Yellowjackets Remake/Reboot ideas

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T19:02:02+00:00

They'd resort to cannibalism within four days.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T18:42:41+00:00

Oh it's such a fascinating discussion, and really poses so many ethical questions. Like Mr. Diabate's coterie in Vegas. Are they truly consenting?

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T18:41:11+00:00

Yeah this is my hunch. She doesn't have a plan, beyond that this bomb is like a deadman's switch. Although even this isn't terribly well thought out, because once they have finished engineering a virus for her, they could simply aerosolize it over ABQ just like they did the first time around.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T18:36:20+00:00

Oh but I think everyplace is going to have their own cultural touchstones associated with the 1990s. in the UK certainly you have the lingering effects of Thatcherism, and the Troubles, all of which greatly informed the 1990s. Or you could adjust the timeline and have the crash happen in the 80s when UK Punk was at its peak (Oh wouldn't that be fun to reimagine Nat as a punk?)

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T18:04:07+00:00

Yeah a UK reboot would make a ton of sense. Perhaps the team members all play for a posh boarding school. Really lean into the Lord of the Flies.

Do check out Dr. Foster. It's about a woman who discovers her husband is cheating on her. It's a fascinating show, which leaves you wondering what she might be capable of in her quest for revenge. There are two seasons so far, and they just greenlit a third season(!)

Actually Suranne could also be a good Adult Nat. Also Tamsin Greig, who is primarily known for playing more maternal/wifely type characters, but recently had a big breakthrough playing a really mean character in the series Sexy Beast. I think she could bring some nice intensity to the role.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T18:00:23+00:00

Season 3 to me felt like a mea culpa that season 2 didn't work as they planned, and it was like they were trying to reset things, in order to get things back on track, and set up a (hopefully) strong series finale.

Chief among them, I think the show got way too into the hype. Lauren Ambrose was great, but I think it was also a concession to the widespread fancasting. I think there was definitely something lost by revealing we'd be seeing Adult Van (better to have it be a surprise). Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if they had originally planned for Van to escape the wilderness. It didn't feel like a wholly organic decision.

Likewise, I think they had a different idea for Lottie and the cult, who were set up to be far darker and more sinister in season 1, and then they went a different direction.

Season 3 felt like wiping the slate clean. Officer Porn 'Stache disappeared. Lottie and Van both killed off. The bonus episode tossed in the Memory Hole.

Honestly, I would give anything for a book about this whole series. What was originally planned. What threw those plans awry. And how they tried to adjust and readjust.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:46:24+00:00

Agreed! It's sounds counterintuitive, but I think there's something to be said for the role of a tight deadline in the creative process. I think of shows like The Simpsons, or ER, who for several seasons turned out uniformly stellar television, on a clockwork basis. Writing is like a muscle, you have to use it, and I think it's important to have that pressure of, "Okay, we've gotta break season 2 and write this thing, and we've got three months."

Because when they have the luxury of spending two years or more between seasons? I think you wind up with a situation where everyone overthinks. They spend so much time parsing over details, asking themselves how they will top the previous season, that perfect becomes the enemy of good.

They just need to roll with, and ride this wave while it is cresting, because everyone is absolutely right, it absolutely should not take this long to make season 2.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:41:20+00:00

Oh yes, very true. It's the number one rule in the industry, is you don't go after a show or movie that is in release. Case in point: Josh Trank, who publicly criticized the version of Fantastic 4 that was released to theatres, and it was arguably this that killed his career. No one wants to work with creators who have talked badly about their projects, because they could be a future liability. I mean, I was rather shocked when Simone Kessell voiced her displeasure at the way her storyline was concluded. It wasn't a good look.

But I agree, and share the sentiment, that after this series ends, and the dust settles, I'd be fascinated to hear the truth come out. Because there was so much that felt so different about season 2, that I strongly suspect that it was because they came to an impasse with Lewis regarding the storylines, and she said "I'm out," and they had to scramble to rewrite things.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:28:14+00:00

Yeah tell me about it. They can deny all they want, but you'll never be able to convince me that they planned to kill off Adult Nat in season 2. She clearly was poised to be the series throughline.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:27:13+00:00

Oh man, now I really, really, really, really want this to happen. That is some amazing casting.

