| Forbidden Planet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fred M. Wilcox |
| Screenplay by | Cyril Hume |
| Story by | |
| Produced by | Nicholas Nayfack |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Les Tremayne |
| Cinematography | George J. Folsey |
| Edited by | Ferris Webster |
| Music by | Bebe and Louis Barron |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.9 million[3] |
| Box office | $2.7 million[3] |
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 Americanscience-fiction action film fromMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced byNicholas Nayfack and directed byFred M. Wilcox from a script byCyril Hume that was based on a film story byAllen Adler andIrving Block. It starsWalter Pidgeon,Anne Francis, andLeslie Nielsen. Shot inEastmancolor andCinemaScope, this landmark film is considered one of the great science-fiction films of the 1950s,[4] a precursor of contemporary science-fiction cinema. The characters and isolated setting have been compared to those inWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Tempest, and the plot contains certain happenings analogous to the play, leading many to consider it a looseadaptation.[5]
Forbidden Planet pioneered several aspects of science-fiction cinema. It was the first sci-fi film to depict humans traveling in a human-made, faster-than-lightstarship.[6] It was also the first to be set entirely on a planet orbiting another star, far away fromEarth and theSolar System.[7][8] TheRobby the Robot character is one of the first filmrobots that was more than just a mechanical "tin can" on legs; Robby displays a distinct personality and is an integral supporting character in the film.[9] Outside science fiction, the film was groundbreaking as the first of any genre to use an entirelyelectronicmusical score, courtesy ofBebe and Louis Barron.
Forbidden Planet's effects team was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Special Effects at the29th Academy Awards.Tony Magistrale describes it as one of the best examples of earlytechno-horror.[10] In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[11][12]
In the 23rd century, after more than a year's journey, the United Planets starshipC-57D arrives at the distant planetAltair IV to determine the fate of the shipBellerophon, sent there 20 years before. Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the original expedition's scientists, warns the ship not to land for safety reasons, but Commander John J. Adams ignores his warning.
Adams and Lieutenants Jerry Farman and "Doc" Ostrow are met by Robby the Robot, who transports them to Morbius' residence. Morbius describes how all other members of their expedition had been killed, one by one, by an unseen "planetary force", with theBellerophon being vaporized as the last survivors tried to escape. Only Morbius, his wife (whom Morbius claims later died of natural causes), and their daughter Altaira were somehow immune. Morbius offers to help the starship return home, but Adams says he must receive further instructions from Earth.
The next day, Adams finds Farman kissing Altaira. Furious, he rebukes Farman and criticizes Altaira for wearing revealing clothing. That night, an invisible intruder sabotages communications equipment aboard the starship. The next morning, Adams and Ostrow go to Morbius' residence to discuss the intrusion. While waiting, Adams happens upon Altaira swimming. After she dons a new, less revealing dress, Adams apologizes for his behavior toward her, and they kiss. They are suddenly attacked by Altaira's pet tiger, and Adams is forced to disintegrate it with his blaster.
Morbius appears and tells Adams and Ostrow that he has been studying artifacts of the Krell, a highly advanced race that mysteriously perished in a single night 200,000 years before. One such device enhances the intellect, which Morbius had used. He barely survived, but his intellectual capacity had doubled. Another is a vast 8,000-cubic-mile (33,000 km3) underground machine, still functioning, powered by 9,208thermonuclear reactors. Adams tells Morbius he must share these discoveries with Earth, but Morbius refuses, saying, "Humanity is not yet ready to receive such limitless power."
Adams erects aforce field fence around the starship, but the unseen intruder easily passes through and brutally murders Chief Engineer Quinn, who was repairing the damaged communications equipment. Morbius warns Adams of his premonition of further deadly attacks. That night, the intruder is detected approaching. Its outline and features become visible when it enters the force field and blasters are fired at it, to little effect. The thing kills Farman and two other crewmen. When Morbius is awakened by Altaira's screams, the creature suddenly vanishes.
Adams tries to persuade Altaira to leave. Ostrow sneaks away and uses the Krell intellect enhancer, but is fatally injured. Before dying, he informs Adams that the underground machine's purpose was to create anything by mere thought, anywhere on the planet. However, he tells Adams the Krell forgot one thing: "Monsters from theid." The machine gave the Krell's ownsubconscious desires free rein with unlimited power, causing their own extinction. Adams deduces that Morbius's subconscious created the thing that both killed the original expedition members and attacked his crewmen; Morbius refuses to believe him.
