Let\u2019s tackle this bunch in reverse-alphabetical order.<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/a> This may not technically be a remake, but it\u2019s close enough for me: Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Mike McNulty, who produced the documentary Waco: The Rules of Engagement<\/a><\/i> (1997), will co-produce a dramatic film about the clash between the feds and the Branch Davidians called, simply, Waco<\/i>. The director attached to the film is Rupert Wainwright<\/a>, who last tackled religious themes on the big screen in the ridiculously sensationalistic supernatural thriller Stigmata<\/i> (1999) \u2014 so I\u2019m not expecting greatness here by any stretch.<\/p>\n 2.<\/a> ComingSoon.net<\/a> reports that Steven Spielberg had this to say about the Tintin<\/a><\/i> trilogy that he and Peter Jackson are currently developing: \u201cWe are going to make three \u2018Tintin\u2019 movies back-to-back . . . I\u2019ll direct the first one, Peter will direct the second one. We\u2019ll probably co-direct the third one.\u201d One cannot help but wonder how they will divvy up the directing chores, or whether it will be easy to tell their scenes apart.<\/p>\n 3.<\/a> The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> says MGM has floated the possibility of doing a re-make of Robocop<\/a><\/i> (1987; my comments<\/a>), one of my favorite satirical action movies of all time. Why? What\u2019s the point? Didn\u2019t the sequels already prove that lightning doesn\u2019t strike twice?<\/p>\n Oh, and they\u2019re also thinking of re-making Red Dawn<\/a><\/i> (1984), noteworthy for being the first film that was ever rated PG-13. Again, why? What\u2019s the point? Will it be a period piece about the Cold War? Or will the colour \u201cred\u201d apply to someone other than Communists now? (Oh, wait, red is one of the colours in that terror-alert system now, isn\u2019t it. Sigh.)<\/p>\n 4.<\/a> IGN.com<\/a> reports that Sylvester Stallone, while promoting the new Rambo<\/a><\/i> DVDs and Blu-rays, \u201cannounced that he was working on an extended Director\u2019s Cut of the fourth film in the series, which he plans to release under its originally conceived title of John Rambo<\/a><\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n 5.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> says the makers of The Hobbit<\/a><\/i> have already approached not only Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Ian McKellen (Gandalf) about reprising their characters, but they have also approached Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), whose character as I recall does not appear anywhere in J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s book but might, I suppose, have some part to play in that second movie<\/a> they\u2019re talking about making.<\/p>\n But wait \u2014 there might be more<\/i> than two movies! TheOneRing.net<\/a> says MGM chairman Harry Sloan recently noted that the gap between the events of The Hobbit<\/i> and the events of The Lord of the Rings<\/i> could allow for lots<\/i> of sequels, or prequels, or spin-offs, or whatever: \u201cThere\u2019s 80 years between the end of \u2018The Hobbit\u2019 and the beginning of \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 . . . Think of the franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n Let me guess: They\u2019re doing all this to explain why, in Peter Jackson\u2019s trilogy, Frodo and Bilbo keep talking about the \u201cadventures\u201d, plural, that Bilbo has been on, as though he had been on a lot<\/i> of them, right?<\/p>\n 6.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> and the Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> say Summit Entertainment is planning a re-make of Highlander<\/i> (1986), with producer Peter Davis providing some continuity between the new film and the old film:<\/p>\n Davis said the new \u201cHighlander\u201d will not just be a remake but will incorporate more backstory elements and prequel aspects that will be fleshed out to expand the story line in a way that is inventive yet faithful to the original story.<\/p>\n He also said romance was key to the series\u2019 popularity and would be a central theme in the new film.<\/p>\n \u201cI would hate to think that people viewed \u2018Highlander\u2019 as a sword fighting movie because it\u2019s much more than that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issues of an immortal falling in love with a woman and knowing she\u2019s going to grow old and die in your arms, those are very romantic issues to deal with.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gosh, now I\u2019ve got Queen\u2019s \u2018Who Wants to Live Forever<\/a>\u2018 running through my mind. And speaking of fantasy films of the 1980s that became famous for their Brian May compositions \u2026<\/p>\n 7.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> and the Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> say Sony Pictures has acquired the film rights to Flash Gordon<\/i>, the newest version of which will be directed by Michael Eisner\u2019s son Breck, who may be best-known for directing the action-comedy flop Sahara<\/a><\/i> (2005). The most recent big-screen version of this story was released in 1980, and is probably best-known now for its soundtrack by Queen.<\/p>\n 8.<\/a> Michael Moore is making<\/a> a sequel<\/a> \u2014 though he now disputes the term<\/a> \u2014 to Fahrenheit 9\/11<\/a><\/i> (2004), and Karina Longworth<\/a> notes that news of this movie has been out there for over a year already \u2014 except, back then, it was being produced by the Weinstein company, whereas now, it will be distributed by Overture and Paramount Vantage. Moore says the new film will be so \u201ctoxic<\/a>\u201d he probably shouldn\u2019t make it \u2014 but, well, that\u2019s where the money is, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n 9.<\/a> Amidst all these announcements of remakes and sequels, and with so many films bringing back action heroes from the 1980s these days, isn\u2019t it refreshing to hear the Associated Press<\/a> report that Clint Eastwood says he will not<\/i> be bringing back Dirty Harry, the character he played in five films between 1971 and 1988?<\/p>\n 10.<\/a> After Iron Man<\/a><\/i> turned out to be such a huge success, Marvel Studios announced<\/a> they would not only produce a sequel, but they would also produce a movie about Thor in 2010 and a movie about Captain America in 2011, before uniting them all \u2014 with the Incredible Hulk<\/a>, who has his own movie coming out next month \u2014 in The Avengers<\/i>, also in 2011.<\/p>\n Since then, Marvel president Kevin Feige has told the Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> that Thor<\/i> will be \u201ca period fantasy in the vein of \u2018The Lord of the Rings'\u201d, and yesterday he told IESB.net<\/a> that The First Avenger: Captain America<\/i> would be \u201ca period piece\u201d that takes place \u201cduring World War II, just like the comic book origin story.\u201d<\/p>\n How, I wonder, will they connect the characters from these two \u201cperiod\u201d stories to the present-day characters that are currently being established in this<\/i> summer\u2019s movies? Will the period-piece films end by zapping the characters forward in time? Will The Avengers<\/i> move back and forth in time? Or will the gap between the period-piece films and the present-day film be kept kind of vague, to allow for more period-piece films down the road?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s tackle this bunch in reverse-alphabetical order. 1. This may not technically be a remake, but it\u2019s close enough for me: Variety reports that Mike McNulty, who produced the documentary Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997), will co-produce a dramatic film about the clash between the feds and the Branch Davidians called, simply, Waco. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n