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I don't see why anyone can be skeptical about Kevin's last mention of the Rifts Movie. Work is being done on a script. Will Jerry Bruckheimer like the script enough to do a Rifts Movie? We don't know. We can't predict the future. Hollywood is... well, Hollywood. They exist in a phase-shifted reality from the rest of us. I'm hopeful since this is the second writer to tackle the script writing (after David Franzoni, who wrote Gladiator), so the second time at bat may give Jerry what he's looking for. I don't think he'd try again if he was no longer interested in getting it done.



Alex Marciniszyn

After 20 years, I don't know about you Alex, or anyone else, but I am skeptical of anything that is said "officially" in regards to pretty much anything in regards to Palladium.

Don't get me wrong, I love the compnay and the basic premise of all it's products (though like many I house rule a CRAPload of stuff in each setting) but I honestly cannot remeber the last time a book I wanted (aside from a Rifter) came out when it was supposed to come out. Until I see and Official Trailer from Bruckheimer/Disney I won't hold my breath unfortunately.

Thank you Al for the update. We're all sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the announcement.

I understand that this is totally out of Palladium's hands and at the mercy of Hollywood, so we'll just be patient. After all Lord of the Rings was in development for 10 or 12 years before the movies got the greenlight.

The rights to lord of the rings was bought during the late 60's Maryann mostly to prevent other movie companies from getting the licensing rights, in fact at one point in time there were talks of the Beatles playing the lead rolls in the movie.

Again thank you Alex, your the first real official person I've seen help us with whats going on.

The skepticism is probably about the lack of visible progress, and (more suspiciously) the lack of any official announcements at all from anyone except Palladium Books. "They're working on a script" is where they were in 2004-ish, which was about the last time any sources other than Palladium ever said boo about this project in public.And since every statement on every subject in a typical press release from Kevin is wall-to-wall enthusiasm regardless of what the actual news is or whether there's even anything concrete being said or not, it's kinda hard not to take it all with a grain of salt and wait to see whether anything comes of it.

There were a few books that got out on time last year and there were even two that came out early

Of course, there were also several that were late, but it wouldn't be Palladium if there weren't

Just curious as to what books were on time/early in comparison to their original advertised release date? Also I did specify any books I wanted not everything....

It would be nice to see or rather hear about some actual progress. I have been sitting on the edge of my seat since 2004 and quite frankly my butt is starting to cramp.

What part of this is out of Palladium's control don't some people get? The ball in in Hollywood's court, as long as they keep renewing the option and working on script and what not thats a good thing.

When they get a script they like they will complete the option, move forward with pre-production and production on the movie. Kevin doesn't have control over when that will happen, no one at Palladium does.

It is the mentality of if I scream loud enough some one will look at me Maryann. The issue is simple Some people do not understand the business and wants to complain about it.

I have friends in the business who I ask about the turn around from script to post-production and they told me it can vary from two to five years alone so as with every thing I will wait, and I will savor it when it comes till then, I have my own imagination and the great games that Palladium has posted already.

Hardly a diplomatic way of putting it.



I'm curious about what such insiders would say about a project that hasn't even seen pre-production for over five years though.

There is a whole slew of reasons that this movie concept could be back burner for sometime including Disney priorities (example. Pirates 4).
But till then I made this to get by on. My own Fan made trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe7lEicECv4

I did a trailer of sorts for my Robotech is the precursor to rifts project. I should upload it and put the link here at somepoint...

I have never, ever thought that Rifts was a combination of Mortal Kombat, Blade, Underworld, and Hellboy 2. As such, I would never see the movie if that was the actual trailor. Not saying you did a bad job on the edit, just that particular trailor would disinterest me as a Rifts fan.

