There was nearly a spooky Gilligan's Island reboot — but Sherwood Schwartz stopped it

In this proposed version, the castaways become cannibals.

In 2020, we saw a reboot of the Ricardo Montalbán-led fantasy drama TV series Fantasy Island. Serving as a prequel to the 1977 series, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island was a spooky reimagining of the idea of an island that brought your fantasies to life. The reception was...less than a fantasy. While it made back well over its small $7 million budget, it currently sits at a dismal 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, this was not the first classic TV show that was proposed to be brought back as a horror movie. The idea is older than you'd think — and was proposed for Gilligan's Island in the Nineties.

James Gunn, known for Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Slither, recently spoke about a concept that had been floated by Charlie Kaufman, the writer of indie darlings Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 

According to Gunn, in the Nineties, Kaufman proposed a dark and gritty retooling of the beloved castaways. "A true story: In the late ‘90s screenwriting GOAT Charlie Kaufman pitched a movie version of Gilligan’s Island where the islanders, starving & desperate, started killing & eating each other," Gunn tweeted. 

According to Gunn, "Warner Bros wanted to do it - but Sherwood Schwartz, the creator, said no way."

Of course, Gunn was not the mega-star back then that he was now. In modern times, fresh off his Guardians of the Galaxy smash hit, he tried to revive the eerie Gilligan reboot again. 

Warner Bros. and Kaufman were ready to board this three-hour tour, but once again Schwartz — well, the Schwartz estate — put a stop to it. "Anyway, if the Schwartz estate changes their mind," Gunn said, "I’m here."

Castaway cannibals! Only one question remains now... who would you cast in this gory retelling?

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146 Comments

bagandwallyfan52 17 months ago
https://youtu.be/RAPeS5EVkRo
GOMER Pyle USMC
Clip from GOMER The Welsh Rarebit Fiend.
bagandwallyfan52 17 months ago
https://youtu.be/tqupS8x0i1c
In Memory of Dawn Wells
Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan's Island .
The song C'mon Marianne by
The Four Seasons.
bagandwallyfan52 17 months ago
https://youtu.be/FQX_NDTbIJM
IN MEMORY of DAWN WELLS
AKA MARY ANN SUMMERS.
Marianne by The Brothers Four.
Michael 17 months ago
May the Schwartz be with you.
bagandwallyfan52 Michael 17 months ago
ALSO THE COOLEST CASTAWAYS
AKA May "AND THE REST" be
with you!!!!!
bagandwallyfan52 17 months ago
https://youtu.be/NHjrfjUewsI
Happy Days Theme Song
Rock Around The Clock
HAPPY DAYS was MORE COOL
When Chuck Cunningham 1 Gavan O 'Herlihy Chuck Cunningham 2 Randolph Roberts Bag Zombroski Neil J Schwartz
Moose Barry Greenberg And
Eugene Belvin Denis Mandel
Melvin Belvin Scott Bernstein
Daphne Hillary Horan and Spike
WERE STILL on Happy Days and when Chuck Cunningham Bag Zombroski Moose Eugene Belvin
Melvin Belvin Daphne and Spike
Left Milwaukee and VANISHED into thin air With No Forwarding Address these Happy Days Characters were MISSED by the Happy Days Viewers who liked those characters.
Spike was played by Danny
Butch .
Happy Days was also MORE COOL when Arnold's Drive In
waitresses Marsha Simms (Beatrice Colen) and Wendy
(Misty Rowe) and Bobby MELNER
(Harris Kal) WERE STILL on Happy Days.
bagandwallyfan52 17 months ago
https://youtu.be/SVPIRTqd1g0
The Two Characters on Gilligan's Island who were called
AND THE REST were the TWO
COOLEST CASTAWAYS!!
Sherwood Schwartz was
Castaway 8!!
Zip 17 months ago
Speaking of reboots, I am going to "reboot" my comment that I made on this article, since I feel the same way that I did about it about 11 months ago...

Zip 11 Months Ago
I wouldn't cast anyone in it because I wouldn't be a part of making it.
Thank goodness Sherwood put the kibosh on that nonsense! Hopefully the Schwartz estate will continue to put the brakes on any such notion.
I really wish hollywood would stop ruining classic shows.
nickzbu 17 months ago
I don't see how this would work. I mean, would Gilligan be first, or last? And honestly, do we honestly expect anybody to outfight Alan freaking Hale??
F5Twitster 17 months ago
"'A true story: In the late ‘90s screenwriting GOAT Charlie Kaufman pitched a movie version of Gilligan’s Island where the islanders, starving & desperate, started killing & eating each other,' Gunn tweeted."

