Dreamworks is planning on a sequel to last year’s hit “The Ring.” Although there is no definite storyline set yet, I would assume that the sequel has something to do with an evil VHS tape that brings death seven days after viewing – and I’m not talking about old bootlegged copies of “Red Dawn” either.
Also in the works is a sequel to the moderately successful, but frighteningly cultish, “Night of the Living Dead” series of movies. The last one in the series, “Day of the Dead,” hit cinemas in limited release back in 1985. Although it didn’t do very well at the box office it none the less found a nitch in the home video market and was recently remastered and released on DVD this year. The next movie, the fourth, is tentatively called “Dead Reckoning” taking place after the zombie-apocalyptic events in “Day of the Dead.” The story follows, according to the series creator George Romero, “the remaining survivors living in exclusive gated communities that protect them from the dead outside. They attempt to live normally while ignoring the problem in the world outside their walls. The real horror and adventure comes into play with the group of people living in the gated city whose job it is to leave the safety of the city and venture out into the dead wasteland to gather supplies and things.” Sounds tasty.
Speaking of the “Night of the Living Dead” series of movies, the movie “Dawn of the Dead,” second in original trilogy (or is it now quadrilogy?), is being remade in Canada. The story follows a group of human survivors who take shelter in a mall when the zombies threaten to overrun humanity. Unfortunately for the survivors, the zombies retain some memories and tend to congregate at places that they remember. The survivors must escape the surge of zombies attacking the mall to try to escape to an island free of zombies.
In fact, there is more than one set of horror remakes on the horizon. Horror remakes have become the vogue of late ever since “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” tore into theaters earning several million in ticket sales. The first is a remake to the classic (and remade twice already) “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” This remake will stick more close to the source material than the last remake which took place on a military base. The second remake is to the “Amityville Horror” set of movies.
A movie in the works that is a sort of sequel and remake at the same time is “Aliens vs. Predator.” This movie is a spin-off of the successful “Aliens” franchise and the “Predator” series. Fans have been clamoring for the movie ever since an Alien skull was seen in the Predator ship at the end of “Predator 2.” “Aliens vs. Predator” follows a group of soldiers and scientists who discover a pyramid buried in the ice in Antarctica, which the Predators have been using these sort of “happy hunting grounds” for the Aliens. The humans get stuck between the Predators looking for Alien skulls, but willing to settle on less such as a human’s, and the Aliens just looking for blood. Fun ensues.
If you were expecting to see “The Alamo” in theaters this past Christmas (since it’s been advertised as coming out at that time in trailers and posters for months now) you’ll have to wait a little longer. It seems as the digital FX are holding up the production of the movie sliding the release date to early next year. Conspiracy theorists speculate that the real reason for the move was to keep the movie from the juggernauts that are the “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” series. Hollywood would never move the release date of a movie just to hopefully let it make more money, would they!?
When you think “The Six Million Dollar” man you think Lee Majors, at least if you’re a child of the late 1970s or early 1980s you do. Children of the 21st century will not think of Lee Majors, they’ll think of – Jim Carrey!? That’s right, Jim Carrey is slated to play the role in the big screen remake of this small screen hit. Don’t expect the series to be the action packed extravaganza that was the original. Directed by Todd Phillips, who’s making a career out of 1970s remakes currently directing “Starsky and Hutch” starring Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller, the new version is set to be a “comedy-action movie spoof.” I smell a franchise.
Well, I smell something.