Altaira tells Morbius that she is leaving Altair IV with Adams. Robby detects the creature approaching; Morbius commands Robby to kill it, but the robot knows it is Morbius and shuts down, being programmed to never kill a human. Adams, Altaira, and Morbius hide in the Krell laboratory, but the creature melts its way through the thick doors. Morbius finally accepts the truth and confronts and disowns his other self, but is fatally injured by the creature as it vanishes. Before he dies, he has Adams activate a planetary self-destruct system, warning them to be far away in deep space. At a safe distance, Adams, Altaira, Robby, and the surviving crew witness the obliteration of Altair IV. Adams reassures Altaira that in about a million years, the human race will stand where the Krell did. They embrace asC-57D heads back to Earth.
The screenplay by Irving Block andAllen Adler, written in 1952, was originally titledFatal Planet.[14] The later screenplay draft byCyril Hume renamed the filmForbidden Planet, because this was believed to have greater box-office appeal.[15] Block and Adler's drama took place in the year 1976 on the planetMercury. An Earth expedition headed by John Grant is sent to the planet to retrieve Dr. Adams and his daughter Dorianne, who have been stranded there for twenty years. In this version, there is no Krell or a monster from the id. The invisible ape-like beast simply appears to be a native of Mercury. Hume's first story outline from November 1952 fleshed out and rewrote much of the original concept.[16]
Thefilm sets forForbidden Planet were constructed on aMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)sound stage at itsCulver City film lot and were designed byCedric Gibbons andArthur Lonergan. The film was shot entirely indoors, with all the Altair IV exterior scenes simulated using sets,visual effects, andmatte paintings. As the art director of the film, Lonergan took the liberty to build sets that were much larger than the budget allowed. The sets were already half done when the budget department found out, too late to do anything about it.[17]
A full-sized mock-up of roughly three-quarters of the starship was built to suggest its full width of 170 ft (51 m). The starship was surrounded by a huge, paintedcyclorama featuring the desert landscape of Altair IV; this one set took up all of the available space in one of the Culver City sound stages. Principal photography took place from April 18 to late May 1955.[18]
At a cost of roughly $125,000, Robby the Robot was very expensive for a film prop at this time; it represented almost 7% of the film's $1.9 million budget and equates to at least $1 million in 2017 dollars.[19][Note 1] Both the electrically controlled passenger vehicle driven by Robby and the truck/tractor-crane off-loaded from the starship were also constructed especially for this film. Robby later starred in the science-fiction filmThe Invisible Boy (1957) and appeared in many TV series and films.
Theanimated sequences ofForbidden Planet, especially the attack of the Id Monster, were created by veteran animatorJoshua Meador,[20] who was loaned to MGM byWalt Disney Productions. According to a "Behind the Scenes" featurette on the film's DVD, a close look at the creature shows it to have a smallgoatee beard, suggesting its connection to Dr. Morbius, the only character with this physical feature. Unusually, the scene in which the Id Monster is finally revealed during its attack on the Earth ship was not created using traditionalcel animation. Instead, Meador simply sketched each frame of the entire sequence in black pencil onanimation stand translucent vellum paper; each page was then photographed in high contrast, so that only the major details remained visible. These images were then photographically reversed into negative and the resulting white line images were then tinted red, creating the effect of the Id Monster's body remaining largely invisible, with only its major outlines illuminated by the energy from the force-field and blaster beams. The monster was considered so scary that in some states its image was edited out of the film so as to not frighten children. Meador was also responsible for the other visual effects, like the ray gun beams and disintegration scenes.[21]
Althoughworkprints of cinema films were normally destroyed, the workprint ofForbidden Planet was not destroyed, and was discovered in 1977. Differences are seen in characterization, dialogue, and scenes between the workprint and therelease print.[22]
Forbidden Planet had its world premiere at the Southeastern Science Fiction Convention inCharlotte, North Carolina, on March 3 and 4, 1956.[1] The film opened in more than 100 cities on March 23[23] inCinemaScope,Eastmancolor,[24] and in some theaters,stereophonic sound, either by the magnetic orPerspecta processes.
At thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 92% based on 52 reviews from critics, averaging 8.20/10.[25]Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times wrote that everyone who worked on the film certainly "had a barrel of fun with it. And, if you've got an ounce of taste for crazy humor, you'll have a barrel of fun, too."[26]Variety wrote: "Imaginative gadgets galore, plus plenty of suspense and thrills, make the Nicholas Nayfack production a top offering in the space travel category."[27]Harrison's Reports called the film "weird but fascinating and exciting", with "highly imaginative" production.[24] Philip K. Scheuer of theLos Angeles Times wrote that the film was "more than another science-fiction movie, with the emphasis on fiction; it is a genuinely thought-through concept of the future, and the production MGM has bestowed on it gives new breadth and dimension to that time-worn phrase, 'out of this world.'"[28]John McCarten ofThe New Yorker called the film "a pleasant spoof of all the moonstruck nonsense the movies have been dishing up about what goes on among our neighbors out there in interstellar space."[29] TheMonthly Film Bulletin of Britain praised the film as "an enjoyably thorough-going space fantasy", adding, "In tone the film adroitly combines naivete with sophistication, approaching its inter-planetary heroics with a cheerful consciousness of their absurdity that still allows for one or two genuinely weird and exciting moments, such as the monster's first advance on the spaceship."[30] The Philadelphia film critic Steve Friedman ("Mr. Movie") told interviewers thatForbidden Planet was his favorite film.[31] He watched it 178 times.Pauline Kael called it "The best of the science-fiction interstellar productions of the 50s ... Caliban has become a marvellously flamboyant monster out of Freud—pure id. It's a pity the film ... didn't lift some of Shakespeare's dialogue: it's hard to believe you're in the heavens when the diction of the hero (Leslie Nielsen) and his spaceshipmates flattens you down to Kansas."[32] Film historian Lee Pfeiffer wrote: "Much-beloved by science fiction fans,Forbidden Planet creaks with age, but if viewed in the context of the time in which it was produced, it remains quite impressive. ...Forbidden Planet is an intelligent sci-fi entry, even if the performances are sometimes over-the-top."[33]
According to MGM records, the film initially earned $1,530,000 in the U.S. and Canada[34] and $1,235,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $210,000.[3]
Forbidden Planet was re-released to film theaters during 1972 as one of MGM's "Kiddie Matinee" features; it was missing about six minutes of film footage cut to ensure it received a G rating from theMotion Picture Association of America, including a 1950s-style muted scene of Anne Francis, which made it seem she swam without a bathing suit.[35] Later video releases carry a G rating, although they are all the original theatrical version.
TheAmerican Film Institute nominated the film as one of its top-10 science-fiction films.[36] The score was nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.[37]
Forbidden Planet was first released in thepan and scan format in 1981 on MGM VHS and Betamax videotape and on MGMlaser disc andCED Videodisc; years later, in 1996, it was again reissued by MGM/UA, but this time in widescreen VHS and laserdisc, both for the film's 40th anniversary.The Criterion Collection later reissuedForbidden Planet in CinemaScope's original 2.55:1 aspect ratio for the first time, on a deluxe laserdisc set with various extra features on a second disc.Warner Bros. next released the film onDVD in 1999 (MGM's catalog of films has since remained under ownership ofTurner Entertainment, currently a division ofWarner Bros. Discovery). Warner's release offered both cropped and widescreen picture formats on the same disc.
For the film's 50th anniversary, the Ultimate Collector's Edition was released on November 28, 2006, in an oversized red metal box, using the original film poster for its wraparound cover. Both DVD and high definitionHD DVD formats were available in this deluxe package. Inside both premium packages were the filmsForbidden Planet andThe Invisible Boy,The Thin Man episode "Robot Client" ("Robby The Robot", one of the film's co-stars, was also a guest star in bothThe Thin Man episode andThe Invisible Boy) and a documentaryWatch the Skies!: Science Fiction, The 1950s and Us. Also included were miniature lobby cards and an 8 cm (3-inch) toy replica of Robby the Robot.[38] This was quickly followed by the release of theForbidden Planet 50th Anniversary edition in both standard DVD and HD DVD packaging.[35] Both 50th anniversary formats were mastered by Warner Bros.-MGM techs from a fully restored, digital transfer of the film.[39] ABlu-ray edition ofForbidden Planet was released on September 7, 2010.[40]
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Shortly before the film was released, anovelization appeared inhardcover and then later in mass-marketpaperback; it was written by W.J. Stuart (the pseudonym of mystery novelistPhilip MacDonald), which chapters the novel into separatefirst person narrations by Dr. Ostrow, Commander Adams, and Dr. Morbius.[41] The novel delves further into the mysteries of the vanished Krell and Morbius' relationship to them. In the novel, he repeatedly exposes himself to the Krell's manifestation machine, which (as suggested in the film) boosts his brain power far beyond normal human intelligence. Morbius retains enough of his imperfect human nature to be afflicted withhubris and a contempt for humanity. Not recognizing his own base primitive drives and limitations proves to be Morbius' downfall, as it had for the extinct Krell. While not stated explicitly in the film (although the basis for a deleted scene first included as an extra with theCriterion Collection'sLaserDisc set and included with both the later 50th anniversary DVD and current Blu-ray releases), the novelization compared Altaira's ability to tame the tiger (until her sexual awakening with Commander Adams) to the medieval myth of aunicorn being tamable only by avirgin.
