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New Futurama Movie Coming in June

Posted by Zonk on Wed Mar 19, 2008 04:02 PM
from the good-news-everyone dept.
Media Movies It's funny. Laugh. Television
walterbyrd writes "Bender's Big Score is just getting set to air on Comedy Central, but already Fox has announced that the next straight-to-DVD Futurama film/series is coming in June. The title? 'The Beast with a Billion Backs.' 'In what Fox is calling the most tentacle-packed Futurama epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. What lies beyond is a mix of horror and love as the Planet Express crew encounters a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions. The second feature-length Futurama film will be followed by at least two more movies from series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. The show's entire voice cast and most of its main writers have returned to help revive the series, which FOX cancelled in 2003.'"
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[+] David X. Cohen of Futurama Talks About the Movie 141 comments
Joel Keller writes "I conducted a brief interview with David X. Cohen, EP and show-runner for Futurama, about the release of the new DVD, "Futurama: Bender's Big Score," as well as the return of his show to TV. The interview was posted to TV Squad this morning. In it, Cohen talks about how the movies will be split up into episodes, some of the inside references that they inserted for the die-hards, and a quick preview of what the second Futurama movie is going to be about."
[+] Entertainment: Futurama Returns! 226 comments
Random BedHead Ed writes "Good news everyone! After a five year vanishing act the sci-fi spoof Futurama returned this week with a direct-to-DVD feature. Wired has an article about its return, including the story of the show's origins, a behind the scenes gallery, interviews with creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and some interesting trivia. For example, did you know the ship has an overbite like a Simpson's character? Or that the show's title is taken from an exhibition at the 1939 Worlds Fair?." We just talked about this a bit the other day, too, in reference to a great interview on TVSquad.
Submission: New Futurama Movie in June by walterbyrd (182728)
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  • Better in half-hour installments (Score:5, Interesting)

    by aapold (753705) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:04PM (#22800006) Homepage Journal
    Bender's Big Score had many awesome moments, but it made me realize Futurama is better in shorter installments, it begins to wear at the interest after awhile. BBS is best watched in pieces IMO. of course straight-to-dvd you're free to do that. But I'd take a series of tales over a single long one I think. I do hope for another episode of "Everyone loves Hypnotoad" on the extras though.
    • I agree. I wish they would release a dvd of four new episodes instead of a movie. The old series was as close to perfect as a show gets, IMHO.
    • All hail the Hypnotoad!

    • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Rutulian (171771) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:15PM (#22800160)
      That's funny because I thought Bender's Big Score was terrible. My roommate and I loved the old Futurama episodes and have watched them all several times over. About 30 minutes into the movie, we were looking at each other and asking, "Is this Futurama?" I had to force myself to sit through the whole thing, hoping that it would get better, but all I got was a seemingly endless stream of jokes and gags repeated over in a bad way from the series. And the fart joke level of humor was pretty excessive. I always liked Futurama because it didn't have a lot of that, and instead had a lot of subtle humor that could really be appreciated by geeks.

      I'm really hoping the second movie is better....
      • I agree completely. I'm a big Futurama fan, and I've watched every episode, and I thought the movie Bender's Big Score sucked ass. They must have changed their writing staff or rushed production, because the humor was just lame. The next one had better not be this bad, or I'll have to write Futurama off as a total loss.

      • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:5, Insightful)

        by CKW (409971) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @05:03PM (#22800722) Journal
        YES. That's exactly what I thought. They went out of their way to re-do gags they've done before and "show" every character ever in the series, no matter how irrelevant to the plot. Like you were watching a kitschy movie trying to remind you of how great it's past was - but DOING NOTHING NEW OR INTERESTING. HUGE disappointment.

        Any two episodes from the series was better than the first movie. Any two. Many individual episodes from the series were better than the whole movie.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by bobobobo (539853)
        Yeah, that was my initial impression in watching it, that it didn't have many funny moments, if any at all. It was however a really great piece of sci-fi. I don't think a time travel story so convoluted was ever pulled off so well or tightly before.
    • Agreed. A half season of new stand alone episodes would been much preferred.

      Also, did anyone else notice that Bender's Big Score suffered from "jaggies" on many straight lines through the animation? I noticed a similar, though not as severe, effect on the Simpsons Movie once it was released to DVD as well.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by LunaticTippy (872397)
        Maybe you are used to these shows on a SD feed, which would tend to blur this. Another possibility is your TV is higher res than the dvd and the upscaling artifacts are visible.
    • The thing about Bender's Big Score is that it wasn't made to be successful in the normal sense. It was much more an homage to the fans that have waited the series out. The plot is one essentially that would work really well as a half-hour episode, but instead it's intentionally stretched out to allow for a lot of in-jokes and nods to long time fans. They knew exactly what they were doing when they made BBS. I see the new one being a regular old movie with no ulterior motive other than to entertain. Now I know making a movie that is successful and able to stand on its own is hard, but I have faith that David X. Cohen and the rest of the lot can do it.

    • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Dachannien (617929) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:30PM (#22800312)
      Actually, the "Anthology of Interest" episodes (you watched it - you can't unwatch it!) were among my favorites from the original series, indicating that extremely short episodes really provided the structure that helped the writers to shine. I wouldn't mind seeing more Tales! Of! Interest! included as bonus features on the upcoming DVDs.

      I liked Bender's Big Score a lot better than, say, That's Lobstertainment or The Honking, but they really had some great episodes during the original run that'll be hard to top.

      On an unrelated note, I seriously hope they improve the media and packaging quality for the next DVD. My DVD player is barely able to play the BBS disc I got (no scratches or anything, just can't seem to stay focused on the disc, especially layer 2), and the packaging only manages tenuously, at best, to keep the disc from falling out and rolling across the floor.

      • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:4, Informative)

        by dq5 studios (682179) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @05:11PM (#22800818) Homepage

        On an unrelated note, I seriously hope they improve the media and packaging quality for the next DVD. My DVD player is barely able to play the BBS disc I got (no scratches or anything, just can't seem to stay focused on the disc, especially layer 2), and the packaging only manages tenuously, at best, to keep the disc from falling out and rolling across the floor.
        I'm told it's because they wanted the packaging to be carbon neutral or zero emissions or what ever the term is for what Al Gore's been talking about.

    • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Joe the Lesser (533425) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:35PM (#22800352) Homepage Journal
      I noticed a similar issue with the Family Guy movie.

      The sort of bit comedy that the Simpsons started is hilarious, but hard to maintain plot lines over twenty minutes because most of the humor is helped my plot twists, and they can only twist so much.

    • Re:Better in half-hour installments (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2008, @05:12PM (#22800826)
      Wow. I'm shocked. Am I the only one who utterly loved it? It had a good involving storyline, it had real science fiction (the idea of time travel duplicates is something I have been wanting to see explored well in some story for a long time), and it even grips your heart at the end. Yes, short instalments are often quite funny (what if life were more like a video game?), but the ones I will remember the most were the ones with a good story. Also, you'll notice a lot of cool details during the second watching. That said, it was still pretty damn funny. I can't wait for more.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Progman3K (515744)
        You're not alone.

        I also thought it was great.

        To appreciate it you really have to concentrate. There are lots of subtle details that were put in the movie, time-travel stories like BBS require more from the viewer.

        I believe this is the reason some fans didn't like it. It out-geeked its supposed geek audience.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by bugg (65930) *
        Nope, I loved it too.

        I'm also a sucker for endings that pull on your heartstrings - and this movie ranked up there with Jurassic Bark for emotional response at the end.

        I did apologize to those who watched it with me, however, as they weren't really futurama fans, and all of the in-jokes were a bit much for them. I found myself having to explain why santa was a robot who killed things, etc.

        Does anyone know how strong the sales were? I'm trying to decide whether I should buy my own copy - I don't really eve

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Gulthek (12570)
        I loved it tons, I even reviewed it [xyzzyb.com] (5/5).

  • Futurama (Score:3, Insightful)

    by boyko.at.netqos (1024767) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:06PM (#22800036)
    It makes you wonder why TV shows don't skip the network alltogether and go straight to DVD in the first place.

    • It makes you wonder why TV shows don't skip the network alltogether and go straight to DVD in the first place.
      Who's going to pay for the production?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Higaran (835598)
      Because if you have never seen something like on the big screen or on tv, there is almost no chance of you going out any buying or renting it. Unless its christmas shopping time, and you grap like 10 dvds from the bargin bin at walmart for like $5.00 to give out as stocking stuffers. I welcome our new overload the beast with a billion backs.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Jerf (17166)
      We're getting there, incrementally. We can't jump to it all at once for the reasons cited by others.

      If you want to see that world, be sure to support the Futurama movies, and pick up Stargate: The Ark of Truth, too. Right now, that's the most direct way to indicate interest in this.
    • And they've been around for decades there.

      One advantage the Japanese have is that often, OVAs (Original Video Animation, sometimes Original Animated Video) are based on comics or video games that already have a large fan base.

      There are also plenty of direct-to-DVD movies here in the states, but they have a (largely deserved) reputation for sucking.

      I'm actually betting that we never see a big direct-to-DVD-series market in the US because I bet technology will beat out the marketing shift, so that people can

  • Movie good, but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Xelios (822510) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:10PM (#22800092)
    I'd have been happier with new direct-to-DVD seasons rather than long movies. The last one seemed drawn out and the jokes were a bit sparse. It just doesn't translate well into feature length.

    I hope this one will be better, but either way I'm glad they're not giving up on Futurama.

    • Re:Movie good, but... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by realmolo (574068) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:16PM (#22800164)
      I have to agree.

      Though, to me the major problem with "Bender's Big Score" is that they just threw everything but the kitchen sink into the plot. By the end of the movie, it's just a confusing mess of plots/subplots. The STRENGHT of "Futurama" has been that the plots are typically pretty tight. They ALWAYS had a good plot, and stuck with it.

      • Re:Movie good, but... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by moderatorrater (1095745) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:19PM (#22800192)
        My opinion is that they had to do some fan service for the first movie, and that these next ones should be able to get away from that.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by surgen (1145449)
        It does seem that they threw a lot into the plot but that is because it is four times as long. If you break the movie into four 22 minute segments you can see that each part stands on its own very well. I enjoyed that the plot was driving the story forward, if hadn't have had such an active plot the story would have just felt like was drawn out and moving too slowly. I think a lot of the anger at the plot is sparked when people try to wrap their head around the time travel and which instance of a charect

  • Welp, (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jailbrekr (73837) <jailbrekr@digitaladdiction.net> on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:12PM (#22800116) Homepage
    we're boned.
  • Do you think they'll have some gratuitous nudity - like Lella? I really want to see her naked!

  • Finally! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ZJVavrek (952066) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:15PM (#22800152)
    Tentacle romance comes to Western Animation! And on a planet-sized scale, too.

  • Best Day Ever (Score:3)

    by putzin (99318) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:38PM (#22800388) Homepage
    This is all I can say about more Futurama being anounced.

  • And the winner ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Random BedHead Ed (602081) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @04:45PM (#22800470) Homepage Journal

    And the winner of the best animated series to return to us via DVD is ...

    ...

    ... THE HYPNOTOAD. ... ALL HAIL ... THE HYPNOTOAD [r33b.net].

    • Re:And the winner ... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Graff (532189) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @05:16PM (#22800876)
      Random BedHead Ed [slashdot.org] had this [slashdot.org] to say:

      ... THE HYPNOTOAD. ... ALL HAIL ... THE HYPNOTOAD [r33b.net].
      I think the funniest part of that web page is the source code. Not only does it have an ASCII-art hypnotoad comment but it also uses the special iPhone icon setting.

      What's funny about that last part? Well, pretty much all the content on the web page is in a Flash movie and the iPhone can't view it because the iPhone doesn't support Flash!

      Kinda ironic that your iPhone bookmark will have a pretty icon for content it can't view...
  • Can be found here [locusmag.com]. For those interested in such things

    ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

  • A minor correction: (Score:3, Insightful)

    by The_REAL_DZA (731082) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @06:57PM (#22801852)

    "...The show's entire voice cast and most of its main writers have returned to help revive the series, which FOX cancelled in 2003.'"
    Should have been "...The show's entire voice cast and most of its main writers have returned to help revive the series, which FOX stupidly cancelled in 2003.'" There, I fixed it for you.

  • This Sunday! (Score:3, Informative)

    by computerman413 (1122419) on Wednesday March 19 2008, @07:07PM (#22801942)
    FYI, Bender's Big Score will air this Sunday (3/23) at 8:00PM EDT on Comedy Central.

  • Bender's Big Score has its ups and downs (Score:5, Informative)

    by LoveMe2Times (416048) on Thursday March 20 2008, @12:36AM (#22803856) Homepage Journal
    A number of people have commented about having lukewarm feelings for Bender's Big Score, but haven't given much of an explanation, so I'm going to take a crack at it. WARNING: Potential Spoilers! For starters, yes, there is some fan service, for about the first five minutes or so, and yes, it's only kinda funny, and annoying on repeat viewings. However, there are some really great parts to this movie, and some parts that suck really bad, and the fan service is neither. The number one problem (and IMHO only problem) with this movie is that its setup is completely, utterly moronic and very pretentious. Everything relating to SPAM should have been axed completely, or at least made very VERY minor, and a different framing device used. The visual appearance of the alien villains could have been kept, and they could even continue to be annoying, but the way that SPAM infects this plot is just LAME. And letting your framing device drag down an otherwise good movie is a massive screw-up.

    That said, if you can get past your gag-reflex during the setup, the rest of the movie's pretty good. The core plot of time travel, Fry, Leela, Leelu, and Lars is a solid one. I think it would have been better if Lars hadn't lived Fry's old life, as that breaks continuity with the series, and was unnecessary for the Leelu plotline. The bits on Neptune and the Death Star sequences were great, with some amazing animation. The Hermes subplot is ok, but not great, and it displaced the far more important Amy/Kiff developments. I think that not even mentioning Amy and Kiff's relationship is a significant oversight, and I hope that is developed more in the forthcoming movies. Finally, I think having a plotline that revolves around time travel but doesn't even mention chronotons or Fry "doing the nasty in the pasty" is a big mistake. Fry being his own grandfather is one of the most important long-term plotlines from the series, and seeing as how the movie has Niblonians in it anyway, the omission is odd.

    I think that Bender's Big Score was a poor choice to be the first movie to put out, given that the end of the series was so powerful, I feel that it needed to be addressed much more directly. But aside from the SPAM bits, none of my other complaints really matter that much, but since the SPAM bits kinda drag the movie down, it makes all the other flaws more noticeable.

    But everybody should go out and get a copy (Today!) to ensure that we get more Futurama.

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