The Prisoner - Watch out Jim there's a big bouncing ball after you

Check out the first 9 minutes of the new series.

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The Prisoner - 9 minutes of the new series and Rover is in it

Check out this footage of The Prisoner remake. It stars James Caviezel as Number 6 and Sir Ian McKellan as 2. Have a watch and let me know what you think. It is quite a bit different from the original series but nice and bizarre nonetheless.

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Nightmare on Elm Street - Teaser Poster and photo of Freddy

Here is the first look at Jackie Earle Harley as Freddy Krueger via /film and the poster via First Showing.

The look is not too different from the original and I like the photo of Freddy. What do you think of the new look?

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Karate Kid...Kung Fu Kid - It's filming, it will suck

The Will Smith-produced remake of the 1984 family hit The Karate Kid has scored the official title of Kung Fu Kid according to The Associated Press.

Filming kicked off on Saturday in Beijing on the co-production between the state-run China Film Group and Columbia Pictures.

'Kid' stars Jaden Smith as the titular student and Jackie Chan as the wise kung-fu master. Harald Zwart ("Pink Panther 2") directs.

Producer Ken Stovitz confirmed the story will be set in modern-day Beijing and filming will continue for three months.

Posting this was as painful as having to read it. It's going to be so bad isn't it. Directed by the man who brought us Pink Panther 2.

Source: Dark Horizons

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T.J. Hooker is heading back to the streets

We've had Starsky & Hutch, Star Trek and The A-Team is in the works but now another programme from our youth is heading towards the big screen.

Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, The Mask) is in talks to direct T.J. Hooker, an action comedy based on the 1982 TV series, with David Foster, Ryan Heppe and series creator Rick Husky set to produce.

According to Variety, the writing team of Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson will script the story, which focuses on the relationship between the title character and his father.

No actors have been cast yet for the feature.

The TV series, produced by Aaron Spelling, debuted in 1982 on ABC and ran for five seasons, the last on CBS. William Shatner starred as a no-nonsense patrol sergeant, with Adrian Zmed, Heather Locklear, Richard Herd and James Darren as co-stars.

"The series was the poster child for cop TV shows in the 1980s with great stunts, so we think there's a fun movie to be made from it," Heppe said.

I can't say whether I was a big fan of Hooker. It was one of those shows I remember as a kid, but could take it or leave it.

How do you feel about a T.J. Hooker film? Who could play T.J.? Chris Pine maybe.

I'm holding out for a Quantum Leap film.

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Jackie Earle Haley is Krueger for a Trilogy

Jackie Earle Haley has told Bloody-Disgusting that he's signed on to return for more striped jumper mayhem as dream master Freddy Krueger.

"Two more," prompting us to confirm, "So, three total?" Haley smiles, displaying three fingers, "yeah.".

Rooney Mara (Nancy Thompson) is signed on for one more trip to Elm Street. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema will release the remake in theaters 16th April 2010.

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An American Werewolf in London - Can you say remake? No doubt we'll see it next Wednesday!

John Landis' classic comedy horror was one of the first film that gave me nightmares as a kid. The bit in the dream when the Nazi Werewolves kick the door in and shoot the family did it for me. A bit older and with repear viewings made me realise just how good it was.

The bit on the London tube is one of the spookiest, suspenseful scenes in an movie and the actual transformation scenes is one of the greatest physical effects ever.

Now comes a rumour which could lead to the greatness of the movie to be diminshed.

John Landis has sold the remake rights for An American Werewolf In London to Dimension Films according to a tipster over at Bloody Disgusting.

Of course even if this is true it doesn't necessarily mean that we will see a remake, but the chances are we will soon be seeing a crappy CGI wolf running around London cracking wise and looking at the camera with a wink while chewing on a bloody corpse.

Would you want to see a remake of this classic? How will they piss all over the original?

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UPDATED: The Box - Trailer for Richard Kelly's latest film

Have a look at this trailer as I think it is very good. The Box is based on the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson and was used in an episode of The Twilight Zone. It is the one where a couple are given a box with a button. They are told that if they press the button they'll get a million dollars, but someone they don't know will die. Bit of a moral dilemma.

Now Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) has adapted it into a full length feature starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella. It looks as if Kelly is back to his Darko goodness after the disappointing and confusing Southland Tales.

The film is set in the 70s and in a way is autobiographical as the two main characters are based on Richard Kelly's own parents.

Let me know what you thought of the trailer. Would you press the button?

UPDATE: I found the story about the film being semi-autobiographical. It was an interview with Richard Kelly over on AICN. Well worth a read as he talks about technical aspects of the film as well as developing the story. This is what he had to say about his parents being an influence on the film.

