Film Junk » Remakes

Brian De Palma to Direct Heat Remake Starring Jason Statham

Sean — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:42:39 +0000

Alright, alright... don't get your panties in a bunch. It's not Michael Mann's Heat that's about to get the remake treatment, but rather the 1986 Burt Reynolds vehicle of the same name (apparently there are quite a few movies called Heat). Directed by Dick Richards (Farewell, My Lovely), the original film starred Reynolds as a former gambling addict who now makes a living as a Las Vegas bodyguard. When a female friend gets savagely beaten, he helps her exact revenge on the mobsters who are responsible. The movie was based on a book by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride), who also wrote the script. Now Brian De Palma has signed on to helm a new version with Jason Statham in the lead role. A remake like this should be an ideal fit for Jason Statham, and will probably be fairly similar to The Mechanic remake that he starred in last year. However, it's a bit more surprising for Brian De Palma, who hasn't really done anything of note in quite some time. It's not that he hasn't directed remakes before (Blow Out is a loose remake of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up) but he isn't really known for straight up action flicks. Still, technically it also qualifies as a crime thriller, which tends to be his specialty. What do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing Brian De Palma team up with Jason Statham and is this version of Heat worth remaking?

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Robocop Reboot Gets Gran Torino Writer

Sean — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:24:47 +0000

Despite the initial setback of losing director Darren Aronofsky, MGM's Robocop reboot is slowly inching its way toward becoming a reality. Last year Brazilian director José Padilha (Elite Squad) signed on to helm the movie and Joshua Zetumer (Quantum of Solace) was assigned to pen the script. Now this week they have hired screenwriter Nick Schenk to do some rewrites on the movie as well. Schenk's only major credit to date is the Clint Eastwood drama Gran Torino. According to Heat Vision, Schenk had already been collaborating with Padilha on an action-thriller called Tri-Border based on the drug trade in South America. He also has a movie called The Judge in development at Warner Brothers. It's unclear what they might do to distinguish this version of Robocop from the previous installments, but Padilha had this to say in a previous interview:

"In the first 'RoboCop' when Alex Murphy is shot, gunned down, then you see some hospitals and stuff and then you cut to him as RoboCop. My movie is between those two cuts. How do you make RoboCop? How do you slowly bring a guy to be a robot? How do you actually take humanity out of someone and how do you program a brain, so to speak, and how does that affect an individual?"

I guess that would make it a prequel of sorts? I'm still not entirely convinced that this movie needs to be made, but I am certainly curious to see what comes of it. Are you on board for Robocop reboot, and does this sound like the right creative team to see it through?

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Joe Carnahan to Write and Direct Death Wish Remake

Sean — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:24:23 +0000

Over the past few years, we've seen writer-director Joe Carnahan's career slowly pick up steam. After turning some heads with both Narc and Smokin' Aces, he eventually landed The A-Team, which looked like his ticket to bigger mainstream movies. Unfortunately, the movie didn't do as well as expected, pulling in just $77 million domestically on a $110 million budget, which meant there would be no sequel and no immediate offer of continued work. Fortunately, he managed to get his follow-up The Grey off the ground with a much more modest budget and now it is turning out to be an early surprise hit in 2012. It would seem that he may have found his niche directing mid-range genre flicks, and his next project looks to fall squarely in that category: a remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson revenge flick Death Wish. According to the L.A. Times, MGM and Paramount have officially hired Carnahan to write and direct their reboot of Death Wish. Back in 2007, it was reported that Sylvester Stallone was attached to direct and star in the film, but alas he has since dropped out of the project. The movie will be produced by Jules Daly (The A-Team, The Grey) along with Ridley and Tony Scott through their company Scott Free Productions. The original Death Wish starred Charles Bronson in what was arguably his most successful lead role ever. He played an architect named Paul Kersey who takes matters into his own hands after his wife is murdered and his daughter is raped by thugs who are unable to be caught by the police. The movie drew controversy for promoting vigilantism and violence, but it was popular enough to spawn four sequels. While Carnahan is an intriguing choice to direct, I think the casting of the lead role will probably be even more important. Who would you like to see fill Charles Bronson's shoes? Are you looking forward to seeing a Death Wish remake from Joe Carnahan?