Here is hte psuedo trialer I did way back using 2 VCRs and a Handicam with rudimentary opeing on my monitor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7Fwi57W5M

First, sorry. I am sincerely sorry that I disinterested you with some of my taste.
Second, That was a terrible editing job. It was something that I threw together. I put something together to express some of the things I want in the rifts movie (out of the stuff I could find quickly). I did this in a day. Editing Is what I do for a living.
Third, Most trailers are not set up the way I put together my creation.
They have much more story line and better effects meant to flush out the story but since I was working with out any of the above, this is what I got.
Forth, I don't even know if you saw my Fan trailer since mine never once had scenes from Mortal Combat or Hellboy 2.
What would you have done different?

for the record MINE is a bad editing job and done with 2 vcr's and a handicam LOL

LOL. I like the spider walker at the end. It is amazing the material you can find. I forgot about the Merlin stuff. In the trailer I did, I tried to take a Coalition POV.
Thanks for posting your Fan Trailer. The more trailers and follow ups we get posted hopefully we draw more attention to the cause.

Well I am hoping to do something in the future using alot of DVDs and what not to make another one using the same music.....

Point 1: It's not your taste that disinterested me. In fact, up until about 1:48 in, I was hooked. It was the worldview collage from the specific movies to make a Rifts world...it's just not what I have ever envisioned Rifts to be like in the nigh on 20 years since I started playing. I don't really know how to describe "my" Rifts in communicable terms.

Point 2: Not by my standards. I've seen some abhorrent edit jobs, and even some that I would call decent that are still sub-par to your video.

Point 3: Not really. I see far more trailors that leave me going "***????" than I do with any story flesh.

Point 4: It was Hellboy 1, not 2, I got them backwards for a minute. And the part that I equated to Mortal Kombat was at 3:02 (I admit that I have no clue where that footage is from, but it looked MK to me)

I don't know what I'd do "better" or "different," as like I said, I don't know how to convey the Rifts that's lived in my brain for 2 decades. It's just not what you did. But, that's your vision. Didn't ever say it was wrong, it's just not mine.

The place that I envisioned was a Coalition perspective of the world around and in Tolkeen during the end of the war. So, I believe thats what is misinterpreted. I was just trying to shorten it from the 7 minutes the original was concept, it got out of hand fast. Rifts is such a grand world its hard to describe in under 3-4 minutes.
The part you saw was from I believe Forbidden Kingdom.
I know what you mean though. I've been playing since ... I don't remember when 89ish, and I went over the Trailer dozens of times and know it doesn't convey the full scope of the Rifts® World but how do you it's so vast.

It would be easier to do CGI than to do all of this other stuff.

My crazy thought is that KS needs to grab some good artists and have this turned into an anime before it becomes a live-action film. Maybe that way, a writer would have some inspiration and JB would have a better idea of what RIFTS is all about.

Of course, KS would have to retain rights for this to happen, and since that's already a moot point, I just blew a lot of hot air into the forum for no good reason. Darn me and my 20/20 hindsight.

I couldn't have said it better myself. This statement holds true on any subject.

Throwing hands up and blaming it on 'Hollywood' is all well and good. Palladium (and specifically the boss-man) has a reputation among the greater role-playing community for shifting blame, even when honesty would work better.

But a number of Intellectual Properties end up on the film studios' auction block. And many I.P. holders have the ability to come back to a contract that hasn't seen any real improvement and cancel it. It's placed into the wording of a number of I.P. contracts. Either the studio runs with your idea, or the movie rights return to the I.P. owner. If Palladium signed a deal that didn't have such a clause, this waiting period we are in is Palladium's fault.


Palladium's I.P. may not be hot enough for top billing, but if Disney is too busy for the movie, find another production company. And if Palladium can't because they signed too binding of a deal, it is their own fault. If they won't because no one else even pretends to be interested, then it's 'Hollywood's' fault.

Kickstart it (It's less than fifteen years old and Lemuria is getting the program).

And Palladium Books is Palladium Books.

Narcissism means "never having to say you're sorry."