The novel also includes some elements never included in the film: in one of them, Adams, Farman, and Ostrow clandestinely observe Morbius' house overnight one evening, but see or hear nothing. When they leave they accidentally kill one of Altaira's pet monkeys. When Dr. Ostrow later on dissects the dead animal he discovers that its internal structure precludes it from ever having been alive in the normal biological sense. The tiger, deer, and monkeys are all conscious creations by Dr. Morbius as companions ("pets") for his daughter and only outwardly resemble their Earth counterparts. The novel also differs somewhat from the film in that it does not directly establish the great machine as the progenitor of the animals or monster; instead only attributes them to Morbius' elevated mental power. The Krell's self-destruction can be interpreted by the reader as a cosmic punishment for misappropriating the life-creating power of God. This is why in the film's ending, Commander Adams says in his speech to Altaira "...we are, after all, not God". The novel ends with a postscript making a similar observation.
Forbidden Planet's innovativeelectronic music score (credited as "electronic tonalities" due to disputes with the musicians' union)[42] was composed byBebe and Louis Barron. The two were originally slated to contribute about twenty minutes of sound effects and electronic pieces, as avant-garde composerHarry Partch was also due to contribute music. When Partch left the project, the Barrons took over the entire soundtrack.[43] MGM producerDore Schary had been approached by them at a nightclub inGreenwich Village while on a family Christmas visit toNew York City, where they asked if he was interested in listening to a demonstration of their electronic music. Schary told them he was returning to California the next morning, but to assuage their disappointment, he promised to give them a chance if they ever came to California. Assuming he had heard the last of them, he was surprised when they showed up in Hollywood a few weeks later. Keeping his promise, he listened to their music, and after a consultation with the head of MGM's music department Johnny Green and the movie's producer Nicholas Nayfack, he agreed to hire them.[44] When they declined to have all their equipment transferred from New York to Hollywood for a three-month job, the studio agreed, and the movie became MGM's first production to have its score produced outside of the studio lot.[45] While thetheremin had been used on the soundtracks ofSpellbound (1945) andThe Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), the Barrons are credited with creating the first completely electronic film score, preceding the development ofanalog synthesizers byRobert Moog andDon Buchla in the early 1960s.
Using ideas and procedures from the bookCybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948) by themathematician andelectrical engineerNorbert Wiener, Louis Barron constructed his own electronic circuits that he used to generate the score's "bleeps, blurps, whirs, whines, throbs, hums, and screeches", making heavy use ofring modulation.[19] After recording the basic sounds, the Barrons further manipulated the sounds with reverberation, delay, filters, and tape manipulations (as employed in the pieceWilliams Mix, which they had assistedJohn Cage in realizing at their Greenwich Village studio).[46][47]
Since Bebe and Louis Barron did not belong to the Musicians Union, their work could not be considered for anAcademy Award in either the "soundtrack" or "sound effects" categories; this also necessitated the "electronic tonalities" credit. MGM declined to publish a soundtrack album at the time thatForbidden Planet was released; however, film composer and conductorDavid Rose later published a 7-inch (18 cm)single of his original main title theme that he had recorded at the MGM studios in March 1956. Rose was originally hired to compose the musical score in 1955, but his main title theme was discarded when he was discharged from the project by Dore Schary in late December of that year. The film's original theatrical trailer contains snippets of Rose's score, the tapes of which he reportedly later destroyed.[48]
The Barrons finally released their soundtrack in 1976 as anLPalbum for the film's 20th anniversary; it was on their very own Planet Records label (later changed to Small Planet Records and distributed by GNP Crescendo Records). The LP premiered atMidAmeriCon, the34th World Science Fiction Convention, held inKansas City, Missouri, over the 1976Labor Day weekend, as part of a 20th Anniversary celebration ofForbidden Planet held at thatWorldcon; the Barrons were there promoting their album's first release, signing all the copies sold at the convention. They also introduced the first of three packed-house screenings that showed an MGM35mm fine-grain vault print in original CinemaScope and stereophonic sound. A decade later, in 1986, their soundtrack was released on a music CD for the film's 30th Anniversary, with a six-page color booklet containing images fromForbidden Planet, plus liner notes from the composers and Bill Malone.[46]
A tribute to the film's soundtrack was performed live in concert byJack Dangers, and is available on disc one of the albumForbidden Planet Explored.
