Wing Commander Movie Like It's 1991 (August 11, 2012)

[Bandit LOAF]

This is a special treat. In the past we've explored earlier drafts of the Wing Commander movie -- the pitch to Sony, the first, second, third and shooting scripts. We've followed the original through Chris Roberts' and Kevin Droney's rewrites and revealed how it became the movie we saw in 1999. But what if we told you there was a Wing Commander movie pitch before all that?

In late 1991, Origin worked on an internal Wing Commander movie project. The idea was that a team at the company could do a demo version to be shown to investors at CES. A script for the demo was written by G.P. Austin and a longer treatment for the entire movie that could be done with investment money was included.

If you've ever wondered if the Wing Commander movie would have been better without "Pilgrims" and done at Origin, the answer here seems to be... no. It's incredibly fascinating but it isn't a very good story: it tells about Blair's first missions on the Tiger's Claw and his quest to punish Prince Thrakhath for murdering his parents. In the end, he learns the true meaning of revenge.

Very little of this version survives to the 1999 film, but there is a little bit... especially, the name Forbes for a fellow Tiger's Claw pilot.

Download the treatment here (PDF)

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Original update published on August 11, 2012

 

[Wedge009]

The veterans' being so impressed by a newcomer's skill is in stark contrast with the usual hard time given to 'newbies', though I suppose this was before the worlds introduced by WC3 and beyond.

Also seems odd that Blair is so aggressive when he's portrayed as being a rather shy, quiet character in WC1. But it's an attempt to make a movie story of the early games, I suppose.

Mercy from a Kilrathi? Thrakhath begging restraint against the Emperor's desire to destroy the Claw? (Though he does rip out a kitty heart later on.) Given how the Kilrathi are presented from WC3 onwards, all of this does seem so very foreign to what we know of the Kilrathi. But then again, there were kitties captured by a small band of scientists in WC1. WC3 Kilrathi would have rather died than be so dishonoured.

Feels like the second half is supposed to go before the first half. I'm a bit confused as to why that is - I can only guess the first half is the 'demo' part.

 

[Mace]

"Arturo", wonder where they came up with that...

 

[AD]

"Arturo", wonder where they came up with that...

In the way that Blair was a contraction of Bluehair, I remember someone mentioning that Arturo kind of sounds like "our hero." Mostly I find it interesting that they were already calling him Blair back in 1991!

Interestingly, while this script is so far removed from the 1999 movie script, you can still make out several threads that persisted into the finished film... Aside from the obvious of a pilot named Forbes, you still have blair arriving at the Tiger's Claw for the first time and having to deal with fitting in with the other pilots. You still have the Kilrathi planning a sneak attack. Also, it was interesting to read Warren Spector's comments about maybe giving Blair a locket that would make people suspect he might be a traitor... It's not a big step from that to the Pilgrim Cross. So you can see the genesis of the need for Blair's past to put him at odds with the crew and hence the genesis of the pilgrims themselves - which, don't forget - were once supposed to be borderworlders with special powers.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

In the way that Blair was a contraction of Bluehair, I remember someone mentioning that Arturo kind of sounds like "our hero." Mostly I find it interesting that they were already calling him Blair back in 1991!

Yes, this is explained in a 1991 Point of Origin in which they have a company-wide contest to come up with a better name for the character. Arturo Blair is "Our Hero Blue Hair."

Interestingly, while this script is so far removed from the 1999 movie script, you can still make out several threads that persisted into the finished film...

I asked Chris about this and he says they're completely unconnected, that the Wing Commander movie script started with Kevin Droney's draft.

Feels like the second half is supposed to go before the first half. I'm a bit confused as to why that is - I can only guess the first half is the 'demo' part.

I believe the first half is the full pitch and the second half is the demo script.