The short story is six pages long, and Arthur and Norma... there wasn't time for their backstory. So I thought, "Here's this amazing premise about greed and responsibility and so many things that you can't put into words. There's this button, and being responsible for the death of another human being, and what constitutes responsibility." And I thought, "We want to tell this story and expose this premise to two characters, let them be very moral people, very likable people." And I figured that I felt that way about my parents, and that this is the type of movie they would love. They exposed me to Alfred Hitchcock when I was a young teenager; they showed me REAR WINDOW and THE BIRDS and PSYCHO. So I thought, "What if I take their love story and life in Richmond, Virginia as an upwardly middle class couple in 1976, and place them into Richard Matheson's short story?" And that's what I did - which all of a sudden made it the most personal film I've ever made. (Laughs) They have a son [in the film] who's ten or eleven. I obviously would barely be one year old in 1976, but you could argue that their single child is maybe a representation of me in the story. So all of a sudden I feel like I'm making this profoundly personal film, which, at the same time, is this mainstream studio thriller with this high-concept premise. So it was sort of an interesting merger of my parents' story with Matheson's story, which was written before I was even alive but that I discovered on THE TWILIGHT ZONE in 1986. I was in my parents' bedroom watching THE TWILIGHT ZONE with my dad when I saw "Button, Button" for the first time. So to think that I've taken them and plugged them into this Matheson concept is... to this day, I can't believe that we pulled it off.

So that's why Jimmy and Cameron spent a lot of time around my parents. Cameron listened to my mom talk for forty-five minutes and recorded it. She recorded a phone conversation of my mom talking about her life. And then she went to a dialogue coach to learn how to do my mom's Texas accent. Meanwhile, Jimmy did a Virginia accent because my dad's from Virginia. Their Southern accents are slightly different. And when my parents came on set for five or six shooting days, they were just freaking out. They felt like they had stepped into a TWILIGHT ZONE episode by being on set. It's very meta. You have my parents feeling like they're in a TWILIGHT ZONE episode watching James Marsden and Cameron Diaz portray very personal, autobiographical things about their life with their son directing it in this amazing Richard Matheson story that we've all grown up with. (Laughs It was really, really interesting.

Then we shot at NASA down at Langley for a week, which is where my dad worked for fifteen years. Marsden drives a silver Corvetts in the film - and my dad didn't drive a Corvette; he drove a Pontiac. But Marsden drives into this press conference at the NASA campus facility down there where my dad attended the press conference for Viking. He also used to play basketball for the NASA basketball league. But literally my dad is looking at a younger version of himself driving to work in the same exact manner that he did at a place that hasn't changed since the '70s. The Langley facility down at NASA has not changed at all since the '70s; it's like you're in a time warp down there. So it was really pretty surreal. It really gave Jimmy and Cameron homework to do. That's one thing: you want your actors to leave your meeting with a big stack of books, because then they come back to you with so much and so many questions. You get a lot of the direction out of the way, so when you're on set you can focus on the details. Everyone's not trying to play catch up.

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Alex Pettyfer is Beastly

The Manhattan-set and modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast tells the story of a handsome rich kid with a mean streak. When he ditches a date, a curse is placed upon him, turning him into everything he hates. The grotesque transformation leaves him with the seemingly impossible task of finding true love to break the ugly spell.

It stars Alex Pettyfer (Stormbreaker, Tormented) as the Beast. Bring back Ron Perlman as Vincent I say.

Beastly also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris and will open on 30th July 2010.

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Johnny Depp talks Dark Shadows and The Mad Hatter

While talking at a recent press conference in LA for Public Enemies, Johnny Depp spoke about some of his other projects. Frosty of the excellent Collider got the details. Here is what Depp had to say about Dark Shadows, the remake of the old American TV show.

“‘Dark Shadows’ is happening. Tim is working on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which is obviously quite a large piece of work there. So when Tim is done with ‘Alice’ and we get the script, which is very, very close, in order we’ll probably attack it next year. It’s exciting, very exciting. It’s like a lifelong dream for me. I loved the show when I was a kid. I was obsessed with Barnabas Collins. I have photographs of me holding Barnabas Collins posters when I was five or six. I’m very excited to do it.”

This also seems to confirm that Tim Burton is attached to direct as previous news cast doubt on that.