The costumes worn by Anne Francis were designed byHelen Rose.[49] Her miniskirts resulted inForbidden Planet being banned in Spain; it was not shown there until 1967.[50] Other costumes were designed byWalter Plunkett.[49]
Robby the Robot was operated at first by diminutive stuntmanFrankie Darro. He was fired shortly after an early scene because of his having consumed a five-martini lunch prior to the scene being shot; he nearly fell over while attempting to walk while inside the expensive prop.[51][52]
Many costume andprop items were reused in several different episodes of the television seriesThe Twilight Zone, most of which were filmed byRod Serling's Cayuga Productions at the MGM studio inCulver City, including Robby the Robot, the variousC-57D models, the full-scale mock-up of the base of the ship (which featured in the episodes "To Serve Man" and "On Thursday We Leave for Home"), theblaster pistols and rifles, crew uniforms, and special effects shots.
In late September 2015, several screen-used items fromForbidden Planet were offered inProfiles in History's Hollywood Auction 74, including Walter Pidgeon's "Morbius" costume, an illuminating blaster rifle, blaster pistol, a force field generator post, and an originalSascha Brastoff steel prehistoric fish sculpture seen outside Morbius' home; also offered were several lobby cards and publicity photos.[53]On November 2, 2017, the original Robby the Robot prop was offered for auction by Bonhams, and it earned US$5.3 million, including thebuyer's premium. It set a new record for TCM-Bonhams auctions, surpassing the US$4 million earned for aMaltese Falcon in 2013, making it the most valuable film prop ever sold at auction.[54]
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An Australian radio adaptation using the original electronic music and noted local actors was broadcast in June 1959 onThe Caltex Radio Theatre.
In Stephen King'sThe Tommyknockers, Altair-4 is frequently referenced as the home planet of the titular alien presence.[55]
In the authorized biography ofStar Trek creatorGene Roddenberry, biographer David Alexander notes thatForbidden Planet was an inspiration forStar Trek and quotes a memo by Roddenberry in which he explicitly avoids copying the mechanics ofForbidden Planet's spaceship, but hopes for it to "stimulate our own thinking" in regards to the production of the still-in-developmentStar Trek TV series.[56] In the opening scene of the movie, the navigator says "We'll reach D.C. point at 1701". The registration number for the USS Enterprise is NCC-1701. There were many references to Altair IV inStar Trek. In a scene fromStar Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)Dr. McCoy visits a bar and orders "Altair Water".[57]
Elements of theDoctor Who serialPlanet of Evil were consciously based onForbidden Planet.[58]
In the novelStrata byTerry Pratchett the main characters get stranded on adisc world which is driven completely by underground machinery. Close to the end, an explicit reference is made: "Didn't you ever seeForbidden Planet? Human movie. They remade it five, six times".
Forbidden Planet and star Anne Francis are named alongside ten other classic science fiction films in the opening song "Science Fiction Double Feature" in the stage musicalThe Rocky Horror Show and its subsequentfilm adaptation.
InRoboCop executive producerJon Davison wanted the interior of the OCP headquarters to look like Krell's underground machine complex, which was his favorite shots in the movie.[59]
The British musicalReturn to the Forbidden Planet was inspired by and loosely based on the MGM film,[60] and won theOlivier Award for best musical of 1989/90.[61]
A scene from the science fiction TV seriesBabylon 5, set on the Epsilon III Great Machine bridge, strongly resembles the Krell's great machine. While this was not the intent of the show's producer, the special effects crew, tasked with creating the imagery, stated that the Krell's machine was a definite influence on their Epsilon III designs.[62] Also, Season 2 episode 5 "The Long Dark" features an invisible creature, that when shot is made visible with very similar effects as the invisible creature from Forbidden Planet.
