Stepford Update

DrFranklin · Post by **DrFranklin** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:39 pm

Product Info
Synopsis
The perfect man-made woman becomes a perfect nightmare in this remake of the campy '70s domestic horror flick directed by Frank Oz (Bowfinger). Nicole Kidman is the "ideally manufactured" accessory for the man who has everything, but this sexy cyborg bitch may just have a killer glitch.

..... I get it ....

keraptis · Post by **keraptis** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:46 am

Yeah, it seems completely obvious to me that the ending of the original, in which the heroine fails and the men "win," can't possibly be preserved in this remake.

Looks to me like they've changed it completely -- with Nicole Kidman as a fembot who gives the men their come-uppance. Basically it will be a "careful what you wish for" movie.

Now, the question then is, is Nicole Kidman a fembot from the beginning, or does she start out human and get replaced at some point? Hard to keep the film light if we know that her original character basically got murdered.

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:54 am

Dr. Franklin you have mentioned that you got that tid-bit at:

http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=2483669

After, it took me a small bit of googling to find it.

Now how this website got the info is unknown to me. Since it's a twist, you'd guess they got some nod from paramount. BUT you never know, they could have just ad-libbed the description from "perfect woman" + "dark comedy" = "perfect nightmare".

Anyway, actually, we know that the plot of the movie begins as a non-robotic Nicole Kidman gives a presentation as the head of a TV network. The couple then move to Stepford and the plot description gets more foggy.

But keep up the leg-work.

Svengli

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 12:08 pm

Hmm,

Looks like Stepford has become quite a mess. It does seem production is STILL going on. For all we know, the main stars will appear as CGI imitations for the ending - which could work if you're talking about a film about robots.

Found this today at:
http://www.teenhollywood.com/d.asp?r=60810&cat=1027

---------------------------------------------------

Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman reportedly tried to pull out of starring in new movie The Stepford Wives, after co-star John Cusack backed out of the project.

According to news site Page Six, Kidman was reluctant to make the movie after Cusack dropped out because of a family emergency, to be replaced by Matthew Broderick- and she had to be persuaded by producer Scott Rudin to stay on board.

A source tells Page Six, "She was intrigued about working with John Cusack. She didn't want to play against Matthew Broderick."

The film - which also stars Bette Midler, Glenn Close and Christopher Walken - is due for release in the summer but Page Six sources claim producers recently shot an extra eight weeks of footage and are battling to put the film together after a disappointing first trailer.

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 12:07 pm

So it looks like the latest extras are going to be for a montage of business women. And it won't be filmed till the first week of march, so it sound very much like a delay in release is likely.

Considering that the main theme of this Stepford movie is that the robots dress in frilly outfits, I'd guess that this is non-Stepfordized women. Will this be at the end of the movie, at the beginning, in the middle? It might even be part of the Stepford Organization's marketting videos.

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/0 ... pford.html

By SUSAN ELAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 25, 2004)

Hundreds of women in black business suits with briefcases in tow lined up outside the downtown Performing Arts Center yesterday to vie for a job, but not for any Fortune 500 company. They're hoping to simulate high-powered executives as extras in the forthcoming remake of the feature film "The Stepford Wives."

Open casting calls for the film – staring Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Christopher Walken, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick – began during the summer in Connecticut and New Jersey.

Yesterday, the talent search for 300 extras swooped into White Plains. Within the first hour of the planned four-hour tryouts, more than 200 women from Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties showed up for a chance at Hollywood fame.

"Westchester is a great place to find successful, powerful women," Grant Wilfley, head of the eponymous casting company, said before asking the women to file on stage for a 30-second screen test that involved reciting their name, height and hometown. Women were to be between 30 and 55 years old.

Those chosen to participate in a Manhattan street scene would receive $75 a day, but would have to supply their own wardrobes consisting of three or four black, gray or navy blue outfits, Wilfley said.

The female characters who live in Stepford, a suburban community where husbands turn their wives into compliant robots, will wear pastels.

"I've dreamed of being an actress but never tried before," said Dawn Albanese of Shrub Oak, who owns a silk-screening and embroidery business. "I'm really excited."

Albanese, smartly dressed in a black business suit and pearls, her dark blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, arrived at 10 a.m. to be first in line for the 3 p.m. casting call. Kathleen Davisson, the Performing Arts Center's theater manager, said many of the women in the long line that snaked through the lobby had arrived shortly after noon.

Trish Shenefield of Ossining, a nursery school music teacher and mother of two, prepared for the tryout by renting a video of the original 1975 film and seeking advice from experts on appropriate business attire.

"I borrowed the briefcase from a neighbor," she said, holding up a well-worn one. "I wasn't prepared to spend money on a new one."

Roxane Slaughter of Carmel, a former executive who was laid off from her job in Westchester two years ago, said she had read the best seller by Ira Levin and had seen the original movie starring Katharine Ross when she was in college.

"It was during the early stages of the women's movement," said Slaughter, who now owns a business specializing in feng shui. "I hope they still keep the message about women not losing their identity. That resonates with me."

The film points out Americans' unrealistic efforts to achieve physical perfection through artificial means such as botox treatments and cosmetic surgery, said Agnes Legrady of Putnam Valley, who was born in Hungary.

"There is a huge pressure on women and men that we don't have in Europe," she said. "People feel miserable because they are not perfect instead of accepting themselves as getting older and wiser and having a face and body that matches their soul."

Those who make the cut can expect to receive a phone call by March 5. Filming of the montage of women streaming to work in New York City is scheduled for March 7, 13 and 14.

"It's supposed to take place in the spring, outdoors," Wilfley said. "You can wear silk long johns underneath your spring business attire."

hypero2 · Post by **hypero2** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:49 pm

Like many others, I come here daily hoping to find the "Stepford" thread updated... for those of you like me, I apologize that I have nothing new to report, but.....

Does anyone know the political leanings of Frank Oz? Will he take great delight in blasting G. Bush's 'family values' and 'conservative families'?

Just a thought, but it could give us an idea of which direction the movie will go.

HYPER!!

P.S. Noidguy, if you want to start this in a separate string, I wouldn't mind in the least.

droidlvr · Post by **droidlvr** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:58 pm

Intresting question Hypero,intresting indeed. Maybe it'll generate some discussion here. I for one would be intrested in knowing a little more about this F.Oz. I'd be willing to guess that along with most of Hollywood he'd be more anti-conservative/ PC leaning. Take it from there...

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 5:21 pm

Gee,

I have no idea of Frank Oz's political affiliations - my impression is that the movie will essentially blast both "family values" and lack of family value - i.e., grosteque reality shows (There will be Temptation Island, created by the network that the Kidman character heads, where men spend time being tempted by prostitutes before reunited with their wives).

Anyway, if folks come here looking for daily Stepford updates, I suppose my labors are not in vain.

Here's a tidbit from another board:
( see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327162/board/flat/6495748 )
I was an extra on STEPFORD WIVES for a couple of months. I guess the following contains SPOILERS for some people:

There is indeed a gay couple -- played by David Marshall Grant and Roger Bart. Grant is a butch, conservative gay man and Bart is an over-the-top flaming queen who befriends Kidman and Midler until he is "Stepfordized" and also becomes butch, conservative, and Republican (and a bible-thumper to boot). Bart winds up running for congress (this was the political rally scene shot up by the New Canaan town hall in October) and the couple adopts two teenage boys, Chip and Kip (though the scene was shot two ways, with and without the two Abercrombie and Fitch teen boys).

The film is, after all, from a gay writer and producer and has a very campy, "fabulous" quality to it.

"You can't stop Stepford!"

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 5:27 pm

Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. That's one spoiler I wish was kept from us.

Baron · Post by **Baron** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:34 pm

noidguy wrote:Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. That's one spoiler I wish was kept from us.

Yeah, and what do you bet they give the "doods" (sic, please) the "I'll just DIE if I dont get thissssss recccipe!" line!!

Keizo · Post by **Keizo** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 6:46 am

Just as I predicted. Thank you Svengli for your dedicated updates. I really do appreciate it.

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:39 pm

A small but interesting tid-bit:

"Paramount Studios will be promoting their latest movie releases: "The Stepford Wives," "Mean Girls," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," and "The Prince in Me." Coupled with proprietary hotel media branding, Paramount's presence will immerse spring breakers in a total movie debut blitz campaign. Students will become part of each movie by interacting through daytime movie-themed beach event areas that take on core elements of each upcoming release: "

"The Stepford Wives Perfection Station: Spring Break females will have the opportunity to powder their noses or check out new looks in the mirror as professional cosmetologists recommend how to "perfect" themselves through makeup and the latest accessories. Mean Girls: Here's your chance to get back at that girl who bullied and tormented you in school. Dunk her! Dunkees will heckle Spring Breakers as they line up to make a big splash by knocking each "Mean Girl" down to size in the Paramount Mean Girls dunk tank arena. "

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/sit ... ewsLang=en

Who says this isn't a horror movie? (Oddly enough, while robot women might appeal to me, women who simply stupid and mindless enough to act like robots anyway don't - otherwise, I'd be at the shopping malls rather than here. )

Best Wishes

S

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 2:37 pm

Check out the Stepford Wives website.

http://www.stepfordwivesmovie.com

And if you can figure out a way to make screen caps from that flash file let me know!

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:52 pm

Hey,

The very sparse site does seem pretty appealing. It's just a flash montage but the pictures are pretty cool. You get the strong impression that Glen Close is a fembot in this movie and she looks really good in the picture I see.

So far, all that we've seen from The Stepford Wives ads is campy advertisements for fembots. What if that was how the whole movie was. Wouldn't that be terrible (smirk).

This link has some screen caps from the flash

http://www.fairfield-living.com/Discove ... t&c=News=c

There is one scene from the flash montage that they missed - a bunch of wives doing something ballet in some kind of dance studio. It's the most mysterious since you wonder why robots would need to be taught anything. Perhaps it will down a "turning" as Noidguy says.

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:08 pm

Here's that image Svengli mentioned that was missing from the Fairfield page....

keraptis · Post by **keraptis** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:10 pm

Svengli wrote: There is one scene from the flash montage that they missed - a bunch of wives doing something ballet in some kind of dance studio. It's the most mysterious since you wonder why robots would need to be taught anything. Perhaps it will down a "turning" as Noidguy says.

By "turning" do you mean finding normal women to Stepfordize? That would certainly be one reason.

But I always thought that part of having a Stepford wife was the social status she can help her husband attain. So during their idle time, I don't expect they just power down in the closet ... they are very active socially even if that means pretending to be taught something that they could probably learn with a simple download.

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:19 pm

Actually,

If you have windows, you should be able to capture any frame of the flash file just by pressing control-printscreen and then pasting the result into an image editting problem (something more than paintbrush would work better).

S

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:41 pm

That works too. I went the long way around.

Svengli wrote:Actually,

If you have windows, you should be able to capture any frame of the flash file just by pressing control-printscreen and then pasting the result into an image editting problem (something more than paintbrush would work better).

S

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:51 pm

What are they are they doing in that picture anyway.

It looks it could be dance but the one wife is holding something like a leash. Seems to be directing like kind of drama or sing teacher.

Plus none of them are wearing leotards or other dance costumes.

I suppose we'll find the answer reasonably soon,

S

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 10:12 pm

I feel like Deckard in Bladerunner trying to analyze these photos.

My guess is they're taking dance lessons of some kind - probably a community ed class held at the Stepford Spa. They may be robotic but they would still have to fill their day with some activity to give the appearance of humanity. Also, a few hours at the spa every week gives a good explanation of how the women stay in great shape.

<clap> <clap> "Okay ladies, that's enough for today. Hit the showers." !! (I can imagine Stepford Mary's response)

Svengli wrote:What are they are they doing in that picture anyway.

S

Keizo · Post by **Keizo** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 6:37 am

It looks like they are being taught the proper way to vacuum vacuously. From the angle it looks like the handle of a vacuum cleaner and all the other wives are positioned about the same. Also it's good to see that not all of them are blonde

keraptis · Post by **keraptis** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:15 am

Keizo wrote:Also it's good to see that not all of them are blonde

Amen. Nothing against blondes, but when every girl in the room is blonde, blonde ain't special.

Svengli · Post by **Svengli** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:04 pm

Hmm,

I think I'll post here just cause it will put most of the Stepford material in one place, in case folks wind-up wanting it later.