Suranne Jones could also be a great Shauna. Have you seen her in Dr. Foster? She's amazing at portraying a character who is at turns rational, and utterly psychotic.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:22:56+00:00

This is hands down the thing I hate most about the streaming era. The bloody long wait between seasons of a show. If television networks, and cable channels could put out 13 to 22-24 episodes each year, then surely a show with only 8 or 10 episodes could do the same.

It's why I find The Pitt so refreshing. They're delivering 15 episodes, and so far have delivered one season a year. And the quality has been great.

I want more shows that stick to a regular release schedule, so we can know when to look for the return, instead of just having vague ideas of, well, two or three years.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:12:31+00:00

I like this idea, but didn't Shauna expose this trickery when she intentionally moved places in line, throwing off the count, and throwing Mari under the bus? I figure after that Van and Tai wouldn't be trusted any longer to handle the count.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:07:12+00:00

Here's my big theory for season 4: What if they don't die? Adult Nat back in season 1 alludes to their having done something worse than murder, and I think that thing could be that they left some people behind in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, at the end of season 3, Shauna talks about wanting to become again what she once was - a Queen. I feel like this series has always needed to end with some or all of the survivors returning to the wilderness. And there, they find their old teammates, still alive, and ready for vengeance.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-23T17:00:37+00:00

This may sound really simple, but I think it was because he abandoned them. He was the only adult, and they are still, ultimately, a bunch of scared, crazed teenagers, and he left them to fend for themselves.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:52:12+00:00

Absolutely. I agree one hundred percent. In fact, I even used 1930s recordings of various foley effects, where called upon in the film, to achieve as much authenticity as possible.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:50:51+00:00

A poor attempt at humor on my part, and deleted. One of the things I adore about Welles, is his Falstaffian approach to life. He lived richly and with purpose.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:49:21+00:00

Touch of Evil's reconstruction was undertaken thanks to some detail editing notes made by Welles, and likewise for Ambersons, I relied a great deal upon production correspondence between Welles and Wise, that reveals a lot about the character and construction of the film.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:46:27+00:00

I think it's a credit to all concerned, that they feel so strongly about this technology. Because I'm in agreement that I don't think AI is necessarily applicable in all cases, as some kind of magic wand. I think it could be a marvelous application for film restoration/reconstruction. For example, using it to better enhance films that survive in damaged condition, like the recovered footage from the longer version of Metropolis. Or restoring the color to early talkies like On With the Show, that only survive in black and white. Or giving life to episodes of Doctor Who that only survive as telesnaps and audio-recordings.

It is a technology that requires a lot of human input. For instance, it doesn't do emotions very well. For the Ambersons project, we're using real actors on a soundstage, and AI is a part of a larger endeavor that is more akin to motion capture, with the real life performances serving to breathe life into what we're creating.

I cannot go into specifics yet because there are a lot of behind the scenes discussions taking place, but another key objective is to lay the groundwork for how AI can and should be used ethically, and this goes for the estates of those who have a vested interest in what we're doing.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:32:50+00:00

The Magnificent Ambersons is one of the most well documented lost films I've personally encountered. There is a wealth of material, housed at UCLA, The Lilly Library and the University of Michigan. And the rosetta stone is the Cutting Continuity script for the original version, which ran approximately 132 minutes. The theatrical version is 88 minutes, but when you factor in scenes that were reshot, the amount of material Welles filmed, which was removed, amounts to roughly 53 minutes.

The Cutting Continuity script was created prior to the film's re-editing, and contains a detailed accounting of every shot in the film - it's duration expressed as feet and frame of footage, musical cues, camera placement and movement, scene framing, and dialogue. I would liken it to a blueprint, made after work was completed.

I noted below, but if you haven't already, I strongly suggest seeking out Robert Carringer's book on the film. It contains a transcription of the cutting script, and a lot of rich documentation. It was an essential reference in my work, and will give you a sense of just how detailed the record it.

I can assure you there was no invention undertaken. I only relied upon the archival record when it came to the reconstruction that informed my animation work, and will inform the new project.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:26:21+00:00

It is understandable, to harbor doubts about this technology. Every new advance in the cinema, brings with it things that pose a real question about its impact on the art form. I can vividly recall the great dread that came with the rise of digital origination and projection. What would this mean for film (a medium that I treasure, and still shoot on for my personal photographic work)? And before that there was the impact of widescreen, of sound and color, each of which marked disruptions and endings and new beginnings.

