The Day The Dude Stood Still

Here's a trailer for Fox's upcoming Day The Earth Stood Still remake, starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, and John Cleese (?). The interrogation scene is interesting, and there's a lot in the story that would still be relevant. Still, I'm such a huge fan of the original, I can't help but feel that it's an exercise in futility. Judge for yourself!



UPDATE: Not that my blog is limping along as far as posting/publishing goes, here's another blurb on the film, featuring some rejected concept art for Gort. I like the massive, imposing feeling of the design, but I think it'd need to be simpler - even though the original robot is clearly a suit, the stark simplicity vividly suggests a far superior technology - large, heavy shapes holding back enormous power.

It just occurred to me - who's going to score this version?
(looks on imdb.com)

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Tyler Bates is the man who has to go head-to-head with Bernard Herrmann. Not an enviable job.

Thanks to i09.com and the-day-the-earth-stood-still-trailer.blogspot.com for the links!

New Fox Show From Simpsons Alumni

"'The Simpsons' vets Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein have been named exec producers on Fox's animated laffer 'Sit Down, Shut Up.'

(The show) is based on a live-action sitcom from Australia. The animated U.S. version revolves around the lives of seven staff members at a dysfunctional high school in a small northeastern fishing town. Action centers on faculty members, as their egos and personal agendas trump the students' needs."

To read more of Michael Schneider's Variety article, click here.

X-Files Halloween, Convention Costumes To Become Recognizable Again

VARIETY: Fox sets date for 'X-Files' sequel
Scully, Mulder return to theaters on July 25
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK, TATIANA SIEGEL
Posted: Wed., Oct. 31, 2007, 3:33pm PT

The long-awaited second "X-Files" film is finally a go, with 20th Century Fox setting a July 25, 2008 release date.

Untitled project reunites "X-Files" creator Chris Carter with thesps David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who will reprise their signature roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

Carter begins lensing in December in Vancouver from a script he co-wrote with Frank Spotnitz, a veteran scribe of the long-running "X-Files" television series, which became a worldwide hit in its 1993-2002 run on the Fox network. Spotnitz also co-wrote with Carter the screenplay for 1998 feature "X-Files."

Studio is keeping the film's logline under wraps, but stressed the pic is a stand-alone story and supernatural thriller that takes the complicated relationship between Mulder and Scully in new directions.

As of now, there are only two other titles skedded for July 25, both comedies. Sony unspools Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly starrer "Step Brothers," directed by Adam McKay, while MGM has bows untitled Ice Cube family laffer.

Bringing the "X-Files." sequel to the bigscreen was waylaid when Chris Carter brought a 2005 lawsuit against Fox over how the "X-Files" syndication profits were divvied up. Suit was later settled.

Earlier this year, the issue seemed to have been resolved, with Duchovny and Anderson both indicating the that the film was finally forward.

Released in 1998, feature film "The X-Files" grossed $187 million worldwide, including a domestic haul of $83.9 million and an international cume of more than $103 million.

Remake OTD: Fantastic Voyage

VARIETY: Emmerich to captain 'Voyage'
Sci-fi guy embarks on redo
By MICHAEL FLEMING - Posted: Wed., Aug. 15, 2007, 7:25pm PT

Helmer Roland Emmerich is boarding a remake of the 1966 sci-fi pic "Fantastic Voyage" for 20th Century Fox.

"National Treasure" scribes Marianne and Cormac Wibberley are in talks to write the script.

"Voyage" is about a scientist who is dying of a blood clot. His only chance for survival is for five scientist colleagues to be miniaturized in a ship, and injected into his bloodstream.

The original, directed by Richard Fleischer, starred Raquel Welch and Donald Pleasence.

Emmerich's Centropolis Entertainment partner Michael Wimer will produce with James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment.

It is Emmerich's second tour of duty on the project, after being attached a decade ago. The Wibberleys recently took a stab at a draft of "Voyage" that sparked the director's renewed interest in doing the remake.

