Remake Roundup: Cartoon To Live Action Edition

With all the hype surrounding the live action adaptation of the popular Transformers 1980s cartoon sure to make the film a hit at least over its opening weekend, it’s not surprising that we’re starting to hear rumblings and announcements for similar big-budget projects.



G. I. Joe

Cinematical is reporting that, after years of wallowing in development hell, Paramount is putting their adaptation of the G. I. Joe cartoon on the fast track. They also report that there appears to be two scripts that the studio is looking at- one by Swordfish (2001) scribe Skip Woods which has received some negative online reviews and one originally developed a few years back for the studio by David Elliot and Paul Lovett (Four Brothers, 2005). If the studio will then choose one over the other or combine elements from each into a Frankenstein-like third script is anyone’s guess at this point.




Thundercats

Variety reported on Tuesday that Warner Brothers has optioned a screenplay from first time writer Paul Sopocy for an “origin story” of how a group of human-cat hybrids lead by the appropriately named Lion-O came together to oppose the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra. Paula Weinstein (Blood Diamond, 2006) is set to produce.




He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe

This is one project that has been undergoing a lot of speculation and rumor over the past few years with the likes of John Woo and M. Night Shyamalan attached at various points. More recently scripter Adam Rifkin (Zoom, 2006) had been working on a screenplay, but it appears that he is off the project as Aint It Cool News is reporting (and Variety has confirmed) that producer Joel Silver has given Justin Marks the assignment now. This makes the third project for newbie Marks, who is also working on David Goyer’s Green Arrow-goes-to-prison movie Supermax as well as a live-action adaptation of the Japanese animated series Voltron.




Speed Racer

And speaking of Japanese animated series that found fan bases in the States, the live action adaptation of the popular 1970s series Speed Racer is moving along briskly. Writer/directors Andy and Larry Wachowski have announced most of the film’s major cast members. Emile Hirsch will star as Speed with Matthew Fox as his mysterious rival Racer X, Christina Ricci as Speed’s girlfriend Trixie, Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer, Dan Goodman as Pops Racer and Scott Porter, who will appear in flashbacks as Speed’s older brother Rex. The Brothers Wachowski have also released a picture of Speed’s car, the Mach 5. The film is scheduled to go in front of the cameras later this year and is scheduled for release next May 9th.

Remake Roundup: FAME, SLEUTH, HELLRAISER and More

Fame

Although it hasn’t been announced officially, Film Jerk reported on Friday that Andy Fickman has been selected to helm MGM’s remake of Fame, which we previously reported about here. As Fickman has already directed such family friendly films as the Amanda Bynes comedy She’s The Man and the Disney football flick The Game Plan with Dwayne Johnson, it gives one pause to wonder if the studio is looking to do away with some of the original’s darker elements such as drug use and Coco’s (Irene Cara) descent into pornography. Time will tell…


Slueth

EmpireOnLine has posted the first picture released from the upcoming remake of Joseph Mankiewicz's 1972 film starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. This version is a return of sorts for Caine, who starred in the original film as a hairdresser who has an affair with the wife of a mystery writer, played by Laurence Olivier, leading to a series of mind games between the two. This time, it is Caine’s character whose wife is having an affair with Law, leading to a game of wits between the two. Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is set to direct from a screenplay updated by Harold Pinter.

Colossus: The Forbin Project

The 1970 techno-thriller, Colossus: The Forbin Project, is being lined up for a remake at Universal with Brian Grazer producing and Ron Howard potentially directing. Based on the first of a trilogy of novels by D. F. Jones, the film tells the story of an artificially intelligent computer placed in charge of the United States defense systems who links up with its Soviet counterpart and comes to the decision that mankind needs to be enslaved in order to save itself from themselves. Screenwriter Jason Rothenberg is reportedly planning on incorporating elements from Jones’ other two books in this updating.

Via Variety.


Hellraiser

Noted author Clive Barker, who wrote and directed the 1987 original horror film Hellraiser based on his own novella The Hellbound Heart, has reportedly turned in a forty page treatment for an upcoming remake. This news comes from Seraphim Film’s Joe Daley, who told Variety, “There are some areas of the first movie where I think we can be a lot more intense and a lot more scary. It will not be simply a reworking or reshooting of the first picture.” However, with Barker currently working on adaptation of his short story “Meat Train,” it remains unclear as to when he’ll have time to further pursue a script for Hellraiser.

