John Hughes, 1950 - 2009

VARIETY: Director John Hughes dies at 59 - by Pat Saperstein

"John Hughes, who captured the zeitgeist of 1980s teen life as writer-director of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles and produced and scripted family hits such as Home Alone, died Thursday of a heart attack in Manhattan while taking a walk. He was 59.

After an impressive string of hits -- Home Alone is one of the top-grossing live-action comedies of all time -- Hughes, who never won a major show business award, stopped directing in 1991 and virtually retired from filmmaking a few years later, working on his farm in northern Illinois."

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Where Is John Hughes?

"JOHN HUGHES hasn't set foot in Hollywood for years, but his influence has never been more potent. The king of 1980s comedy, Hughes now qualifies as something of a Howard Hughes-style recluse -- he doesn't have an agent, doesn't give interviews and lives far away, somewhere in Chicago's sprawling North Shore suburbs where most of his films were set."

I'm not the biggest fan of his films, but this is an interesting article. Read the rest of it here.

Remake OTD: The Breakfast Club

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: 'Bumped' is 'Breakfast' at an airport
By Steven Zeitchik - Feb 29, 2008

NEW YORK -- Veteran producer Bridget Johnson will produce "Bumped," a modern-day version of "The Breakfast Club," with McG protege Anna Mastro attached to direct from a script by Lizzy Weiss.

"Bumped" is a comedy-drama revolving around five twentysomethings -- including a corporate go-getter, a musician and a flirt -- who normally wouldn't be friends but who get to know one another when they're bumped from a flight and wind up stranded at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

The project marks the directorial debut for Mastro, who worked closely with director-producer McG on his "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and was an associate producer on his "Stay Alive."

Mastro also has developed and produced the CW's "Pussycat Dolls" series and, like McG, shot music videos.

The film will be financed independently and later set up at a studio; it likely won't shoot until the SAG strike situation is resolved. Johnson ("As Good as It Gets"), who was an exec at Touchstone as well as at James L. Brooks' Gracie Films, produced the upcoming Miramax release "Smart People."

John Hughes' 1985 film "The Breakfast Club" (with which "Bumped" has no formal association) was a generation-defining comedy that helped build the careers of actors like Emilio Estevez.

Thanks to I Watch Stuff! for the dubious news.