The Way Dragonball Evolution Could Have Been

[Kiyza]

Apparently, some guy on the internet ranted about Dragonball Evolution a while back, like so many other people on YouTube did. But the difference with this one is that the script writer, Ben Ramsey, actually ended up writing to him. And here's the thing. Dragonball Evolution could have been a very different film, at the very least pleasing to most of us here, at best pleasing to the mainstream media as well, and a far more faithful adaptation of the series as we know it. Though I know this may not have much significance, here's my source.

[Eddie]

If this is legit, it's certainly interesting. Ironic how Fox didn't want to make Dragon Ball a kiddie movie, yet that's pretty much what DBE was. I do like some of their movies, but Fox is notoriously bad at adaptations these days.

[angelus0901]

Okay, so I am all for changing some stuff and adapting them for the movie. A new and different approach is great, but what pisses me off is that they had so much material they could've used for the movie. And you can see that the film was made with haste, they didn't take their time, the actors they chose were horrible, and don't get me even started what I think about Oozaru and Shen Long. Horrible!!! - Okay, I needed to say that, even though it's not what the thread's about...

On the YT video: Ben Ramsey apologised?!?! Wow, can't believe it!

Thanks for sharing!

[Blue]

Wow, that sounds like a MUCH better movie. Even the early revisions I could totally live with. I love how they weren't trying to make a kids movie and one of the biggest compliments one could give this film is "it's a decent kids movie."

[Bura]

That's pretty interesting indeed, and too bad everything worked out the way it did.

[SonGokuGT]

Damn it... This movie could actually have been good! My anger has turned to sadness...

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

So it was the director's fault? Damn, we could've gotten a more faithful adaptation where Gokū was actually a frickin' kid.


Anyway, thanks for posting this.

[SuperSaiyan3Goku]

I just read the whole message from Mr. Ramsey, and I am impressed.

You mean we could of gotten THAT instead of "Evolution"?

I can only hope that the "reboot" rumor turns out to be what the first movie should have been.

[Chuquita]

It's a shame things turned out as they did. Being a script writer in general seems like a harsh business from what was described in the video. I can't imagine working so hard on a story for film purposes and having it either shoved in a dusty corner to never see the light of day or so utterly shredded due to executive meddling that it wouldn't even really be my script anymore.


I really don't have any hopes in there being any sequel or reboot for a DB or Z live action movie. I'd be surprised if proven wrong, but I think if FOX were going to do anything they'd have announced it by now.

[Big Momma]

Can anyone post the pictures of the message here? Or, if it's not too long, re-post it here?

EDIT: Ya know what? I just decided to do it, haha

I can only comment on my part of the process because after I finished my drafts I was completely out of the loop. My final draft was turned in sometime in 2005, I believe. I was brought in to adapt the Dragonball Z mangas and the cartoons into a mainstream feature. And since the Dragonball universe is so expansive the decision was made to do an origins film so it had to start with Dragonball.

The studio didn't want to do a children's movie, so the decision was made to explore Goku's teenage years and do it as a PG-13 coming of age story. THe original drafts were bsed on the "Search for the Dragonballs" saga where Goku, Bulma, Roshi, Oolong, Yamcha, and Puar all meet. The next change was to take out the tlaking animal angle in effort to make the story more adult. I did, however, have a cameo from Oolong, doing the "Oolong the Terrible" story but playing it straight. Puar was Yamcha's cat whom he taught to steal. I also had a brief cameo from Krillin.

The villains of the story were Pilaf, Mai, and Shu. They free Piccolo from containment but he is weak form the centuries of captivity. He sends them on a mission to find the Dragonballs so that he can wish himself strong again and take over the earth. Tambourine also makes a cameo as one of the foes they must battle as well as androids.

My task as a writer was to introduce a new audience to the Dragonball universe. So the decision was to start off with a conventional feeling movie and gradually add more and more familiar Dragonball elements until the end of the movie, we would be in full on Dragonball Z mode. I even had Goku flying off on his Nimbus cloud at the end.

If you know anything about the studio development process you know that it is based on formula. I could only guess that they became more enamored of the conventional aspects of the movie than the Dragonball aspects. By the time I left he project I would say the script was about 50/50 in terms of original material vs source material but I felt it captured the spirit of the characters of the universe well. I was happy to hear, later on, that Stephen Chow liked my draft and wanted to get involved.

I am a long time practitioner of Tai Chi Chuan. A lot of the martial arts principals in Dragonball are based on Tai Chi. Stephen has a strong Tai Chi influence in all his movies too so I an see why he would be attracted to it. And that pretty much is the end of my involvement with DBE.

Once a directer was brought on and the movie was green-lit the development process started all over again with the directer doing his re-write. Only this time they weren't developing a script form a source they were developing a movie from a script. As far as the decisions made from that point on, I don't know. I was working on anther script then directing my own feature Blood and Bone which I'm happy to say is being very well received. It feels good to receive praise after taking an internet beat-down by Dragonball fans...lol

I've been writing and doctoring scripts in Hollywood for 15 years and most of them never get made. They're sitting on shelves with thousands of other scripts that will never see the light of day. That is another part of the process that you sign onto if you choose this line of work. Some of your best work will NEVER be seen or even heard of. Getting a film made puts you in a very rarefied group of people. Even getting a bad film made. So all the lumps you take form fans is the price you pay for admittance into the club.

