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.
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