The Time Tunnel's pilot episode featured a matte shot of huge underground buildings and people running across a walkway above a giant power generator, in homage to the scene of the Krell's underground complex.
The Outer Limits episode "The Man with the Power" revisits the premise of a person's subconscious manifesting as a destructive, murderous entity.
For the film's 50th anniversary in 2006,DAW Books released an originalmass-market paperback anthology of new science fiction short stories,Forbidden Planets, all of which were inspired by the film.
"Out of the Silent Planet", a song onIron Maiden's albumBrave New World, is based onForbidden Planet.
Fallout: New Vegas's DLCOld World Blues uses multiple references, including Doctor Mobius as a reference to Morbius in the film, the protectrons being modeled after Robby the Robot, and The Forbidden Dome being based on the film's title.
In the firstMass Effect game, while examining the planets in the Gagarin system of the Armstrong Nebula, specifically on the planet's Junthor survey feed, a reference is made to "Monsters from the id".
AuthorGeorge R. R. Martin citesForbidden Planet as his favorite science fiction film and states that he owns a working full-size Robby the Robot replica.[63]
In theFirefly filmSerenity, one of the vehicles they examine on the planet Miranda has "C-57D" stenciled on its side.
In theCastle episode "Law & Murder" (2011)[64][better source needed]Forbidden Planet is playing at theAngelika Film Center. Castle, who is a fan of the film, invites his daughter to go with him to see it, but she has made other plans. At the end of the episode, Beckett tells Castle she is going to see it, and by feigning ignorance ("Forbidden Planet? Is...Is that the one with the robot?") Castle succeeds in getting Beckett to treat him to see the film.
Robby the Robot makes many cameo appearances in television and film. Examples include episodes ofThe Perry Como Show,Hazel,The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,The Twilight Zone,The Banana Splits,Mork and Mindy,Wonder Woman,The Man from UNCLE,Ark II,Lost in Space,Space Academy,The Thin Man,Project UFO andThe Love Boat. Robby was also featured in the filmsCherry 2000,Gremlins,The Invisible Boy,Invasion of the Neptune Men,Hollywood Boulevard, andDünyayı Kurtaran Adam. He also has appeared on numerous magazine covers, record sleeves, and in some TV commercials.[65]
New Line Cinema had developed a remake withJames Cameron,Nelson Gidding, andStirling Silliphant involved at different times. In 2007,DreamWorks set up the project withDavid Twohy set to direct.Warner Bros. re-acquired the rights the following year and on October 31, 2008,J. Michael Straczynski was announced as writing a remake,Joel Silver was to produce.[66] Straczynski explained that the original had been his favoritescience fiction film, and it gave Silver an idea for the new film that makes it "not a remake", "not a re-imagining", and "not exactly a prequel". His vision for the film would not be retro, because when the original was made it was meant to be futuristic. Straczynski met with people working inastrophysics,planetary geology, andartificial intelligence to reinterpret the Krell back-story as a filmtrilogy.[67] In March 2009, Straczynski reported that the project was abandoned, and that a new script was requested.[68]
On November 15, 2024,Brian K. Vaughan was announced to be writing a new screenplay for the remake.[69]
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)Lot 885: Forbidden Planet hero illuminating laser rifle. (MGM, 1956) Est. US$30,000 – $50,000. Lot 886: Forbidden Planet hero illuminating laser pistol. (MGM, 1956). Est. US$20,000 – $30,000. Lot 889: Force Field generator post from Forbidden Planet. Est. US$8,000 – $12,000. Lot 890: Walter Pidgeon "Dr. Morbius" costume from Forbidden Planet. (MGM, 1956). Est. US$20,000 – $30,000. Lot 891: Original Sascha Brastoff Prehistoric Fish steel sculpture used in the home of Dr. Morbius in Forbidden Planet. (MGM, 1956). Est. US$8,000 – $12,000.(Auction took place September 29, 30, October 1, 2015. Catalog 83MB PDF and Prices Realized List PDF available atProfilesinHistory.comArchived September 6, 2015, at theWayback Machine.)