A lot of people don't realize it but Directors like Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, John Sayles, an others paid their dues writing and script doctoring movies until they could get their own up and running. The studio system is a factory. Only a choice and a very powerful few get to buck the system and do things their way.

Thanks for you interest
Ben
P.S. even though I'm a professional writer, I'm a terrible speller. So forgive any typos that I haven't spell-checked...lol

[Taku128]

I really don't have any hopes in there being any sequel or reboot for a DB or Z live action movie. I'd be surprised if proven wrong, but I think if FOX were going to do anything they'd have announced it by now.

You don't announce a reboot a year after the original came out. Hell, people are saying it's too soon for a Spider-Man reboot because Spidey 3 was only three years ago. If there's a Dragon Ball live action reboot it's atleast be a few years before we hear anything.

[Michelle91]

This would have been a great movie, and I wish this was made instend. James Wong screw up the movie just as bad as Roland Emmerich did with the 1998 Godzilla movie (Which was in devoplment for years, and had a screenplay with Godzilla being more closer to the Japanese version).

[Son Geeko]

Well, I apologize for bumping an old thread, but remember that "leaked" script that popped sometime back in 2008?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3282645/Dragonball-Script

This seems to be pretty much the exact same script that Ben Ramsey was talking about.

After reading the entire thing, compared to what we got.... IMO I think it's just okay. It feels like a more filled-up and complete version of Evolution. From what I read the guy wrote 5 different drafts of the script (the older it was, the more closer it was to the story, characters, and tone), this seems to be the final draft that he said was completed in 2005. Apparently Evolution was (uncreditly) a heavily rewritten and abridged version of this script by James Wong.

[Avenged]

Thoughts? Dude this is VERY old. Every Dragonball movie site has basically posted this years ago. But huh, nice...find? xD

It's still nice to re read these old scripts though. And although it will probably not happen again, but next time around they should let Stephen Chow actually do something and just cut James Wong out of the picture altogether.

[Makaioshin]

Well, I apologize for bumping an old thread, but remember that "leaked" script that popped back sometime back in 2008?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3282645/Dragonball-Script

This seems to be pretty much exactly describes the details of the script that Ben Ramsey was talking about.

After reading the entire thing, I think it's okay. It feels like a more filled-up and complete version of Evolution. From what I read the guy wrote 5 different drafts of the script (the older it was, the more closer it was to the story and feel), this seems to be the final draft that he said was completed in 2005. Apparently Evolution was (uncreditly) heavily rewritten and abridged version of the script by James Wong.

Thoughts?

It is somehow worse than what we actually got.

[Avenged]

Well, I apologize for bumping an old thread, but remember that "leaked" script that popped back sometime back in 2008?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3282645/Dragonball-Script

This seems to be pretty much exactly describes the details of the script that Ben Ramsey was talking about.

After reading the entire thing, I think it's okay. It feels like a more filled-up and complete version of Evolution. From what I read the guy wrote 5 different drafts of the script (the older it was, the more closer it was to the story and feel), this seems to be the final draft that he said was completed in 2005. Apparently Evolution was (uncreditly) heavily rewritten and abridged version of the script by James Wong.

Thoughts?

It is somehow worse than what we actually got.

Did you actually read it?

[Makaioshin]

Well, I apologize for bumping an old thread, but remember that "leaked" script that popped back sometime back in 2008?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3282645/Dragonball-Script

This seems to be pretty much exactly describes the details of the script that Ben Ramsey was talking about.

After reading the entire thing, I think it's okay. It feels like a more filled-up and complete version of Evolution. From what I read the guy wrote 5 different drafts of the script (the older it was, the more closer it was to the story and feel), this seems to be the final draft that he said was completed in 2005. Apparently Evolution was (uncreditly) heavily rewritten and abridged version of the script by James Wong.

Thoughts?

It is somehow worse than what we actually got.

Did you actually read it?

Yes. Having Pilaf, Shuu, and the Ox King in the script doesn't make it a more faithful adaptation. It is a Dragon Ball movie made to be as marketable as possible to the teenage demographic. The script is just longer than Dragon Ball Evolution and painful to read.

[Avenged]

Yes. Having Pilaf, Shuu, and the Ox King in the script doesn't make it a more faithful adaptation. It is a Dragon Ball movie made to be as marketable as possible to the teenage demographic. The script is just longer than Dragon Ball Evolution and painful to read.

When did I ever say those characters made it better? I was speaking of the actual scenes and dialogue. Seems to me you only skimmed through it, if that.

[Son Geeko]

Thoughts? Dude this is VERY old. Every Dragonball movie site has basically posted this years ago. But huh, nice...find? xD

By "Thoughts?", I generally mean't "Now that seemly everyone here has already seen DBE for quite some time now, how do you guys think of this older screenplay now compared to what we eventually saw in the final product?"

[Makaioshin]

Yes. Having Pilaf, Shuu, and the Ox King in the script doesn't make it a more faithful adaptation. It is a Dragon Ball movie made to be as marketable as possible to the teenage demographic. The script is just longer than Dragon Ball Evolution and painful to read.

When did I ever say those characters made it better? I was speaking of the actual scenes and dialogue. Seems to me you only skimmed through it, if that.

I never said you said that, it is just a general statement. It is a weak script with a few more cringe worthy scenes than the final product. Only redeemable part was the Gohan-Goku flashback sequence.