I'd hold my breath in anticipation, but suicide is against my belief system.

lol if Bruckheimer has the cards how is it Palladium's fault that he hasn't done anything with this yet? When an extension is signed Palladium can do NOTHING until Bruckheimer says he's done and doesn't want to extend this any further. Yes its been 10 years and yes Bruckheimer has come back every year and extended this thing, he apparently doesn't want to let it go. This is out of Palladium's hands, the only other thing they could do is when/if he comes back this year and wants another extension they could say no, then go to the other producers who have expressed interest and start again, would this mean it would get made? Nope, it just means another producer would have their shot at doing exactly what JB has been doing for quite a while now. I guess its like they always say, it ain't over till the fat lady sings... we'll see what JB and company have to say when renewal time rolls around.

Thank you Maryann. My next request is a big one, but hey, I've found that asking the right questions can move mountains.

Since Bruckheimer has come back every year and shown interest, would it be possible a Palladium Official (such as Kevin) simply asks the man "What needs to happen for this to happen? We have a bunch of people waiting on it and they're blaming me for nothing being done!" and get us an official quote posted up on Palladium in a Mummer.

I mean, a simple quote from Bruckheimer would liven this forum up a lot. Is it just a matter of script, what sort of movie does Bruckheimer WANT to make about Rifts? I think something like the science-fiction/fairy tale blend formula that the original Starwars movies had on a Dark Crystal backdrop with a Return of the Jedi underbelly would blow peoples minds!

And THAT can only be done in Rifts.

The problem thus far has been finding someone who can come up with a script that goes WOW! They're really working diligently on trying to get this done. Unfortunately, the way hollywood works is no one says anything until they're ready to. As for what he wants to make, a blockbuster of course! Believe me no one wants this to happen more than everyone at Palladium!

Oh I know! Not only would it be money in your pocket its awesome to see your work on the big screen! Uhh.. *coughs* WOULD be awesome to see your work up on the big screen.

If you could find out what our friend WANTS out of the film (other than the money) and if you could knock out a few lines about the kind of thing you guys are hoping to see then...

*nonnonchalantly waves his hands around*

MAYBE I can bounce the idea off a few people I know and solve the script problem. When you get past all the semantics you don't need a GOOD script, you need the script that Bruckheimer wants, then in production you change it to make it good.

Or at least... that's how I'd get it greenlit.

He wouldn't have kept his claws in it if there wasn't SOMETHING about it that kept him interested. Find out what that is, cater to it, build upon it, get our movie out. Deep down everyone's got a little bit of fanboy in them, you've just got to figure out how to bring it out.

Its funny, I actually looked around the forums because I'm a long-time lover of RIFTS and a professional screenwriter. I'd recently found several old source-books ("phase world" being my favorite), and I was thinking about getting my management company to check into the availability of the property for development.

From an insiders perspective, I can tell you that its terribly difficult to get a project from "development" to "production.pro" I'm just finishing up a two-year process of developing a beloved intellectual property for a young british actress. Two years, and roughly nine drafts. I was even required six months ago to tear the whole script apart, and rebuild it. Another script that I actually finished three years ago just went back out into "shop mode", even though I thought the thing was dead (it probably still is).

I think the hassle with Rifts is that its a very "niche" property. Financiers don't trust stuff that has a low-profile, especially if its going to be "effects heavy". A Rifts film could easily be a 100 million (plus) project. Good luck gettting a group of financiers to pitch in on a property that only a few thousand people are heavily invested in. And further, a lot of the packaging of films depends on a rather complex arrangement called "foreign pre-sales". Over-seas box office often generates more revenue than domestic, especially genre films (for example, take a look at the domestic bomb "the Sorcerer's Apprentice", with an eye towards its overseas box-office). Again, I'm guessing, but I'm pretty sure Rifts doesn't have much of a presence in Asia, either.

You need to be able to "pitch" a project to interested parties in a sentence. A single sentence. Sounds like hyperbole, but its not. And Rifts would be a tough "logline" to kick out in a sentence. And remember, you're pitching to people that probably haven't seen a science fiction movie since GATTACA. Which makes it even tougher, you can't rely on genre jargon.

The time period thats elapsed from intial option is pretty amazingly long. But, just tonight, my agent was telling me about a project thats been doing the rounds for ten years. So hope springs eternal.

