Hollywood: Land of the re-re-remake

Is anyone doing anything original in Hollywood anymore? Apparently not. What''s even worse, it used to largely be Pat Hobby-style hacks who took jobs doing retreads. Now it's the top talent in town.

Just take a look at the news from today: The trades report that Darren Aronofsky has signed on with MGM to do a remake of "RoboCop," the Paul Verhoeven film that has already spawned two inferior sequels. The film is being written by David Self, who's hot off scripting a remake of "The Wolfman" for Universal.

Meanwhile, New Line has announced that it's doing a second sequel in the "Harold & Kumar" series. Always hilariously respectful, Variety noted that "storyline is being kept under wraps." Translated from Variety-ese, that really means no one has written a word--they're just greenlighting the movie because the sequel made a lot of dough earlier this year.

Down in San Diego at Comic-Con, remake mania was also in full bloom. Robert Rodriguez was at one panel, talking about his upcoming remake of "Red Sonja," which he'll produce with gal-pal Rose McGowan playing the lead role. Another panel was devoted to a new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which stars Keanu Reeves and is due this Christmas from Fox. The original was a landmark sci-fi film directed by Robert Wise, who got his start editing "Citizen Kane." The new version is directed by Scott Derrickson, who got his start directing "Hellraiser: Inferno."

Who says Hollywood movies aren't getting better all the time?

"RoboCop" photo from Orion Pictures

Comments

[Tim Tremper, Berlin, Germany]

The insecure executive can easily relate to (greenlight) another remake. "Just look at the old flick, we'll make it brand new with a twist...". Fact is, remakes are as old as Hollywood. From a magnificent 1930s “Robin Hood”, to the 1960s dud “Stagecoach”. Yes, most of the remakes suck, then again some are great like "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - that is a remake as well. The big question is: Wouldn't you greenlight a remake, just before you dive into the unknown pits of any original material? You've got to ask yourself one question:? Well, do ya, punk? - Ups, ain't that original…

[Big Sam]

I understand the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" will be darker and more foreboding than the original. Sounds excellent with Reeves as Klatu, but I wonder where Gort the robot is going to come from, who will it be or will be CGI.