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The Crow Reboot Lands Yet Another New Writer / Director Team

Sean — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:35:47 +0000

Much like its undead protagonist, The Crow reboot refuses to die. After going through a number of directors and potential stars including Stephen Norrington, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Bradley Cooper, Relativity Media's remake was slapped with a lawsuit from The Weinstein Company, who claimed that they owned the screen rights to James O'Barr's cult comic book. It was starting to look like a new Crow movie just wasn't meant to be, and I think a lot of people were okay with that. Well, this week that lawsuit has finally been settled, and although the terms were not made public, The Weinsteins and Relativity have confirmed that they will partner up for the film. More importantly, they've announced that they already have a new creative team in place with F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before The Fall) lined up to direct the film from a script by Jesse Wigutow. Before the Fall (Tres Dias) is a Spanish-language film that got a lot of attention on the festival circuit in 2008. It is a post-apocalyptic thriller about the end of the world, but instead of focusing on action and mayhem it is about what people choose to do in the three days before a meteorite hits the planet. It was produced by Antonio Banderas but as far as I know it never received a theatrical release in North America, although it is now available on DVD through MPI Home Video. As for screenwriter Jesse Wigutow, he wrote the 2003 film It Runs in the Family starring Michael Douglas but doesn't have many other recognizable films to his name. Supposedly he was involved in the writing of Tron: Legacy, 8 Mile and The Ruins, even though he didn't ultimately end up getting credit for them. He also recently did a rewrite on an upcoming remake of Robert Ludlum's The Osterman Weekend. In the end, I'm not sure that we can deduce much from this information. Both are essentially unknowns, and the real question is who will play Eric Draven? The press release claims that this will be a "gritty reboot" of the iconic character, but based on some of the leaked concept artwork, I don't see how it could be any less ridiculous than the original. Are you still interested in seeing a remake of The Crow?

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Fantastic Four Reboot to be Helmed by Chronicle Director Josh Trank?

Sean — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:45:11 +0000

It was over a year ago that we first started hearing rumours about a Fantastic Four reboot. The previous two films did more than just break even at the box office but they did not fare particularly well with fans and critics... which is why Fox decided to hire Akiva Goldsman to produce a new Fantastic Four movie with a brand new cast. Things went silent on that front for a little while, but now this week we're hearing that Goldsman has left and Josh Trank, the man behind the upcoming found footage superhero movie Chronicle, is Fox's top choice to direct it. Word on the street is that they will wait to see how well Chronicle does at the box office before they officially hand him the keys to the franchise. According to Variety, Fox execs are very pleased with what they are seeing in Chronicle so far and have been heavily promoting it. They even debuted exclusive footage of the film during some NFL wild-card games. It's hard to say just how well the movie will do since it isn't based on an existing brand or comic book property, but the trailer has been getting a ton of hits online and that seems to be a good sign. As for whether or not Trank is what the Fantastic Four franchise needs right now, that remains to be seen. Fans were unhappy with the lighthearted approach taken by Tim Story, so they're probably looking for something a bit darker and edgier. I can't see Fox having the guts to apply a found footage style to a major comic book blockbuster, but maybe they're hoping he can keep it a little more grounded in reality. More importantly, they'll probably be asking him to put together the reboot on a shoestring budget, not unlike Marc Webb's upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man. Are you looking forward to Chronicle? Does Josh Trank sound like a good choice for a new Fantastic Four movie?

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Police Academy Remake Gets a Director

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:03 +0000

I have to admit, out of all the remakes that have been in some stage of development over the last couple of years, Police Academy is one of the last ones I actually expected to see get made. Nevertheless, New Line appears to be serious about the project, and they are continuing to move forward with it. This week it has been announced that the project just gained a director by the name of Scott Zabielski. Zabielski has no feature film credits to his name, but he is a director on the Comedy Central series Tosh.0. Perhaps more interestingly, he has actually been through police academy himself, as he also serves as a reserve police officer in West Hollywood. I'm not at all familiar with Tosh.0, but from what I hear it is a Web Soup-type of show that comments on viral videos and internet culture. Which is perfect because that's exactly what a Police Academy reboot needs.. lots of iPhone and internet jokes. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.) The script was written by David Diamond and David Weissman, the same guys that did Old Dogs and When in Rome. Nice. As popular as the original Police Academy was (it spawned six sequels), this is one of the few '80s properties out there that doesn't seem like it has particularly strong nostalgic draw. Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way, or maybe they simply ran the concept so far into the ground that it will never recover. I can't see this being a huge hit, but I guess with the right cast anything can happen. What do you think, does a Police Academy remake have potential? Who would you like to see star in it?