"Fantastic Voyage" is the director's third large-scale film for Fox, after "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow."

Emmerich recently completed "10,000 B.C.," which will be released March 7 by Warner Bros. and Legendary.

The Wibberleys are among the dozen scribes in Writing Partners, the scribe collective which just sealed an unusual first-look deal with Fox for spec scripts. (Daily Variety, Aug. 15). That deal is reserved for original creations by those writers, so the "Fantastic Voyage" assignment doesn't apply.

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Hmm... I'm not enamored enough with the original to get upset about this. In fact, I think it's a pretty good candidate for a remake - the only thing that I'd really like to stay the same is the design of the submarine. I wonder if they'll stylize the human body like last time, or get all squishy and use endoscopic photography? Who will they stuff into the low-cut wetsuit in this version (no votes for Jessica Alba, please)?

Synergy OTD: The Sims Movie

VARIETY: Fox brings 'SIMS' to bigscreen
Film will be a live-action version
By PETER GILSTRAP
Posted: Thurs., May 24, 2007, 7:30pm PT

20th Century Fox has acquired feature rights to the life simulation computer game "The SIMS" from Electronic Arts, and has set project up with Fox-based John Davis.

The five-year-old franchise is the best selling PC game in history, with worldwide sales topping 85 million, bringing in over $1.6 billion. Pic will be a live-action version.

Steve Asbell is overseeing the project for Fox with SIMS Studio head Rod Humble managing the creative property for Electronic Arts. Brian Lynch will script; story is under wraps with talent yet to be named.

"'The SIMS has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it," said Humble. "Given that that's an old story, you can imagine how easily that would translate to traditional story telling."

Davis' most recent projects include "Norbit," "When A Stranger Calls," and "Eragon."

Lynch scripted and helmed upcoming "Big Helium Dog," and penned "Scary Movie 3," and is managed by Benderspink.

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Okay, somebody has to help me out here. If somebody makes a live-action film version of a video game that's a simulation of real life... isn't that just... a regular movie? You could call any movie 'The Sims Movie'. Heck, just pick the biggest hit of the season, claim it was the 'Sims' film, and show up for your free money.

Remake OTD: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - Also, Austin Powers Sequel

VARIETY: Mike Myers to star in 'Mitty' remake
Actor in on Fox, Goldwyn's 'Secret'
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Posted: Tue., May 22, 2007, 4:58pm PT

Mike Myers is attached to star in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," a remake of the Danny Kaye comedy classic that producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. has moved from Paramount to 20th Century Fox.

Jay Kogen, a writer and producer on "The Simpsons," "Frasier" and, most recently, CBS' "The Class," is penning the script. Goldwyn will produce.

Jim Carrey had once been attached to play the daydreamer first brought to life in 1947 by Kaye in a pic based on a short story by James Thurber. Directors attached to the project on and off during the past few years include Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. When those efforts didn't pan out, Goldwyn moved the film to Par, where "Mean Girls" director Mark Waters tried to do it with Owen Wilson.

Fox and Goldwyn are starting from scratch with a version that will be specifically tailored for Myers.

The long-gestating "Mitty" is one of several projects in the works for Myers, whose green alter ego is cleaning up at the box office in "Shrek the Third." His next live-action vehicle, Paramount comedy "The Love Guru," is on track to begin production in September in Toronto, with Marco Schnabel directing. Myers will play Pitka, a self-help guru character he created and honed in comedy clubs while writing the script with Graham Gordy.

"Mitty" will compete for Myers' next live-action slot with "See Me, Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure," the Spitfire Pictures/Gerber Pictures drama in which Myers will play the hard-living drummer for the British rock group the Who. Playwright Donald Margulies ("Brooklyn Boy") has completed a first draft and will do a rewrite. The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey is aboard as a producer.

