Posted on 01/31/2005 7:23:36 PM PST by stainlessbanner
For months now, under a veil of secrecy on the country backroads north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the General Lee, with its rooftop confederate flag, has been pedal to the metal, taking jumps and zooming past movie cameras. You've seen Smokey and the Bandit, you've seen The Blues Brothers, now wait until you see the cop-evading action they're cooking-up for The Dukes of Hazzard. The crew has one goal in mind: to make this a high-speed, rally-racing, drift-driving, dirt and dust tour de force.
IGN FilmForce visited the set last week, and we're gearing up to deliver you guys the latest on this big screen adaptation of the hit TV series, all the way up to the movie's release this summer. And Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, producer Bill Gerber and director Jay Chandrasekhar are going to help us out.
After watching Seann William Scott drive the General Lee past a dozen cop cars, director Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers, Club Dread) tells us he was more than eager to take on the task of The Dukes of Hazzard. And like his idol John Landis, he's throwing everything and jug of moonshine into this one. "I was a huge fan of Smokey and the Bandit and The Blues Brothers and, so, it feels like a natural movie for me to make. Super Troopers was sort of inspired by Smokey and the Bandit, too, so Dukes is intended to feel somewhat like that. There's a shot where Seann has to pull a reverse 180 among all these cop cars, and it's just scary."
When Seann William Scott (Bo Duke) first saw the new General Lee, the classic orange 1969 Dodge Charger, he couldn't wait to get behind the wheel. "It looked great!" he says. "The first thing I thought about was, how is this thing going to handle? It's just so much fun to drive. You just look at this car and you can really get nostalgic about the whole thing."
And after driving the many incarnations of the General Lee (whatever the stunt required), Scott says, " I just think it's amazing to see this kind of action with a car that everybody's so familiar with, in the backwoods and on dirt roads and stuff. When you see this car going really fast and really wild and you see me driving it's just incredible."
Of course, there's more to The Dukes of Hazzard than off-road action. "The fight scenes are real," says producer Bill Gerber. "This is a real fist-fight movie. Johnny trained for weeks to do his big fight scene at the Boar's Nest. And Seann has been doing a lot of his own stunts. They've both been getting thrown all over the bar and all over town. It's been great!"
Bo may do the driving, but Luke mixes it up at the Boar's Nest, and that's the kind of action Johnny Knoxville lives for. "There's this bar fight, and I begged and begged and begged to get thrown across the bar into a wall. The stunts that I could get seriously hurt on, they've brought in a stunt guy, but there have been a couple times where I told the stunt coordinator that I'm up for it, but it just gets them in a bad position if I get hurt. But that's only happened a couple of times."
Knoxville was even more jazzed about the opportunity to work with his idol, Burt Reynolds, who plays Boss Hogg. "He's just the sweetest guy," he says. "He's just got all of these great stories about working with other actors and he loves telling them and I love listening to them. I mean, man, he's lived a crazy life. And he'll just tell stories all day long and I'll just sit there and listen. It's really great just being around Willie and Burt. I never know what to say to them. I'm very fortunate to be able to work with those guys."
Willie Nelson will be on screen as Uncle Jesse and he'll also provide the theme song, but that won't be the only song. He'll duet with Jessica Simpson on a new composition for the movie. "It was something that I wanted to do and I didn't know that he wanted to do it," says Simpson, "but he asked me on-set the other day to sing with him. So, we're trying to find the best song to do, and we'll be recording that."
Playing Daisy Duke has been a welcome change of pace for Simpson, who says she has been so welcomed by the whole cast and crew. "Just the whole atmosphere; Johnny and Seann, and Jay, everybody has made me feel so very, very comfortable," she says. "And they're crazy anyway, so it's OK if I mess up. It's kind of cool for your first movie to go in completely open and make mistakes. That's just the personality that they have and what makes them so good at what they do."
And, of course, there's the most pressing question of all: Will we see the General Lee in mid-air freeze frames?
"Oh yes!" laughs Chandrasekhar.
Stay tuned to IGN FilmForce for all the latest on The Dukes of Hazzard!
ping
are those shorts too long or too loose? Don't seem like "daisy dukes" short shorts.
I'll wait for the TV version.
I guess the movie makers today, have no new ideas, they seem to have to recycle old tv-series' into movies, after they think enough time has passed, and a new generation is ready for a movie based on the series.
I liked the Dukes, back in the day( But the reunion movies were weak), and still do kinda like the series, but why rehash it with a movie?
Stop posting my picture! ; )
One thing has bothered me about this remake. They are supposedly basing their adventures in college. Bo and Luke Duke in the original were on parole for moonshining and this was the catalyst for most of their adventures. They had to thwart Boss Hogg's schemes and still not get caught violating parole.
LOL! Let's hope Coy and Vance don't make an appearance.
I think they will dumb it down. Make all "dem whahet boys" dumb as a doorknob.
The original was pretty bad. A redux can only be worse (but Jessica Simpson looks pretty hot. Then again, the original Daisy looked hot in a worthless show, too).
Bump, for one of the two best shows of all time (the other being Sledge Hammer).
Can't wait to see this one.
I don't think it's possible to dumb down the Dukes of Hazzard.
Wheeee Dogggies!!!!
I have never figured that out either.
Buddy Epson-God rest his soul-really did put his heart into that movie.
I feel it is appropriate to quote John Kerry here:
"Is this where I get me one of them huntin' licenses?"
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