Is Spielberg contract over with Universal Parks & Resorts?

[JungleSkip]

The Universal Great Movie Ride would be an appropriate fit for the front of the park, more so than it ever was at DHS/MGM. Sadly, that type of attraction probably doesn't resonate with audiences in 2018 plus.

I wouldn't make it passive like GMR was. Make it Indiana Jones-ish. Ride vehicles modeled after the DeLorean. Mix of screens/practical.

 

[Magic-Man]

The Halo ip doesn't have the pull a Nintendo does. The gp doesn't know what Halo is and no tv series with generic buff men shooting stuff doesn't change that. Beyond that the game's popularity is waning just like it's console.

Regarding Spielberg, this is just easy money for him, right, having his seat on the Universal theme parks brand.

Ummm, a lot of people know who Master Chief is. And the TV show will probably end up being popular (if it’s good). Given, it’s no Nintendo, but it’s not an unknown property either.

 

[Disneyhead]

Use the spider-man RV platform. Themed like Deloreans. Being a "Wax Museum" there would be lots of AA's and practical effects.

Sadly. I think a Ready Player One attraction is our only hope of the "classic" '80s IPs being brought back into park.

 

[ChrisFL]

Just to run down attractions that he was either involved with directly or part of due to producing the movie:

-Jaws
-ET
-MIB
-BTTF
-Shrek
-Jurassic Park
-Spiderman (He helped with design of the attraction in some capacity)
-Transformers
-An American Tail (Fievel)

That's a big list and there's probably some I'm forgetting. In other words, Spielberg has been integral to the Universal parks and they'll probably do anything to keep him on board.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think Spielberg will end up having a statue just like the partner's statue...

 

[Riler]

EDIT: This was supposed to post in this thread, not the blue sky.

Im firmly in the camp that feels Jaws or BTTF will never happen again, but I dont think its as unlikely as some feel it is. Jaws I would say is the least unlikely of the two to have its own full attraction mainly because, as others have said, the Jaws we used to have was pretty much the perfect Jaws ride. Its an IP that to do it justice would use a lot of land and im not sure it has the nostalgic feeling that say BTTF, ET or the Monsters have. The main arguments against BTTF is the whole 2015 thing and that Universal arent interested in older IPs, both are big negatives but I dont think they are the nails in the coffin that some might think.

We see all the time in attractions that back stories are created to seperate the attraction from the movie or IP, Avatars FOP is a perfect example of this where an entire story is created to do this and just uses familiarity or moments/characters to create an excellent attraction. To me, what gives BTTF a chance is the Delorean. Its the most memorable item from the movies and its a god damn time machine. You can create an attraction from that without needing anything else from the IP. The 2015 factor is easily negated by the fact that only one of the 3 films ever took you to 2015 anyway and you could base an attraction around either 1985, 1955, 1885 or even a new future if you really wanted to loosely base the attraction on timelines from the movies.

On Universal not using older IPs, fine, but nostalgia does sell. Granted Disneys animated classics arent exactly a direct comparison but if they can base E-Tickets on 80 year old movies, then nothing should be overlooked. Particularly when Universal isnt exactly rich in IPs that are adaptable to theme park attractions, especially when they have a hell of a lot of new land to fill over the next 10 to 15 years.

Conclusion: Yeah its not happening and im just playing devils advocate, but maybe its not really that unlikely.

 

[belloq87]

Just for the sake of conversation (though I suspect this really belongs in a different thread), I don't think the "well, real 2015 looked nothing like it did in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II, so Universal can never use the BTTF property ever again" argument is impossible to overcome.

You could actually make that part of the story of the ride. Due to various time travel shenanigans, our "real" 2015 ended up looking different than the movie's version. Essentially, we're in an alternate future, like the alternate 1985 from PART II (or the other way around, if you prefer -- movie 2015 was always a weird, alternate one-off caused by time travel hijinks back in the past). The mission of the ride would then be to either stop somebody from further screwing up the timeline, or to reset things back to the way they're "supposed" to be.

 

[Legacy]

Just for the sake of conversation (though I suspect this really belongs in a different thread), I don't think the "well, real 2015 looked nothing like it did in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II, so Universal can never use the BTTF property ever again" argument is impossible to overcome.

You could actually make that part of the story of the ride. Due to various time travel shenanigans, our "real" 2015 ended up looking different than the movie's version. Essentially, we're in an alternate future, like the alternate 1985 from PART II (or the other way around, if you prefer -- movie 2015 was always a weird, alternate one-off caused by time travel hijinks back in the past). The mission of the ride would then be to either stop somebody from further screwing up the timeline, or to reset things back to the way they're "supposed" to be.

Except that 2015 isn't the future anymore - It's the past. And movie version 2015 is arguably better than reality 2015. So we would be going back in time, in this scenario, to make our potential present the same that it is.

There is no aspect presented in the Back to the Future movies that is "future" anymore. THAT'S why it's dated.

 

[belloq87]

I guess I just don't see that as an issue.

Only about 30 minutes in the whole trilogy (nearly 6 hours of storytelling) is spent in the "future," anyway. There are other things you can do with time travel instead of being wedded to 2015. Just have Doc handwave the discrepancies away in the preshow with a line of dialogue about the space-time continuum and skewed tangents, or something.

