It seems like every other major movie these days is a prequel, sequel, remake, or reboot.
But they're not all just barely warmed-up leftovers.
Some upcoming remakes and reboots just might be worth your time — or, dare we say, blow
you away.
Shaft
In 1971, MGM released a film adaptation of Ernest Tidyman's detective novel Shaft ...
"Shut yo mouth."
Uh, we're just talking about the original Shaft, starring Richard Roundtree.
In 2000, Paramount remade the film with John Singleton directing and Samuel L. Jackson
starring in the leading role.
And now, New Line Cinema is looking to release another fresh take.
The new film has Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and The Goldbergs producer Alex Barnow writing
the script, with Ride Along director Tim Story at the helm.
Hiring comedy writers and directors may concern some Shaft fans, but producer John Davis says
the movie won't strictly be a comedy.
"Can you dig it?"
Universal's Monsterverse
Shared universes are the big thing in Hollywood these days, and Universal Pictures is the
latest studio to get in on the action.
But instead of turning to the comics for inspiration, they're building a shared monster universe
— a monsterverse, if you will — centering on the studio's iconic movie monsters of old.
It all begins with Alex Kurtzman's new take on The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise and Russell
Crowe.
Hopefully, the finished film will have all of its sound, unlike the botched first trailer
"Ahhh."
That never gets old.
Rounding out the "Monsterverse" is Bride of Frankenstein, with Javier Bardem playing Frankenstein's
monster …
Invisible Man, starring Johnny Depp ....
An overhauled Wolf Man, with Dwayne Johnson reportedly being eyed for the title role …
A new Van Helsing, said to be in the vein of Mad Max ...
And finally, Creature from the Black Lagoon, potentially starring Scarlett Johansson … as
the female lead, not the creature.
Of course, she does have the experience to play the creature if need be...
Disney's live-action remakes
After seeing enormous success with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 2010, Disney commissioned
more live-action remakes based on their animated classics, like 2016's Jungle Book adaptation.
Beauty and the Beast racked up record-breaking grosses in March 2017 with a live-action take
on the story starring Emma Watson.
Next, Jon Favreau will try to build on his success with The Jungle Book by remaking The
Lion King.
After that, Disney's lined up — *deep breath* — Mulan, Aladdin, Cruella, Dumbo, Genies,
Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Tink, The Little Mermaid, and a lot more, all in live-action.
With an impressive collection of planned problems like that, at least two or three might actually
be good!
It
Stephen King's classic It was made into a two-part miniseries for ABC in 1990, starring
Tim Curry as the monstrous Pennywise the Clown.
Eager to offer a scarier, more lavish adaptation, Hollywood filmmakers have attempted to bring
the novel to life on the big screen for years.
Beasts of No Nation and True Detective director Cary Fukunaga led the charge for several years
before dropping the project in 2015 following budgetary concerns with New Line Cinema.
Now, Mama director Andy Muschietti has taken up directing duties, with Bill Skarsgård
playing Pennywise.
Producer Dan Lin likens the remake to Netflix's Stranger Things:
"It's very much an homage to '80s movies, whether it's classic Stephen King or even
Spielberg."
The Crow
Several non-superhero comic book movies have done remarkably well over the years — including
1994's The Crow, starring the late Brandon Lee.
But for years, Hollywood has tried to remake The Crow to no avail.
That may all be about to change: Jason Momoa signed on to the film in 2016, with The Hallow's
Corin Hardy directing.
But with the remake having moved from Relativity Media to Davis Films and renamed The Crow
Reborn, there's uncertainty as to whether Momoa and Hardy will remain on board.
We'll know soon: the film is finally scheduled to begin production sometime in 2017.
Escape from New York
Set in a dystopian future, John Carpenter's 1981 classic Escape from New York follows
Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken, tasked with finding the President of the United States
after Air Force One crash-lands in Manhattan — which the government has turned into an
enormous maximum security prison.
Warner Bros. has spent years pursuing fruitless attempts to put together a remake.
Producer Joel Silver's the latest to take a crack at it, and he wants to not only remake
the film but turn it into a trilogy that's reportedly in the vein of Rise of the Planet
of the Apes and — inspired by the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City, of all things.
Tomb Raider
Aside from the half-dozen Resident Evil movies, Tomb Raider is likely the next most successful
video game movie franchise ever made, thanks to the two Angelina Jolie films from the early
2000s.
Warner Bros. is looking to reboot Tomb Raider on the big screen, with Academy Award-winning
actress Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft and Justified's Walton Goggins as the villain.
As Goggins puts it, the film will be like "Raiders of the Lost Ark meets a genre version
of the Joseph Conrad novel Victory: An Island Tale."
Though not much is known about the story, we do know it will closely follow the gritty
new video game series, which find a young Lara Croft on a quest to find her father.
Ocean's Eight
After remaking Lewis Milestone's original Ocean's Eleven from 1960, Steven Soderbergh
followed up with two more successful installments.
But the cast and crew opted not to make a fourth film due to Bernie Mac's untimely death.
Instead of another sequel, Warner Bros. has decided to simply reboot the series with an
all-female cast.
Helmed by Hunger Games director Gary Ross, Ocean's Eight will star — *here we go* — Sandra
Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Dakota Fanning, Rihanna, Sarah
Paulson, Mindy Kaling ... and Matt Damon?
"Matt Damon!"
Damon is set to reprise his role from the original Ocean's trilogy as Linus Caldwell.
The film's scheduled to arrive in June 2018.
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