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Tim Burton to Direct Live-Action Pinocchio with Robert Downey Jr. Starring?

Aaron — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:21:17 +0000

With films like Alice in Wonderland and Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton has some experience bringing classic stories to life and it now looks as if he could be adding another to his filmography. Warner Brothers has a live-action version of Pinocchio in the planning stages and Burton has shown an interest in directing. In fact, he already has a top choice to headline the adaptation - none other than Robert Downey Jr., who is reportedly keen on working with the auteur. But before you go trying to picture Downey Jr. as Pinocchio, he'll be playing the role of Geppetto, the woodcarver who creates the titular marionette. Neither Burton nor Downey Jr. have signed deals yet, but Burton is in talks with Warner Bros. at the moment. The script comes from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller and is supposedly well-regarded. Warner Bros. would like to fast-track Pinocchio if Burton and Downey Jr. should sign on, although that will largely depend on whether Burton wants to make it his next film. He's also been attached to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children at Fox and he's also busy finishing his upcoming movies Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. Fairytale material like Pinocchio has become quite popular as of late with TV shows like Once Upon a Time and Grimm, so I'm sure Warners would like to capitalize on the trend before it ends. Burton certainly seems like the go-to guy for this type of story, especially after Alice in Wonderland had its box office success. However, it will also have to compete with a 3-D stop motion take on the same story that is being produced by Guillermo del Toro. Would you be excited for a retelling of Pinocchio with Tim Burton in the director's chair or would you rather see him tackle a different film?

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Silent House Trailer Starring Elizabeth Olsen

Sean — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:57:56 +0000

The Olsen Twins' younger sister Elizabeth announced her arrival as an actress this year with a breakout performance in the indie cult drama Martha Marcy May Marlene. Wondering what she might do for an encore? Her next film is a more straightforward horror flick with an interesting gimmick: it's all presented in real-time as a single continuous take. The movie is called Silent House, and it seems to revolve around a home invasion of some sort, although it's unclear if anything supernatural is at work here. This isn't the first movie to claim to be in real-time (Nick of Time starring Johnny Depp, anyone?), but if you think you've seen this before, it's probably because you have; Silent House is a remake of the Uruguayan horror film La Casa Muda, directed by Gustavo Hernandez. The U.S. remake is co-directed by Chris Kentis, who also did the indie shark thriller Open Water. I'm intrigued enough by the concept that I'll probably check this out, but man, the voiceover narration at the beginning of the trailer is pretty awful. Silent House hits theatres on March 9th; check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.

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Live Action Akira on the Verge of Being Shut Down… Again

Sean — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:41:28 +0000

Sometimes it seems that certain movies just weren't meant to be, and at this point surely there are a few people over at Warner Brothers asking themselves if the live action Akira remake has become more hassle than it's worth. Over the past decade the movie has been through three different directors and has undergone numerous budget cuts, but apparently it's still not good enough for the top brass at the WB. According to Heat Vision, the film's production offices in Vancouver are being closed down and crew members have been sent home while the budget is re-evaluated one more time. If they are unable to slice another $20 to $30 million out of the pie, the movie could end up being shelved for good. Something tells me that might be the best move at this point. Based on the seminal anime film and manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, the movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic neo-Manhattan where a teenager named Tetsuo has developed psychic powers and attempts to connect with the mind of a young boy named Akira who destroyed the city some thirty years ago. His best friend Kaneda, the leader of a motorcycle gang, must try to stop him before the military can find him and kill him. Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) is currently attached to direct. Last we heard, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) had landed the lead role, while Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter were all in talks for supporting roles. Now it's unclear what will happen as the budget is set at $90 million and Warner Brothers is hoping to get it down to $60 or $70 mil. For a science-fiction movie with a heavy emphasis on special effects, that will likely be a difficult task. What do you think, will this Akira remake ever see the light of day? And more importantly, does anyone even care?

