "Five-0" remake about a week ago, shortly before CBS and Cannell Productions' executives came to Honolulu to rent the Hawaii Film Studio, meet with union leaders and hire crew members.
No star has been named for the $1.2-million-plus pilot, though that's expected this week, said Bob Rolsky, unit production manager and line producer.
The Hollywood Reporter reported yesterday that producers want Jack Lord, who starred in the show for 12 years as Steve McGarrett, to make a cameo appearance, but friends of the actor say he is too ill to appear. Other "Five-0" regulars may be asked to appear in the pilot, Deemer said. The show aired on CBS from 1968-80.
Rolsky is trying to find several "practical locations" to use as permanent sets for the pilot, including McGarrett's office and a police station, because there is no time to build the sets here before the production begins.
Producers are using as many local crew members who are qualified as possible - as many as 60, Rolsky said.
Dennis Dugan will direct the story, which is about the shooting of two "Five-0" members and the search for the attackers.