Of course, in a nod to North America's most famous incident of cannibalism, the only one who could or should have directed the film was Richard Donner.
Chris_D_Smith 17 months ago
NO.
I'd support Rob Zombie's remake of The Munsters
than have the Castaways imitate the Donner Party.
And yes, Rob Zombie did just THAT.
Rob Zombie should make a movie about Zombies because
his last name is Zombie.
Pacificsun 17 months ago
When (meaning never) will Hollywood accept that actors are hired to make the print and setting come alive! Otherwise we'd be reading books in perpetuity.

You could recreate the setting down to a banana leaf perfection of Gilligan's Island or Fantasy Island and it's guaranteed that without those actors, that ensemble of actors you might as well slap some other title on the effort.

I know they changed out Tatoo (I think because they had to) and in fact the other guy was a distraction. That's what happens. It did with Bewitched because all you could think about was Dick Sargent is only pretending to be Darren. You substitute a single character in Fraiser to be filling in, and the show's gone. Which is different than adding or even subtracting a character. So acknowledge it, and move on with it. Do not call it a reboot. They virtually do not exist.
Pacificsun Pacificsun 17 months ago
And the reason is, because each character brings a "perspective" (not to mean viewpoint) to a Team. And that's because of how people related to each other. No matter the occasion. People don't replace each other, and it's stupid to think they would in a Production.

And television is 𝒏𝒐𝒕 Shakespeare!
Pacificsun 17 months ago
Spotlighting scary stories is fun and promotes all the effort MeTV has happily put into arranging Boo-Nanza and Svengoolie. We'll see what the varied episode of Halloween offer in the Block Party on Sunday afternoon.

Am hoping besides the horror and scary parts, they'll be humor too. I love the episodes of shows featuring the Costume parties.

Reader Poll:

Which Shows and Episodes stand out for their humor? Even if they're not run here.

1. I'll nominate the Fraiser episode in Niles' home.
LoveMETV22 Pacificsun 17 months ago
2. I'll nominate Laverne & Shirley: " The Ghost Story" (1983) S8.E17.
Pacificsun LoveMETV22 17 months ago
Readers: too long to play here, but look it up!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcHzVNcCehU
The Three Stooges Short If A
Body Meets A Body and The
Laurel And Hardy Murder Case
Were ALMOST The Same Story
And BOTH the 3 Stooges Short and the Laurel And Hardy Short
had SURPRISE ENDINGS!!
Also the MGM Cartoon called
WHO KILLED WHO? Is a SPOOKY
CARTOON!
F
Character actor Fred Kelsey was the police Detective in both
lf A Body Meets A Body and The Laurel And Hardy Murder Case
And the police Detective in the cartoon was modeled after and
Looked like Fred Kelsey.
JohnnyBoyohBoy 17 months ago
Modern Hollywood destroys everything they touch. I gave up watching anything they make and watch MeTV and other channels and places that actually have things worth watching.
GoodTVfun JohnnyBoyohBoy 17 months ago
Exactly. Plus they can't even have original ideas. Constantly copying shows, movies, songs.
MrsPhilHarris 17 months ago
If they want to make a cannibal movie they should come up with their own characters.
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LoveMETV22 GoodTVfun 17 months ago
"Alive" and "Donner Pass" were both true depictions in movie form of unfortunate events.
However depicting cannibalism for entertainment purposes in fictional TV shows or Movies is unnecessary, their is no entertainment value to it whatsoever.
MrsPhilHarris LoveMETV22 17 months ago
Oh right! I read the book too. I wonder what I would have done? 🤔
LoveMETV22 MrsPhilHarris 17 months ago
The two documentary style or based on true story movies were ok and it's unfortunate that happened. But the use of it to entertain (whether in a series or Movie) makes no sense.
Yeah that's a tough question on what anyone would do, I couldn't answer that.
That's Right !
Don't ruin Gilligan's Island!!
MichaelSkaggs 17 months ago
I glad Schwartz and his estate gave a great big NO to that reboot. Note to James Gunn: I don't believe they will be changing their minds.
GoodTVfun MichaelSkaggs 17 months ago
Exactly. They need to give it up and leave our beautiful shows alone.
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