Remakes OTD: The Thing, Conan The Barbarian, Dressed To Kill

COMINGSOON.NET: The Thing Remake Coming to Theaters
Source: Variety
November 17, 2006

Strike Entertainment and Universal Pictures will remake John Carpenter's The Thing, reports Variety.

The script will be written by "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer Ronald D. Moore. The 1982 original dealt with a shape-shifting creature from outer space that terrorizes researchers at an Antarctic facility.

Strike partners Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce and the company will co-finance the remake, to which Universal owned the rights. David Foster, who produced the original film, will executive produce.

Carpenter's film continued the storyline of the Howard Hawks-directed The Thing From Another World. That 1951 film starred James Arness as an alien monster that wiped out workers at an Army radar station.

Carpenter's film opened with a team arriving to find that encampment has been wiped out. The alien moved from the body of one team member to another, so it was never quite clear who the villain was.

The producers said they consider the new film to be more "a companion piece" to the Carpenter film than a note-for-note remake.

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MANIA.COM: Warner Bros. making CONAN THE BARBARIAN
By: Karl Schneider, News Editor
Source: Variety
Date: Thursday, June 15, 2006

Warner Bros. Pictures is eyeing an early 2007 start of production for CONAN THE BARBARIAN, a new take on the Robert E. Howard created character.

Boaz Yakin (FRESH, REMEMBER THE TITANS) has been asked to write and possibly direct the film after his pitch impressed the studio.

Yakin's concept is reported to be more faithful to Howard's story than were the two previous Conan films which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan.

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VARIETY.COM: MGM remaking 'Dressed to Kill'
Studio pacts with Hyde Park on DVD movies
By DAVE MCNARY, PETER GILSTRAP
Posted: Tue., Jun. 5, 2007, 8:00pm PT

MGM is partnering with Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment to produce direct-to-DVD movies aimed at specific demos.

First project from the alliance will be a remake of the 1980 thriller "Dressed to Kill," with Rick Alexander signed to write the script.

Hyde Park's Patrick Aiello initiated the remake project and will head the banner's new consumer direct division, working closely with MGM's recently installed home entertainment VP Jason Weiss, who will oversee the production.

The original pic was released by Filmways, which was later acquired by Orion and ultimately by MGM. Brian De Palma wrote and directed, with Angie Dickinson, Dennis Franz, Nancy Allen and Michael Caine starring.

Alexander recently scripted the sci-fi thriller "Subatomic" for the two companies, and is producing a remake of "Conan the Barbarian" for Warner Bros.

MGM is planning to release 12 or more DVD projects per year, primarily based on popular film and TV franchises. Hyde Park recently wrapped "Asylum," is in post- production on James Wan's "Death Sentence" for Fox and has a five-year co-financing agreement with Fox, which is also the exclusive distrib for MGM's consumer-direct projects.

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Some of this news looks old. It appears the Conan remake is still on the boards, though the Thing re-remake may have mutated into the Sci-Fi Channel four-hour mini-series.