 

[Coasted]

And therein lies the rub.

You're talking gamers. Not the GP. Mario is evergreen amongst non-gamers. Master Chief is not.

Masterchef the cooking show ;-)
ie I agree / have never heard of him
tho guess he is the guy in the cover

 

[Paulio]

Except that 2015 isn't the future anymore - It's the past. And movie version 2015 is arguably better than reality 2015. So we would be going back in time, in this scenario, to make our potential present the same that it is.

There is no aspect presented in the Back to the Future movies that is "future" anymore. THAT'S why it's dated.

You said it, 2015 is already past by and it's almost the end of the 2010s anyways, so it makes no sense to use the 2015 setting based in the vision from the 1990s producers.

 

[ThrillRideLover3214]

Well at least you still have Bruce the shark hanging around at USF so visitors can take a picture with him, no presence of BTTF is still around, and nothing of ghostbusters is still around. The only way if something similar happens at a fourth gate when it comes to classic universal monsters is too create an all horror section at the fourth gate not including jaws because he is not considered a classic Uni monster. Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula, Creature from the black lagoon will do, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde could fit in. But Spielberg was never a part of the Universal Classic Monsters so this is getting off topic.

 

[Viator]

Well at least you still have Bruce the shark hanging around at USF so visitors can take a picture with him, no presence of BTTF is still around, and nothing of ghostbusters is still around. The only way if something similar happens at a fourth gate when it comes to classic universal monsters is too create an all horror section at the fourth gate not including jaws because he is not considered a classic Uni monster. Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula, Creature from the black lagoon will do, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde could fit in. But Spielberg was never a part of the Universal Classic Monsters so this is getting off topic.

BTTF is still around in the parks, actually.

Doc Brown meets with guests, as a Model version of the Delorean from BTTF2 and the Train from BTTF3 is still out in the public..and also,

That said, allow me to bring up that Spielberg did not produce or direct any of the BTTF films. And that, the BTTF trilogy was Zemeckis, Canton and Gale's blood that had their hand in the series. Amblin was the production company, sure, but Spielberg had no hand in the directorship of the film.

 

[ThrillRideLover3214]

Oh ok....where is BTTF presence then in USF or IOA?

 

[Viator]

Oh ok....where is BTTF presence then in USF or IOA?

The BTTF Delorean Model and the Steam Train can be found to the left of Springfield USA, next to BumbleBee's Taco Shop.

 

[ThrillRideLover3214]

Got it if Spielberg where to do something and continue his contract with Universal Parks come the 4th gate. Yes it is an old IP i know but I would love to see something added from either War Of The Worlds or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But these are just one film not a franchise so it is unlikely that these can be added to a Sci-Fi area if built at a fourth gate. Who knows Spielberg might do something with Disney since he is directing another Indiana Jones Movie that’s a different story though. Rumor has it an Indy Land is supposed to come to Animal Kingdom but those rumors have died down recently. Now talks are on to Hollywood Studios so if Spielberg does something with Indy at WDW he could leave Disney then and head over to Universal Parks again idk just saying.

 

[Viator]

Got it if Spielberg where to do something and continue his contract with Universal Parks come the 4th gate. Yes it is an old IP i know but I would love to see something added from either War Of The Worlds or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But these are just one film not a franchise so it is unlikely that these can be added to a Sci-Fi area if built at a fourth gate. Who knows Spielberg might do something with Disney since he is directing another Indiana Jones Movie that’s a different story though. Rumor has it an Indy Land is supposed to come to Animal Kingdom but those rumors have died down recently. Now talks are on to Hollywood Studios so if Spielberg does something with Indy at WDW he could leave Disney then and head over to Universal Parks again idk just saying.

I wanna level here, and say that War of The Worlds and Close Encounters, while both are good to excellent films; are IP's that are not suited for the parks in ANY capacity (and are, you know, Dead IP's).

They don't offer the potential that would work for Universal Parks and Resorts. If they were to pick an IP from Amblin's catalog, they would not be on the list.

As for Disney, rumors have persisted quite a lot on Indy, but not for one direct place. It's somewhat confusing, but there are quite a few rumored possible locals that the crusader could go to;

That said, what in the seven blazes does Indiana Jones have to do with Universal Parks and Resorts?

 

[ThrillRideLover3214]

I know it just would be cool to at least perhaps some presence from either one of those films even though I guess they are outdated Close Encounters is more of the classic obviously but just to see like a statue or like a visual set from the film like something from a filming set of the movie but already done.

 

[belloq87]

That said, allow me to bring up that Spielberg did not produce or direct any of the BTTF films. And that, the BTTF trilogy was Zemeckis, Canton and Gale's blood that had their hand in the series. Amblin was the production company, sure, but Spielberg had no hand in the directorship of the film.

While Spielberg was certainly not as heavily involved in the actual production as he was on stuff like POLTERGEIST or THE GOONIES, he did do more than simply collect a paycheck and put his name on the movie. He ran a lot of interference for Zemeckis and Gale at the studio level.

 

[tankart150]

Universal should make better rides period. :thud: