When most celebrities set out to promote a movie, it’s all about the interviews. Maybe a news conference here or there. A talk show appearance to make sure they’re covering all their bases.
Will Ferrell, whose movie “Land of the Lost” opened Friday, is not most celebrities. He ate a reindeer’s eyeball. To promote his adaptation of the ’70s TV show about adventurers who travel through time to a strange and unwelcoming wilderness, Ferrell filmed an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Man vs. Wild.”
In the show, he and adventurer Bear Grylls trek to the wilderness of northern Sweden, where the actor eats a grilled reindeer eyeball — among many other outrageous acts.
He climbs out of a helicopter by rope (“Mommy!” he shouts), is eased down a cliff supported by two sticks wedged in ice, trudges through waist-deep snow on makeshift snowshoes of twigs and spends a night with Grylls in a snow cave. Dinner, and breakfast the next morning, comes from the head of a reindeer carcass found along the way.
“Nine out of 10 actors would not do that,” Ferrell deadpanned in an interview with The Associated Press.
He wasn’t familiar with “Man vs. Wild,” probably the looniest and most entertaining series in the adventurist genre, when his manager broached the idea. But the comic actor, who has run three marathons, warmed to the idea.
“I started watching it and thought, ‘This could be too crazy to say no to,’ ” Ferrell said.
And it sounds like his “Man vs. Wild” approach was not unlike his “Lost” adventure — with all its subject matter involving a land inhabited by dinosaurs, reptilian creatures called the Sleestak and a race of primate-like characters who have their own special language.
The big question remaining, though, is this: Will his reboot stay loyal enough to the 1970s TV show on which it’s based to keep die-hard fans happy? Will it be a hit like J.J. Abrams’ reimagined “Star Trek” film, or will it get a little guff from movie buffs like McG’s “Terminator Salvation” project did when it was released last month? Ferrell sounds optimistic it will appeal to broad audiences.
“They can’t be too hard on us, because while ‘Land of the Lost’ is known to some, it’s not known to a wide audience, so we had to kind of expand it,” Ferrell told MTV in a recent interview.
Granted, there are some not-so-subtle changes to the original show about Dr. Rick Marshall and his family, who are caught in a time warp and transported to a treacherous wilderness in another dimension. In the movie adaptation, Marshall (Ferrell) is accompanied not by his children, but by a sultry fellow scientist named Holly (Anna Friel) and a knucklehead outsider named Will (Danny McBride).
They still encounter familiar faces such as Chaka, a lovable yet mischievous primate-like creature, and evil-doer Enik, who lords over a mysterious collection of crystals. And of course there’s a big old dinosaur.
“You got Sleestaks, you got Rick, you got Chaka, you got the infamous sign on the rock, ‘Beware of Sleestak,’ ” Ferrell told MTV. “You have Enik, you have crystals, you have Grumpy the T-rex, so I don’t want to hear it!” he joked.
Sid Krofft, a co-creator of the original TV show with Marty Krofft, said the story has been updated to appeal to modern sensibilities. And no, it’s not as trippy as the original. (The Kroffts, who also created children’s shows including “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “The Bugaloos” and “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,” have been the subject of speculation that they used drugs while creating their imaginative programming.)
“If we did the drugs that we’ve been accused of doing all these years, we wouldn’t be here answering your questions,” Sid Krofft said in an online chat forum moderated by The Washington Post this week. “I just want to make one thing really, really clear. When we created these shows it was all through the ’70s, and those were the psychedelic years.”
While “Lost” retains the show’s campy approach, it also has modern references to pop culture that include, but are not limited to, a cameo by “Today” show co-host Matt Lauer, a joke about a certain celebrity chef and an ongoing bit about the relevance of Broadway show “A Chorus Line.”
So don’t worry about the premise being out of date, they say.
“Sid and Marty Krofft have always moved with the times,” Krofft said in the Washington Post forum. “When you go to see ‘Land of the Lost’ the movie, you will see that we brought it up to the year 2009.”
AP, RedEye contributed.
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‘Land of the Lost’ vs. ‘The Hangover’ Box-office battle
Used to be that a Will Ferrell flick was a sure thing at the summer box office, no question. His brand of man-child comedies — think “Old School,” the “Wedding Crashers” cameo and “Anchorman” — always sat well with fans. But now there are rumblings that Ferrell’s flick has competition. Some critics are even saying “The Hangover,” from the director who produced “Old School” and starring a slew of comedians including Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, could make a splash as it opens alongside Ferrell’s “Land of the Lost” this weekend. So which movie will reign supreme? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason RedEye has Faceoffs!
JIM WALSH, REDEYE
CATEGORY: FUNNY MAN
LOST: Will Ferrell’s character runs around in his underwear and listens to showtunes in this adventure comedy.
HANGOVER: Zach Galifianakis’ character gets loaded and runs around in his underwear in this fratty comedy.
CATEGORY: LEADING LADY
LOST: Anna Friel plays Holly, the name of Dr. Marshall’s daughter in the “LOTL” TV show but the name of his love interest in the movie. Weird.
HANGOVER: The whole thing is a brodeo. Not really a chick situation.
CATEGORY: NOTABLE CAMEO
LOST: Matt Lauer has a hilarious encounter with Ferrell’s character on a “Today” show spoof.
HANGOVER: We know from the trailers that Mike Tyson makes an inexplicable appearance after the men of “Hangover” partake in a hefty amount of partying.
CATEGORY: GOOFBALL FACTOR
LOST: Ferrell’s flick is full of dinosaurs, creatures and danger — oh my!
HANGOVER: “Hangover” promoters are pitching it as a story about a bunch of dudes who act like children on a guy’s night out. Nothing goofier than that!
CATEGORY: DEJA VU?
LOST: “LOTL” is based on the original ’70s TV show, which also was updated for TV in the ’90s.
HANGOVER: From the director who produced “Old School,” this feels a lot like “Old School.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
THE WINNER: The Hangover
Sorry, “Land of the Lost,” but dinosaurs and kooky adventures are going to be a tough sell against the boozy debauchery of “The Hangover.” At least that’s our prediction for this weekend.
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FAST-PAISED BY MATT PAIS
‘Land of the Lost’ (PG-13)
(1.5 out of 4 stars)
No routine expedition here: Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell), his fetching admirer Holly (Anna Friel) and dimwitted sidekick Will (Danny McBride) stumble into an alternate dimension full of dinosaurs and slow-moving lizard-people called Sleestaks. Can the gang return home from their far-out voyage without throwing the space-time continuum into disarray?
The buzz: The most pressing issue with director Brad Silberling’s adaptation is how to turn a cheesy, occasionally trippy and really low-budget kids’ show into a big, special effects-laden summer blockbuster — especially when J.J. Abrams’ “Lost” TV show seems to have the stranded-in-a-strange-place market cornered.
The verdict: Ferrell-izing “Land of the Lost” was not the way to go, as Rick transforms from a levelheaded source of paternal guidance to the same old buffoon that the actor has driven, ice-skated and bounced into staleness. Ferrell’s funny appearance on “Man vs. Wild” had real adventure; “Land of the Lost” just has shtick.
