In order to keep my mind from being flung into the far reaches of space during the mind numbing expanse that was Christmas with the Kranks, an idea came to me rather early on, and has been festering ever since. You may get an idea of what I am talking about by the title, but that is only a piece of it.
I'm not talking about crossovers like Freddy vs. Jason or Alien vs. Predator, or any other full blown crossover film. What I am thinking of would be more akin to an Easter egg, which you may or may not notice in the film. Something fleeting that if you do happen to catch it, you would be caught offguard.
The idea popped into my head during the opening sequence in the airport terminal where Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are bidding farewell to their daughter. I thought, what if we saw Tom Hanks wander through the background in character as Viktor Navorski from The Terminal? It would have made the audience do a double take, kind of like "wha...?"
Some things would have to be under consideration for something like this to occur. For one the films would have to be filmed knowing that they were going to do this. Ideally the films would have a common location to make the appearance more acceptable. Another issue would be continuity with clothing and such, as more than likely the films would not be on the same shooting schedule.
Granted this would also have it's own set of problems concerning the finished product. Would the appearance take the audience out of the experience? It could possibly break that suspension of disbelief barrier that was being built by suddenly introducing a non-variable throw away scene, as this would likely be.
I kind of like the idea, the sense of randomness introduced. The building of a universe if you will. Placing these characters in a similar time and place. I was just thinking of Hanks wandering through the background, or perhaps bumping into Allen and apologizing in that accent he used.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
The closest thing I have ever seen to this is Michael Keaton's uncredited appearances as FDA agent Ray Nicolette in the otherwise unrelated films' Out of Sight and Jackie Brown.
Nicolette is a minor character in both. In fact, the only reason to notice the character at all is that he's played by Michael Keaton.
It took me a few years to realize that the character were in both films, films that were about low grade crooks, the cops who were a hair's line away from being crooks themselves, and the overall struggle to get ahead.
Cut to a few years later again, and it all came together as I became an avid Elmore Leonard fan (author of the books that both films were based on).
Anyway, I like your idea. I hope something comes of it one day.
Eric Berlin
Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash
http://dumpsterbust.blogspot.com
2 - Chris
I like both of those movies, been awhile since I watched them though. Now I have to go back and check them!
3 - Gohi
That is a brilliant idea. I would love to see that happen. =D