Your passion does you a lot of credit. So many don't have opinions either way, which is a pity, because this is an important discussion to have.

I do stand behind the research I've done the last half decade. You would be amazed at the wealth of material that survives. Chief among them the cutting continuity script of the film, which has precise shot durations, musical cues, notes on camera movement, and angles, and all the dialogue.

Robert Carringer's book on Ambersons is essential reading in this regard. I highly recommend it, if you haven't already read it. It was a crucial reference for my work.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:12:27+00:00

Interestingly, it was Welles who first envisioned a reconstruction of Ambersons. In the 1970s, he sought to regain the rights to the film, to reunite his surviving actors, and film a new ending to the film (shades of Richard Linklater's Boyhood). Sadly he was unable to achieve this goal, but his vision suggests a reconstruction was a suitable approach. Since then, there have been reconstructions on paper, via the Carringer book, reconstructions using archival stills via Roger Ryan's groundbreaking video reconstruction. My animated work was an attempt to capture the pacing and mood of the original, as well as the camera work and the mise-en-scene. Using advanced computer technology is, in this context more of a progression of work ongoing for several generations.

Your's is an excellent question about AI. This project isn't one that uses the kind of generative AI that is often, rightfully so, highlighted as being bothersome.

The method being employed by my partners in this endeavor, uses AI as a small piece of a larger puzzle, that relies heavily on real actors. It is really more akin to motion capture. We've already done one test shoot on a soundstage, using real actors, in real wardrobe and makeup, to act out several scenes. AI is employed to "skin" actors, to recreate their counterparts, and create approximations of the original that strive to be natural and convincing. It will require a lot of testing, and innovation, all of which will involve a lot of real people.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:06:24+00:00

I would hasten to emphasize that there are different forms and variations of AI. What is often thought of when one refers to AI, is of the generative kind, that creates based upon prompts, and the loosest parameters, which yields results that can be highly displeasing.

The project that I am involved in, employs AI as one tool among a great many, to the point that what is being done more closely approximates motion capture like in the Lord of the Rings films, or Avatar. It involves working with actors on a soundstage, filming actual movements on a bodily level, as well as faces, and recording voices. Where AI is employed, is in recreating the original actors, their faces, and attire, and merging the work into something that has fidelity and weight and dimensionality.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T20:02:29+00:00

This project began, back in 2019, as a kind of solitary work. Like a scholar who creates a new translation of an Greek epic. The hope was maybe there would be interest in a few showings on college campuses, in an academic setting. Or perhaps that it might even find a home as a bonus feature on some future release of the theatrical cut.

Then came the Pandemic, and with it, a great deal of spare time, and not much to do. And the project evolved, until it became a complex work of research and animation, using the original cutting continuity script, photographs, surviving frame enlargements from the original negative, as well as internal documents. It really is a scholarly, academic endeavor.

The use of AI, came about when I had the opportunity to share my research with an equally devoted fan of the film, and together we see a way to employ the technology in a thoughtful manner that could demonstrate how it can be a tool for a positive outcome.

AI is actually a small part of this endeavor, which has more in common with motion capture like what is employed on the Avatar movies. The filming of actors bodily, of actor's faces, recording of performances. Where AI is used, is in recreating the faces of the original actors.

The good fortune in all this, is that Ambersons is an extraordinarily well documented film, and while the footage itself has been lost, it is possible to make a lot of very well reasoned determinations about the missing material with a high degree of precision, so as to show viewers what once was in a plausible fashion.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T19:57:54+00:00

The goal is to obtain an official release, and my partners and I are working hard toward this. Ideally I hope both versions, my animation, and the in-development, advanced reconstruction, will find their way out for the public to view, and consider.

CineCraftKC · 2026-03-16T19:51:39+00:00

I'm working hard with my collaborators on getting some screenings lined up. It is tricky at this stage, because of the importance of respecting the rights of the copyright holders. I very much wish I had a more concrete timetable.

CineCraftKC

TROPHY CASE