13 upcoming remakes of Hollywood sci-fi classics
Hollywood, Back to the Future: Top filmmakers have already dipped into the sci-fi vault for 21st century remakes of “The War of the Worlds,” “The Planet of the Apes” and the upcoming “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” so what’s next on the revival list? Plenty. Here’s a list of a dozen remakes and revival projects now at various stages in the studio pipeline.
"When Worlds Collide" Steven Spielberg is one of the producers and Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy,” “Van Helsing”), infamous for his “give me more” attitude toward CGI effects, is directing. Like the original 1951 film produced by George Pal, this “Worlds,” due in theaters next year, is about the mad scramble to build a spaceship to save humanity before Earth is destroyed by a rogue planet entering its orbit. The problem comes when there aren’t enough seats for everybody on Earth.
"The Terminator" It’s not a remake, but filmmaker McG’s plan to revive the killer robot franchise with a new sequel next summer starring Christian Bale as John Connor has been circled by fans after a strong showing this past summer at Comic-Con International. “Terminator Salvation” is set in the future and shows the grim war between humans and Skynet with its murderous metallic armies. The plan is for a full trilogy — which means a certain California politician may well live up to that long-ago promise: “I’ll be back.”
"Robocop" If the Terminator can get tuned up for a revival, why not that other 1980s mechanical hero? After several fits and starts, MGM announced in March that a reboot of “Robocop” would be in theaters in 2010. Darren Aronofsky (“The Wrestler,” “Requiem for a Dream”) is directing the remake of Paul Verhoeven’s bloody movie about a Detroit cop who is gunned down but then put back on patrol as a cyborg with troubled soul.
"Ghostbusters" There’s talk of making a third installment in the hugely successful sci-fi comedy franchise and bringing back the original crew -- Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson -- as well as some new-blood, second-generation busters. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, writers for “The Office,” are at work on the script for Columbia Pictures and Murray, in the past the most reluctant to return to the franchise, has said publicly that he’s open to the idea. There was talk of Seth Rogen being a likely cast addition but don’t bother calling him: “It sounds,” he said in October, “like the worst idea ever."
"The Creature from the Black Lagoon" Breck Eisner, the director of “Sahara” and son of former Disney chief Michael Eisner, is directing while screenwriter Gary Ross is on board to retell the story of an Amazon River expedition that crosses paths with a prehistoric amphibian humanoid. The presence of Ross gives the 2009 release a link to the original 1954 film — that Universal classic was written by his father, Arthur A. Ross. Bill Paxton's name has come up as one of the rumored cast members.
"Flash Gordon" After the “Black Lagoon” remake, director Eisner is planning to revive Flash Gordon for Columbia, bringing back the brand that hit the silver screen in 1980 with the campy Dino DeLaurentiis production that so memorably featured the music of Queen, not to mention the unexpectedly galactic pair of Topol and Timothy Dalton. Alex Raymond’s classic space hero, originally created as a comic strip rival to Buck Rogers, celebrates his 75th anniversary in pop culture next month but it's not clear that his retro appeal still holds. Earlier this year, Sci Fi canceled its “Flash Gordon” series, which had ratings that proved that Ming isn’t the one who is merciless.