The advantage Rifts has (and I sure hope they use this in the pitch) is that most of the big studio "franchises" have dried up... like Harry Potter. And you may not agree with me, but I'm pretty sure the super-hero film is on the decline. So studios are looking for the next "big thing." Just make sure you gear it for the big demo (16-34, with an emphasis on 16-24), with young characters, and you could get someone interested.

Its actually less about the script, and more about the pitch.

Anyhow, if Disney ever drops Rifts, that biznitch is all mine.

Interesting

also was thinking a cgi or anime styled movie might be in rifts best interest

Anime OVA would do it better justice.

Hey, if you guys are frustrated, how do you think we feel?

Ten years is a darn, long time to wait.

I haven't said a lot about the Rifts movie and JB Films or Disney because, a) there hasn't a lot to say. b) we don't want to get fans excited about thrilling starts and then crash their spirits with disappointing stops, and c) Hollywood is all about secrecy. The non-disclosure clause in our agreement (and respect for JB Films and Disneys) prevent us for saying more than we are allowed.

We've stayed with JB Films and Disney, for several reasons, not the least of which is they are two of the biggest and best film studios in the world. Period. It is my sincere belief that Jerry Bruckheimer and company see the potential in Rifts and want to make a movie. However, you are talking about an undertaking with a price tag likely to be in the $150-$200 million range. That's not something you do on a whim or without a great script. And getting a great script is not as easy as you might want to believe.

I'm quite certain that I've mentioned this before, more than once, but statistically, only 1 in 10,000 properties optioned for film EVERY get made into a movie. I can think of dozens and dozens of properties that have been optioned and never made into a film. Heck, Robotech is in that situation right now. It got optioned 4-5 years ago, had major players involved and there was a ton of initial excitement, but it's a lot trickier to get movies made than you think. I wish them well.

It was explained to me that for some movies everything falls into place and they get produced quickly, sometimes within 18 months! The average movie takes 2-6. But some take longer, even decades. And no, I'm not happy Rifts has fallen into the latter category. Heck, Lord of Rings and lots of great movies to 10-15-20 years before they became a reality. It sucks, sure, but that's show business, my friends.

The fact that JB Films and Disney have renewed the option so many times, I think, speaks to how much they would like to make this movie. And there has been several times where things seemed like they were finally going to take off and Rifts was on the verge of getting greenlit into development. Which is another reason we continued to work with JB Films and Disney. I wish I could give you details about some this, but I cannot. Non-disclosure agreement.

By the way, ALL of this is COMPLETELY OUT of Palladium's hands.

Will JB Films ever make the Rifts Movie? I don't know. Will the property end up in another filmmaker's hands? Time will tell. We've certainly had interest from other filmmakers, but would they have had any better luck? Who knows.

I know none of this is satisfying for our fans. It is murder on us. It's just the way it is. For me, personally, it has been deeply disappointing and rewarding at the same time. On one hand, the long wait is frustrating and agonizing. On the other hand, I'm thrilled that two great film companies like JB Films and the Walt Disney Company are interested enough to even want to option Rifts. I mean, they gave me the opportunity to dream big and to meet people like Jerry Bruckheimer, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, David Franzoni, and others. How many people can even say Hollywood was ever interested in their creation. Business is all about taking chances. We took a chance with "A" list filmmakers who were willing to take a chance on us. Maybe it will work out. Maybe it won't. Maybe someone else in the future will make a Rifts movie or TV show. Maybe it will never become a film. That's life my friends. And my life has been pretty amazing.

And be assured we are doing everything we can to get Rifts, Nightbane, and other Palladium IPs made into film, television shows, videogames and other mediums. It's just not as easy as you might think. I suspect part of the problem is that as "fans" you know and love our properties. You see the potential and you know how cool they'd be adapted to other mediums. However, Hollywood and other big businesses do not share your intimate knowledge or appreciation of the property. They see us as a very small nitch market and wonder if its worth their time and trouble.