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Carrie Remake Gets a Director

Sean — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:55:09 +0000

Over the last few years, we've seen so many classic horror movies getting remade that it's actually become a bit of a challenge to find one that hasn't been remade. Brian de Palma's 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie is one of the few that has managed to escape the redo bug thus far, but that's expected to change soon with MGM and Screen Gems currently pursuing a new version of the story. Last summer we reported that playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) would be writing the script, and now a director has been named for the project as well: Kimberly Peirce, best known for the Oscar-nominated film Boys Don't Cry. Well, I guess if someone's gotta direct it, that's not a bad choice. Peirce most recently directed the MTV Films drama Stop-Loss about veterans returning from the Iraq war, but she hasn't done much else over the past decade. Still, she clearly knows how to tell a tragic story about an ostracized and abused young woman. The next big step will be finding someone who can fill Sissy Spacek's shoes (please, anyone but Megan Fox). According to Deadline, the new version of Carrie is supposed to be a new retelling of the book rather than a remake of De Palma's film... sure, sure, that's what they all say. If you're worried about Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's previous credits, however, it's worth noting that he also wrote the Marvel Comics adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. What do you think, can they actually pull off a remake of Carrie that isn't a total embarrassment?

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Lily Collins to Star in Evil Dead Remake

Sean — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:56:05 +0000

2011 was, among other things, the year that the long-standing rumours about an Evil Dead remake finally coalesced into something real. We learned back in the summer that Sam Raimi protege Fede Alvarez would be directing and (shockingly) Diablo Cody would be doing a rewrite on the script. Now it looks like the wheels are in motion on this project and casting is officially underway. According to Bloody Disgusting, the very first role has been cast as 22-year-old Lily Collins (The Blind Side, Priest) has signed on to play a character named Mia. Four other roles still have yet to be nailed down, but just in case you weren't sure, none of them will be named Ash. The reboot of Sam Raimi's cult classic revolves around five teenagers who take a trip to a remote cabin in the woods where they stumble across the Book of the Dead. Demonic forces start to possess each of them and turn them against one other. Sounds pretty faithful so far, right? What I'm worried about is the added background to some of these characters. In particular, Mia is apparently a drug addict heading to the cabin to detox with her best friend and nurse, Olivia. The other characters are David and Natalie (who are engaged) and Eric. Supposedly Mia is the lead role and is sort of the "female equivalent" to Ash, although it's unclear exactly what that means. Collins will also star in Tarsem's Mirror Mirror this year, and this seems like another big opportunity for her, but it could also be one that hardcore horror fans hold against her. The Evil Dead is scheduled for release on April 12th, 2013; are you looking forward to it?

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Clive Owen to Play Spike Lee’s Oldboy Villain, Mia Wasikowska Offered Female Lead?

Sean — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:24:14 +0000

A few months ago we learned that Josh Brolin would be starring in Spike Lee's upcoming remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy. There were also rumours circulating that Christian Bale or Colin Firth would play the villain, but now they both seem to have fallen by the wayside as this week a new frontrunner has taken their spot. According to Twitch, Clive Owen is in talks to reteam with the director of Inside Man for this project. It is also being reported by Twitch that Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) has been offered the female lead of the film. Neither have officially signed on as of yet, but are expected to make a decision shortly. Although Bale and Firth might be slightly bigger draws, Clive Owen seems like a great choice for the villain if you ask me. The man can be both menacing and charming, and I'm actually surprised that he hasn't played a villain more often in his career (although I suppose it's always preferable to be the leading man). As for Mia Wasikowska, she has been slowly blossoming into one of the most promising up and coming actresses in Hollywood. She followed up Alice in Wonderland with some fairly interesting films including The Kids Are All Right, Jane Eyre and Albert Nobbs. She is also starring in Park Chan-wook's English language debut Stoker, which could explain how she landed this role. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star Rooney Mara was originally being pursued for the role of Marie, but she ended up turning it down. What do you think, are these inspired casting choices and do they make you more confident in the idea of remaking of Oldboy?

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