Via Shock Till You Drop

Remake Roundup: Fame, 3:10 To Yuma, Barbarella and more

Lot’s of remakes being announced by the studios over the last week or so. Here’s a rundown of what cinematic new retreads are coming our way.

Fame

MGM has announced that they will be revisiting the New York Academy of Performing Arts with a remake of Alan Parker’s 1980 musical Fame. Set at the real world school for young entertainment industry hopefuls, the original film starred Irene Cara and Debbie Allen. The new version already have a writer and director attached but they were not named by studio COO Rick Sands, who made the announcement at Cannes on Tuesday. He did say that the film is budgeted at $25 million and already set for a Summer 2008 release. He also promised that the new film would retain some of the musical numbers from the original.

Via Hollywood Reporter


3:10 To Yuma

A couple of new photos have been released of the remake of the 1957 western 3:10 To Yuma have surfaced. The new version stars Russell Crowe, seen below, will be hitting theaters in October.




Barbarella

Producer Dino DeLaurentiis is putting together an update of the 1968 camp classic Barbarella, which starred a pre-feminist Jane Fonda as a futuristic space kitten/adventuress. No director or cast have been hired (although that hasn’t stopped the British press from speculating on who may land the title role), but a script is currently being written by Casino Royale (2007) scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. According to an article in Variety, “in the remake, [Purvis and Wade] will make Barbarella a free, modern gal who survives in a futuristic world through her intelligence, fighting skills and sexuality.”

Via Cinematical


Clash Of The Titans

Lawrence Kasdan, scripter for two of the greatest genre films of the 1980s, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), has been hired to write a remake of another ‘80s genre favorite- Clash Of The Titans. The original, which featured the last effects work from stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen, starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus, the son of Greek god Zeus (Sir Laurence Olivier) who must complete a set of tasks including slaying the Medusa and taming the winged horse Pegasus as part of his quest to free the captured Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker). According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kasdan will be working from a previous draft by Travis Beacham.


The Incredible Hulk

Not so much a remake of Ang Lee’s critically roasted Hulk than an attempt to try and start a franchise again, director Louis Leterrier has found his Bruce Banner in the form of Edward Norton. With the film set for a release in July 2008, production should get rolling fairly soon. The film’s screenplay is by Zak Penn, who has also worked on the big screen comic book adaptations of Fantastic Four, Elektra and X-Men films, all characters published by Hulk publisher Marvel Comics.

(And if you think --- years is a little too soon to remake a film, remember that Dashille Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon was brought to the screen three times over the space of ten years, with the third try - John Houston’s version with Humphrey Bogart - being the charmed.)

Via Variety

Remake Roundup: SCANNERS, WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S, GET SMART

Scanners
David Cronenberg’s 1981 science-fiction/horror film Scanners is set to be remade under the direction of Darren Lynn Bousman, helmer of Saw II (2005) and III (2006) as well as the upcoming Saw IV (later this year). David Goyer is set to rewrite Cronenberg’s tale of telepaths who are used as weapons by an evil corporation. (Source- Variety)

Weekend At Bernie’s
Moviehole is reporting that a remake of the 1980s Andrew McCarthy/Jonathan Silverman comedy Weekend At Bernie’s is set for a remake from producers Ashok Amritraj and Jon Jashni. The original, itself a comedic riff on Hitchcock’s dark comedy The Trouble With Harry, centered on two bumbling office workers who are invited to their bosses beach house for the weekend only to arrive and find him dead. Rather than call the cops, the pair decide to trick the numerous partiers who have descended upon the beach house that Bernie is alive and well, just a little drunk. It looks like the remake will move the action from a beach house to a ski lodge, with probably very predictable results.

Get Smart
Superspy Maxwell Smart has found his Chief. The Hollywood Reporter has word that Alan Arkin has been cast as the head of CONTROL, the super-secret spy organization in the upcoming big screen adaptation of the classic 60s spy spoof that starred Don Adams. Taking Adams’ role for the new version is The Office star Steve Carell with Anne Hathaway as lovely sidekick, Agent 99. Also in the cast are Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Agent 23 and Terrence Stamp in an unnamed role. (Perhaps as Siegfried, head of the evil spy organization KAOS?)