Hollywood doesn't realize that role-playing game fans have a deep and lasting love for the games they play. They don't realize that not only would the estimated 1.5 two million people who have played Rifts over the years probably run out to see the movie and take their friends, wives and children along with them, but so would millions of other role-playing gamers simply to see one of the first movies based on a pen and paper RPG made into a film. Do the Rifts movie right, and it could be "the next Star Wars" with or without the role-playing game base.

But Hollywood and big business doesn't realize that. And even if they do, and I think Jerry Bruckheimer does, they still need the script to make that a reality. And then a hundred other things have to fall into place to make it the next "big thing" -- or any level of success. Again, that's a difficult thing to make a reality. Heck, they don't even realize the role-playing gamers are a different, loyal and dedicated demographic than videogamers. And yes, I have tried to explain this. But in Hollywood I'm seen as one of a million small-time creators who is trying to convince them to turn his property in movie.

In Hollywood's defense, they are so inundated by so many people who don't know what they are talking about, or who sincerely but incorrectly think their IP is the greatest thing since popcorn (which is almost every creator on the planet), that they don't know what do believe or who to trust. Its a weird business. I don't envy anyone making a living in Hollywood. It's not the glamour and thrills a minute most people think it is. It's a lot of pressure and hard work with millions and millions of dollars at stake.

Sorry this is so long. I just want to help to explain.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher and Creator of Rifts

I want to thank Operator Magic for his post, because his assessment it pretty dead on. Though we have been told over and over by JB films that the problem is they can't find the right script.

Thanks for the kind words and interest in Rifts. Hey, you never know, maybe that opportunity will come your way.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda

Thank you for your above posts Kevin. Good to see you posting outside your murmurs

Just said a prayer that the movie will be made ASAP! I've been dreaming of a Rifts movie being done for so long! Once it does get made, it will probably be made of epic win.
PS: Kevin, you rock!

always glad to see the big man dropping down some knowledge to us fanboys/girls....When and if the movie ever comes out it will be one of the few i actually go and pay to see and like the new conan buy the special edition blu ray

First of all, thank you for taking the time on this. Second its more likely that preconception is the whole problem. You don't want to be pitching this as the movie based off the hit RPG! Even if the 1.5 million who go to see it bring everyone they know that is not going to sell it. What you need to do is pitch the content. They hit you with "haven't found the right script" because that is the simplest and easiest way to just railroad anything else and put it on hold while their EXPENSIVE attention is focused elsewhere. They recognize the value of the property because of the content but its not that content that is being pitched here. At least not from what I have seen. By complying and saying "it could be anything" -- there is your problem!

What needs to be done is the people in charge (specifically Jerry) needs to be WOWED!

Kevin, you're the creator so no doubt there was a point when you sat down and thought "What are all the most awesome things I can put into this world?"

That is what you need to hit. Yeah, you're going to need a script but every script is going to be railroaded or left sitting on a desk for months on end if you don't sell it right. By that I don't mean KEVIN THIS IS YOUR FAULT YOU'RE NOT SELLING IT RIGHT!!!

I just mean... its sold. They know its valuable but its currently like you've given them a puzzle that they've always wanted. It's neat but they just don't have the time to take an hour to put some of it together each day.

Lets look at this for a minute, like SERIOUSLY look at what you are bringing to the table for potential story material.

1. Lovecraftian Horror; This has a massive Cult following (no pun intended), is now Free License and remains relatively untapped in the Modern Film Industry.
2. An evil Empire; Not only do you own the coolest evil Empire since Star wars but the death's head theme is something everyone will remember.
3. Science Fiction; Lets just leave Phase World out of the equation all together. The technology of Rifts Earth is Cyberpunk and not since Riddley Scott's Alien Films have we seen such gritty/simple/fun/deadly guns.
4. Magic; this isn't Wizards in pointy hats or plagiarized garbage like the Harry Potter tripe that is floating around. This is the psychic potential of all living things, the ley lines of the earth... you wrote it. You know, I don't need to tell you.
5. Giant Freakin' Robits; 'Nuff said.

