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Wacky 'Wanda' cast back in 'Fierce Creatures'
January 24, 1997
Web posted at: 4:00 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Bill Tush
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The cast of "A Fish Called Wanda" is back, but is "Fierce Creatures" a sequel or isn't it?
When "A Fish Called Wanda" came out in 1988, it was just a "little film." No one expected that it would make $200 million or that one of its stars, Kevin Kline, would pick up a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance.
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"It was very clear the movie came out of nowhere. So the brain trusts of Hollywood immediately assume you're going to make another one," says actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
Curtis, Kline and Michael Palin reunite with John Cleese in "Fierce Creatures," but die-hard fans of "A Fish Called Wanda" may be left scratching their heads.
"No, it's not a sequel. That is to say, it's the same four people --Kevin, Jamie, Michael and me -- but everything else is fresh," explains Cleese, who also wrote "A Fish Called Wanda."
But Curtis disagrees. Or does she?
"It is a sequel," she says. "I say to everybody, 'It's a sequel,' because I refuse to get on this description of what it is."
Palin has a different take on it.
"You can split hairs about whether it's a semi-sequel or whatever, but it's a different story," he says.
Kline doesn't know what he thinks.
"I'd say it's the same, only different .... or it's different, only the same," he says.
If you think it's hard getting these actors to agree on what "Fierce Creatures" is, think how tough it was getting them all back together again.
"I was trying to cast a movie once with a casting director and everybody I was trying to get was not available," Cleese jokes. "I was getting cross about it, and she said, 'I'll tell you what, John. Let's use actors that aren't any good because there always available.' I suddenly thought, OK."
Scheduling challenges are one reason it took so long to make "Fierce Creatures." Another is that Cleese was in no hurry to make the second film.
"About a year before we were supposed to do it, he said, 'I think I want to put it off another year,'" Kline says. "'So fine, OK, instead of this May ,we're gonna do it the following May. Talk to you in a year.'"
Finally, the four made "Fierce Creatures," a story about a group of people who band together to save a zoo from being taken over by a conglomerate and an evil mogul.
And if this one works, then what?
"It's an interesting world," Cleese says. "I don't want to work all the time, but after this I'll see how people feel. That is, if Jamie isn't too old."
Related sites:
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- Fierce Creatures - Universal site - Shockwave & Frames recomended
- MOVIEWEB - Fierce Creatures
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