Anyway, a review of the advanced screening was posted here: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17150

In the discussion section of the screening review, there was this (http://www.aintitcool.com/tb_display.cgi?id=17150): "My girfriend played a Stepford Wife in this movie, and she said they DID film two endings, one sort of happy and one sort of not. She also said that on their last day of shooting Frank Oz took requests and did all of the voices he's famous for from Fozzy to Yoda, which sounded infinitely more interesting than the two endings, which is probably why I can't remember any of the details of either (except for a scene where Glenn Close buys the farm). In any case, I still don't see the point in making, or re-making, as it were, this movie."

And this: "...forgot to mention that Kidman was the best thing in the movie. She took a character that went from being a neurotic bitch to sympathetic, not easy, but she made it work. All the actors were fine, the biggest problem I think is that someone made the decision to make the husband a sympathetic character and it just doesn't work. How can you empathize with someone who even considers turning his wife into a slave? COUGH! Yes, the second ending would solve that issue but the second ending is a joke, it had to be. Even the quality of it was less than the rest of the film, almost as if the director was just putting it in so he could SEEM cooperative but really, he wants it out. PEACE"

---> So, in a sense, we could get much closer to what I suspect we want - their unhappy ending, which would be our happy ending.

---> Also, I just put a few pieces together about the ending; "We were treated to a BS Hollywood ending where it turns out that Broderick and Nicole were putting the wool over everyone's eyes and manage to sneak into the lair of the nefarious Mike (Chris Walken, fine as ever) and free all the ladies, who are only a little miffed about being transplanted into robotic bodies and being used as beer coolers. I kid not. "
=== Ah, this reminds me of when Rudick made the comment that men and women together would build Stepford wives. Essentially, the comment is that the women wouldn't mind being plopped into robot bodies because now they are perfect - never an extra pound, a winkle or a bad-hair day again.

Course, the problem is that it sounds like the movie is trying to make fifty mediocre social comments instead one of interesting one. But that's modern film making - stuff designed by commitee and opinion polling is mediocre and banal even if all the folks involved are terribly clever.

Best Wishes

S

noidguy · Post by **noidguy** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:00 pm

Has anyone seen the commentary included on the original Stepford Wives special edition dvd? I just finished watching it for about the third time. There are some interesting tidbits of information included, many dealing with the original choices for leading ladies.

William Goldman, the original screenwriter, wanted the two main characters of Joanna and Bobbie to be something along the lines of Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper - those types anyway. Not the actresses themselves. And he wanted the women to dress much sexier.

Bryan Forbes, the director, didn't like a lot of Goldman's script so he reworked it, changing the ending and modifying various aspects of the characters. Forbes also cast his wife, Nanette Newman, as one of the Stepford wives.

Some of the other actress's names mentioned as possible leads were Diane Keaton, Joanna Cassidy, and possibly even Jane Fonda. They don't mention Fonda by name but if you read between the lines I think they are referring to her.

Original: multiple cast changes, script rewrites, alternate ending
Remake: lead roles changed (Cusacks out), script rewrites, alternate endings(?)

I wonder if Goldman's original screenplay still exists somewhere. I'd like to read it.

One other thing I noticed. Remember the kitchen scene where Bobbie is stabbed with a steak knife? She is about to get Joanna a cup of coffee, asks Joanna what she wants in it, and then says, "Oh that's right. You take it black." And just a few moments later Joanna realizes Bobbie isn't really Bobbie. See any similarities to a certain television episode that came out less than 2 years later?

Lady 1: Can I get you something?
Lady 2: I'd like a cup of coffee, and also....<paraphrase>
Lady 1: I'll get that coffee. How do you take it?
Lady 2: Black. You don't remember?
Lady 1: I'm not rowing with both oars today.

She was just going to get you coffee and you made her lose face!

rickdrat · Post by **rickdrat** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 11:10 pm

Okay, maybe I'm not rowing with both oars today, but I'm missing that refference.

Stepford Update

Synopsis on iFilm

Well

More News Of Trouble

Slightly more information

More of a question than an update

Intresting question Hypero,intresting indeed...

OK you want more?

Stepford Wives website now active!

Lookin' Good

The missing image

Re: Lookin' Good

Screen Caps

Re: Screen Caps

The Picture

Re: The Picture

Stepford: Then and Now