Warbird Information Exchange

A new big budget adaptation to be directed by Roland Emmerich (The Patriot, Independence Day) just secured its first $80 million in financing at the Cannes Film Festival/Market.

I'm disappointed we won't get to see Bruce McKenna's (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) take on the battle, but anything that brings this story to a new audience and keeps it fresh will be a net good.

http://deadline.com/2017/05/midway-roland-emmerich-bona-film-group-mark-gordon-1202101145/

Nice - I hope it is well done there are a few Wildcats and more than a few Avengers, a Catalina or two (provided no idiots are allowed behind the yoke) plus a handful of others to make this a potentially good film!

Hopeful,

Tom P.

Knowing how Mr. Emmerich likes to embellish and create alternative history in past historical movies he's done, I'm skeptical to down right worried. But hey, at least its another WWII movie being brought to a new generation. And its gotta be better than 1976's Midway right?

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Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

I had forgotten about the early TBF-1 Avengers that participated. Several of the currently flying later model Avengers would make great stand-ins for a movie.

And don't forget the SBD Dauntless dive bombers. Hopefully there will be at least THREE flyers potentially available for a movie.

If they use actual warbirds for the movie, hopefully any Dauntless, Avenger, Wildcat or other types will be in period correct May/June 1942 markings.

http://www.midway1942.com/planes/usn_tbf.shtml

You think Kermit would be game to use his B-26? What an action scene it would be to see that Marauder fly right over the deck of the Akagi!

_________________
Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

More like 5 very shortly and by the time the film gets made.

Last I've heard the B-26 needs major work and a virtual "re-restoration" to get it airworthy again. I could see Kermit using the B-26 for static ground scenes, but I don't see him suddenly willing to fund millions to get the B-26 flying again just for the sake of the movie.

If you haven't noticed, Kermit's restorations take a loooooooong time. They often take up to a decade or longer. Given that Kermit is short of funding, I don't see anything happening in the near future with the B-26.

Any B-26 scenes would likely be CGI.

More like 5 very shortly and by the time the film gets made.[/quote]

FIVE! That would be even better.

How much work is needed on Kermit's B-26? I was amazed how much money the studio spent on throw away props when "The Incredible Hulk" had some scenes filmed here in Wendover - maybe they would help out with some of the restoration.

Tom P.

If they have to make the Japanese fleet CGI (unless someone has a spare carrier somewhere), them making B-26s should be easy!

Unless he has more than $80 million, I'd expect the film to have only slightly more live action than The Minions (spoiler alert, they aren't real).

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

If it doesn't have Erik Estrada and an F9F crashing into a carrier and an exploding He-111, it's already a winner.
I just hope they'll finally have some high-quality full-scale replica TBDs built.

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More than Kermit can afford or is willing to afford right now. There are other more important things he's concentrating on currently, like getting Fantasy of Flight self-sustaining. Right now, FoF doesn't even pay for itself, according to Kermit.

I seriously doubt a studio would help pay for the restoration. Even if they did, it would be millions, and even if that happened, you would be looking at a multi-year restoration which would have to fit within the timeline of the movie shoot - all very unlikely. In this day and age, it is much easier and cheaper to use either CGI or mock-ups - both of which have been used extensively in the past on war movies.

For the relatively small role B-26's played at Midway, there is no reason for a studio to spend 7 figures to repair/lease an aircraft. CGI is a better choice.

That said, what's so wrong with Kermit's B-26? I can't imagine that overhauling the engines/props/hydraulics on his airplane would run into crazy dollars. I'd guess $250k, but even at $500k, we're not talking the millions mentioned earlier in the thread. So, other than engines/props/hydraulics, what are the big ticket problems with the airplane?

I just assumed millions, not an actual price that I've heard. Based on Kermit's public facebook postings and people I've talked to, I've heard that the B-26 does need quite a bit of work.

Price is irrelevant right now. Whatever that is, it is apparently too much that he is willing to put up. So, forget the millions figure I quoted.

I think I know a potential source for those...

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22