Then Depp was asked about what research he had done for his role of the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Well, certainly the book. The book is the basis for everything. There are little mysteries, little clues in the book that I found fascinating that were keys to at least my understanding of the Mad Hatter, like him saying, “I’m investigating that begin with the letter M.” That was huge for me because when you do a little digging you realize you’re talking about a hatter, a man who made hats and if you go back and look at some of the historical hatters there’s that term that this guy or that guy is as mad as a hatter. There was a reason for that and the reason for that was mercury poisoning. So I found out what the M was and why they went nuts. So that became a huge thing. Then it was just kind of what I saw and what I thought the guy should look like. I made my little weird drawings and water colors and brought them to Tim [Burton] and he brought me his weird little drawings and water colors and they were not dissimilar [laughs]. You could’ve put them right together and they were pretty darn close. There’s a lot of color and brightness and then de-saturation in The Hatter. He’s like a mood ring I suppose.

Thanks to Pam for sending me the link and the photo. Are you excited about Alice in Wonderland? How about Dark Shadows? I've never seen it but it does intrigue me.

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Blood Simple to be remade by Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum,To Live, Ju Dou, Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower) has started shooting a remake of the Coen brothers' debut, Blood Simple, the director's first film since designing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics last year according to THR.

Filming began on 9th June for San Qiang Pai An Jing Qi or The Stunning Case of the Three Gun Shots.

The thriller-comedy, which will be released late this year, stars Chinese actor Sun Honglei, comedian Xiao Shenyang and actress Yan Ni, Ping said.

No official details of the plot for the new film have been released. However, Blood Simple is about a Texas bar owner who hires a private detective to kill his wife and her lover. The 1984 movie starring Frances McDormand won the Grand Jury Prize for best film at the United States Film Festival, the predecessor to the Sundance Film Festival, helping establish Joel and Ethan Coen's reputations.

Blood Simple is a great film and Yimou's films always look stunning so it should hopefully be a good film. However, while I enjoy Yimou's vision as a filmmaker the films themselves often leave me cold. There always seems an emptiness to the story and characters, but that's just me.

How do you feel about a Yimou helmed remake of a Coen Brothers classic?

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Fantastic Four rebooted - What in the name of Aunt Petunia is going on here?

Back at the start of March I posted the news that the Fantastic Four could be heading back rebooted with a new set of unstable molecular clad heroes.

The reboot was among the many projects promoted at the Licensing International Expo 2009 event held in New York earlier this month.

It sounds as if 20th Century Fox are going The Dark Knight route as they are reportedly planning an "all-new cast" and a "far darker take" on the Fantastic Four in their proposed reboot of the franchise.

Jim Hill Media, which attended the convention, said the reboot will "feature an all-new cast as well as a far darker take on this classic Marvel comic."

The original starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis as adventurers transformed by cosmic radiation, and Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom. Unfortunately, the didn't do Marvel's first family much justice, although the Silver Surfer looked cool.

Now the Fantastic Four have had their share of adventures that have run the gamut of emotions. They cover all styles from Pulp to high Science-Fiction by way of family soap opera so there is plenty to choose from to make an excellent comic book film. I don't think going the darker path is the best way to go, although it would be nice to see Sue Storm in the Malice costume! Instead they should forget the origin story in the the reboot, or have it in the opening credits, and then show the FF as the celebrities they are. Then send them through adventures through time, space and the Baxter building.

It's a pity Marvel Studios don't have the rights as it would be excellent to see Reed Richards brainstorming with Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. Imagine if they went with the alternate Fantastic Four of the Hulk, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man?

What do you want to see in a new Fantastic Four film? What storyline, characters and villains? Who should be cast in the roles and who should direct?

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Brody, Whitaker, Wood and Gigandet are part of The Experiment

Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood and Cam Gigandet will star in The Experiment, a remake of the German psychological thriller Das Experiment for Inferno Entertainment and Magnet Media Group.

"Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring is directing from his screenplay. Filming begins in Iowa next month.

"Das Experiment," directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, centered on a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study and examined how the effects of assigned roles, power and control affected the participants. Brody will portray the de facto leader of the prisoners while Whitaker will play a guard who's corrupted by the power he's given.

It is based on Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. Scheduled to last for two weeks, the experiment was terminated after six days.

Yet another remake heading our way then!
Source: Variety

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UPDATED Crom! Is Roland Kickinger the new Conan the Barbarian?

Risky Biz Blog has reported that Lionsgate and Nu Image/Millennium may have found the star for their Conan remake.

41-year-old Austrian actor Roland Kickinger is in talks to play the role that Arnold Schwarzenegger christened in the 1982 classic Conan The Barbarian.

As some of you will no doubt know there are some other uncanny similarities

- Kickinger is also a bodybuilder-turned-actor from the Central European country

- He was in Terminator Salvation as the body double for Arnie's T-800

- Kickinger also played a Conan The Barbarian-era version of Schwarzenegger in See Arnold Run, the 2005 A&E biopic about the actor-turned-politician.