The CAA-repped Myers has several projects looming in the future. He is attached to star in "How to Survive a Robot Uprising," an adaptation of a humorous survival guide written by Daniel H. Wilson that is "Reno 911!" duo Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant are scripting for Par. Myers also has begun early discussions with New Line and director Jay Roach for a fourth installment of the "Austin Powers" series. While no writer has yet been assigned, Myers is eyeing a sequel that tells the story from the viewpoint of Dr. Evil.

Remake OTD: Taps

VARIETY: Fox taps Flowers for 'Taps' remake
Davis, Brenner to produce military drama
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Posted: Wed., May 16, 2007, 7:30pm PT

Twentieth Century Fox and New Regency will remake "Taps," the 1981 military drama that launched the careers of Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton.

Frank E. Flowers will write the screenplay with an eye toward directing.

The film will be produced by John Davis; Robbie Brenner will exec produce.

In the Harold Becker-directed original, a group of loyal cadets seize control of their military academy just as construction crews arrive to tear it down and make room for condos. "The political climate and the psyche of the country make it an exciting time to tell that story," Flowers told Daily Variety. "When you are at war, kids are forced to make decisions normally reserved for adults, like fighting for your country and standing up for what you believe in."

Flowers, who last directed "Haven" and has been readying the Jamaica-set drama "The Gardens," will begin writing immediately.

He's repped by WMA.

Remake OTD: How To Marry A Millionaire

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Kidman, Fox married to 'Millionaire'
By Tatiana Siegel
April 27, 2007

Nicole Kidman is going to the altar with 20th Century Fox for a remake of "How to Marry a Millionaire."

The actress will produce the project through her Fox-based Blossom Films shingle as a potential starring vehicle.

Sacha Gervasi, who wrote Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal," has been tapped to pen the screenplay, which will be a contemporary-set reinterpretation of the Marilyn Monroe classic. The original, a Technicolor comedy that was released by Fox in 1953, vaulted Monroe to stardom.

Plot details for the updated "Millionaire" are being kept under wraps, but it is described as a complete overhaul of the original story.

Fox's Lisa Ellzey is overseeing the project for the studio, while Per Saari is shepherding for Blossom Films.

Kidman's banner has several projects in development at Fox, including an untitled spy project penned by Simon Kinberg and "The Bachelorette Party," based on Karen McCullah Lutz's novel.

The actress, who won an Academy Award for portraying Virginia Woolf in "The Hours," next stars in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Invasion" and New Line Cinema's "The Golden Compass."

She is repped by CAA and attorney Alan Wertheimer.

Gervasi, who also penned a draft of the big-screen adaptation of "Dallas" for Regency Enterprises, is repped by CAA and attorney Mike Adler.

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Remaking a '50s film? Who does that anymore?

Not Content With Apes Remake, Fox Moves On To Earth

FIRSTSHOWING.NET: The Day the Earth Stood Still Being Remade for 2008 - Confirmed!
February 21, 2007 by Alex Billington

Apparently Box Office Mojo, the best website for all things box office earnings, has updated their schedule for summer 2008 and included a listing of The Day the Earth Stood Still to open on May 9th, 2008 (one week after Iron Man). The original is a sci-fi classic 1951 movie about an alien and a robot that land on Earth to try and save the world from being destroyed. IMDB doesn't even have a listing for this remake, but Box Office Mojo claims it's being produced by Fox, fast-tracked for a spot in 2008's busy summer.

Is this real? We don't know yet, but we'll put in some requests with Fox to find out. I can bet if it is real, it's going to be directed by someone who will give all sci-fi geeks quite a tingle. This movie is a very well-known classic and I don't think they'd risk screwing up a remake - like The War of the Worlds, another 50's classic, fortunately they did a pretty good job with that. Updated inside!

Update: Fox confirmed with us that this is true and the date is correct, meaning a The Day the Earth Stood Still remake is definitely underway for summer 2008!

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The original's one of my favorite science-fiction films, so you can bet I'll be giving this a miss. Wouldn't a restoration/re-release be a lot cheaper? I think the Cold War paranoia'd still resonate.