And that is just the basics.

Now, lets go back to the He-man movie. It was the last big movie to attempt something like this and it bombed. It made enough money but it didn't do as well as they wanted. However, special effect wise its still pretty good and it stands up. Maybe not as a good example of a He-man film but it could be worse (Go rent it and give it another analytical watch if you can spare an hour and a half). With today's modern special effects and by steering away from a heavy CGI film your product has the potential of selling big. Star Wars big. See the thing is that back in the day producers were making films THEY wanted to see. It is the same thing here!

If you can put together something that makes Jerry sit up and take notice than he will get you guys a script. He (like me and many others) can see the sleeping giant that this property is but if its not done right we end up with another He-man Movie on our hands.

You might think I am talking out of my ass here but you know what might be fun Kevin? (and I'm willing to bet you a stake dinner you get a response).

Call a meeting with Chuck and Mike an other other artists and get them to put together a series of epic scenes from the movie how YOU see it. Then compile them and ship them off as a bit of a teaser.

From Blind Warrior Women doing their matrix thing to the Samas firing his rail gun down the throat of a dragon he is wrestling with or a Juicer locked in close-range combat with a Glitterboy so he can''t use his boomgun or what REAL LIFE Deadboy armor might look like. Worse case scenario you could market it as an art book or sell it as posters on the site. But as I said earlier I've got a stake dinner riding on the fact that won't be the outcome. You'll get a call.

Rifts is the first property I have encountered that realistically blends the gritty science fiction and horror genres together with a good touch of action. I know it SEEMS like it is out of your hands but its just sitting on a desk. You need to show them what might be. You need them to pick up a book and look at it (visually) and say I WANT TO MAKE THIS!!!

Picking a cast of characters and a plot isn't easy I know but from the Street Rat/Hack Rat conspiracy theorist to the Glitterboy pilot badass who smokes cigars and looks like someone out of Starcraft or War Hammer 40K (The appeal for your property is much larger than you might suspect Kevin), to fast talking Deadpool Crazie and the Grackle Tooth D-Bee and ATLANTIS! There are just so many GOOD stereotypes and untapped resources that will unfortunately continue to go untapped unless someone gets proactive about it.

I don't know if you realize this but your property is too valuable to let anyone else have the film rights for it.

Make it happen Kevin, I know Lucas... you're smarter and a better storyteller than Lucas. Think about that.

A True Atlantean LLW who conceals his origins... the enigmatic Lord Splynncyrth... the conspiracy nut with his odd talking A3 Computer Box, the badass Glitterboy pilot and fast-talking Crazie with a complex past filled with tragedy and heartbreak... and this is just the tip of it all.

Get the guys and pump out:
10 Pages with short hand notes with scenes like the dome out of the first page of R:UE, except for Atlantis and a few other locations.
2-3 sprawling battle scenes
A bunch of conceptual character and creature designs

Keep it DARK, ultra violent and consider this a personal challenge.

You're not pitching a film based off role playing game... you're pitching the greatest science fiction film since Star Wars or the Alien Trilogy. You do realize that right?

PS: Any script that does not have a Glitterboy murder an enemy by drilling through their head with the pylon in his boot after having his boomgun destroyed and his ass kicked is not a real Rifts movie.

My two bits, for whatever they might be worth, go out to Kevin:

Take our ideas and use them. Use them as hooks for JB to get even more interested than he has been. Look through the "Favorite Scene" thread and see if any of them jump out at you, because if they do, they'll positively blast JB out of his seat with your team's art making the scene come alive. I know you can give JB a poke in the creative center and get him scrambling for a script. I have faith in you.

The quote I've heard is "Bragging about Hollywood taking interest is like bragging about buying a lottery ticket"

Also a quote from a movie maker, who says getting a movie made is like a tunnel full of swinging rings all swinging at random times, hundreds of them - and you just need to throw a dart that goes through the center of all of them.

So stuff like that. Skeptical.

But not skeptical that he's bought a lottery ticket (so to speak). I believe that!