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.
