It seems like every classic ’60s TV show at this point has had some kind of reboot. Either on the big screen or in a new TV series. There are
and of course,
. The list is long. But a show that never received the restart treatment is
. But we almost had a horror version in the late ’90s, from writer / director James Gunn.
Thanks to
, we learned that over twenty years ago, Gunn actually had a really wild pitch for a
restart of the film. The one that involved the world famous castaways resorting to cannibalism when a rescue of the
passengers never happens. And he would have done it with none other than Charlie Kaufman. He told the whole story via his Twitter.
A true story: In the late ’90s, GOAT screenplay Charlie Kaufman presented a cinematic version of Gilligan’s Island where hungry and desperate islanders began to kill and eat each other. Warner Bros wanted to do it – but Sherwood Schwartz, the creator, refused.
– James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 13, 2021
What’s really crazy about this story is that Warner Bros. was totally ashore for a version of the classic show where the skipper tries to eat his “boyfriend”. But Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of the original series, stopped Gunn in his tracks. Schwartz, a type of guy renowned for his straightforward style, once bristled at the tongue-in-cheek innuendos of
. So there was no way he would approve of a movie where Mary Ann tries to kill and eat ginger.
After Guardians, I tried to resuscitate the idea and wanted to realize. It seemed that Warners and Charlie were interested, but this time the estate of the late Sherwood Schwartz denied it. Anyway, if the Schwartz Estate changes its mind, I’m here.
– James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 13, 2021
After the death of Schwartz and after the success of
, Gunn thought maybe there was a gunshot. But alas, the Schwartz estate assured that this would not happen. We will just say this. A cannibal
is more convincing than
, where the castaways try to leave the island but end up in space. Yes, it was a real Saturday morning cartoon that aired. Hope someone at some point lets Gunn do the
version of
, because we kind of want to see it.