Shooting will begin in the fall at Avi Lerner's Bulgaria-based studio.

As previously mentioned Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th) will direct.

I reckon this is a good choice for Conan. He looks the part and he can't be any worse an actor than Arnie. Don't forget though that he is only in talks so it is not a definite that he will be the Cimmerian.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Arnie will have a cameo? Should it be an origin tale or should he just get in there and start killing?

UPDATE: Latino Review are saying that this news is not true. Now the original article said he was in talks so not sure if they are debunking that or the fact Kickinger won't be Conan. They say:

Trust me guys, I have a super solid source at both Lionsgate and Millenium and they laughed their asses off!

I'm still not sure though. I'll see what else I can dig up.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Teen Wolf - Lycanthropy a-go-go again

Another remake of a film from my childhood - Michael J. Fox's Teen Wolf is in early development.

Warner Bros looking for writers to do a new version of Rod Daniels’ 1985 hit. Moviehole say that the studio is not quite certain ''which way they’re going to go.''

I personally thought that Teen Wolf Too starring Jason Bateman had killed the franchise but it looks as if the studios are intent on redoing every film from the Eighties.

The original tells the tale of basketballer (Fox) who, upon discovering he’s a werewolf like his father (James Hampton), finds popularity and notoriety... and the ability to slamdunk. The only person not excited to be losing ‘the old Scott’ is long-time best pal, Boof (Susan Ursitti).

Nobody word on director or cast as it is still early days. However, if they are going to go big with this then Zac Efron and Robert Pattinson will no doubt be approached.

A remake too far? Do you want to see a new version? What should be in it? Who should be the star?

Teen Wolf picture by Dapper Dan

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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The Stepfather - Trailer for another remake

Michael Harding returns home to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who's always there lend a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?

This is the trailer for the remake of the 1987 film. It is due out on 16th October 2009.

What do you think? A good looking remake?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Fame - Trailer

A reinvention of the original Oscar-winning hit film, Fame follows a talented group of dancers, singers, actors, and artists over four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts, a diverse, creative powerhouse where students from all walks of life are given a chance to live out their dreams and achieve real and lasting fame...the kind that comes only from talent, dedication, and hard work.

In an incredibly competitive atmosphere, plagued by self-doubt, each student's passion will be put to the test. In addition to their artistic goals, they have to deal with everything else that goes along with high school, a tumultuous time full of schoolwork, deep friendships, budding romance, and self-discovery.

As each student strives for his or her moment in the spotlight, they’ll discover who among them has the innate talent and necessary discipline to succeed. With the love and support of their friends and fellow artists, they’ll find out who amongst them will achieve Fame...

Due out on 25th September 2009

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Hamlet as an action horror film?

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke talked with Movieline about her plans for the Emile Hirsch-led contemporary update of Hamlet at the recent Young Hollywood Awards.

Tone wise, Hardwicke says "It's really like a thriller. From the day Hamlet's father dies, three days later eight people are dead and a ghost is telling him to murder for revenge so we're doing it as a suspense thriller".

There'll be some additions as well - "All the action that often is off camera, we're showing it in great vivid detail. It's scary...you're going to see a lot of crazy stuff."

Asked about comparisons with another contemporary set Hamlet, Michael Almereyda's 2000 drama starring Ethan Hawke, Hardwicke says her film will be a lot "shorter and tighter".

Anyone else hear alarm bells after reading that?

Source: Dark Horizons

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Photo of Gemma Arteton on the set of Clash of the Titans

This is the first photo of actress Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) in costume on the set of Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans as a new character called Io. The photo was debuted on Gemma Arterton Online.

Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny. Louis Leterrier is directing from a script by Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark).

The photo doesn't really tell us much, but I am looking forward to seeing more from the film.

Source: First Showing

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Murphy it's you - Robocop remake news

It has been a while since there has been an update regarding this project. An MGM spoke to io9 about the Robocop remake / reboot. It is still being made, but it won't be out for a 2010 release. The rep said that the studio had told distributors at an event a couple weeks ago to expect the movie in 2011. He said director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain) and screenwriter David Self (Road to Perdition) were still working on the script, and that no casting had been completed.

"Darren and David are working on it now, and we look forward to seeing it in 2011."

I do still wonder what they can do with Robocop. The original film was a work of wonder. The fact Aronofsky is attached does intrigue me though.

Hopefully, they'll keep the cool look of Robocop in place. What do you want from the new Robocop film? Who could play the titanium encased lawman?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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