'Evil Dead' to rise again

"Evil Dead" will rise again. A possible remake of director Sam Raimi's cult 1981 horror film has died and been reborn more times than the evil dead themselves.

But now Raimi, Bruce Campbell (who played Ash in all three "Evil Dead" films) and original producer Rob Tapert are partnering to bring the remake to life.

The original was released in 1981.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fede Alvarez (the short film "Panic Attack) will direct based on a script written by Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues. Diablo Cody ("Juno") is currently working on revisions.

"We are committed to making this movie and are inspired by the enduring popularity and enthusiasm for the 'Evil Dead' series," the producing trio said in a statement. "We can't wait to scare a new generation of moviegoers using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us thirty years ago as well as Fede bringing a fresh eye to the film’s original elements."

"Evil Dead" follows five college students who are traveling to an isolated cabin become possessed by evil spirits, leaving Ash alone to battle the dead. "Evil Dead 2," released in 1987, was essentially a remake of the first film, while "Army of Darkness" in 1992 follows Ash to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

It is not clear whether Campbell will return to the role of Ash in the remake.

"Evil Dead" is one of the ultimate horror classics with just the right mix of horror and camp to make it a cult favorite. I'm not a horror fan and even I love the series. I'm concerned by the trio's comment about "film techniques that were not available to us" considering we already have enough movies using the latest special effects for gory horror. Of course, it helps that everyone will be involved, which is better than the last couple of iterations of the remake.

Still, until proven otherwise, I'm going to put this one in the "remakes that aren't needed or wanted" category.

Spike Lee to remake 'Old Boy'

Director Spike Lee is set to remake the acclaimed South Korean film, "Old Boy."

Spike Lee

According to Heat Vision, the film will be based on a script by Mark Protosevich ("Thor," "I Am Legend," "Poseidon"), who will also co-produce.

Released in 2003, "Old Boy" followed a man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, only to discover his captor was more insidious plans in store for him.

Rumors of an English-language adaptation have cropped up here and there over the years with such figures as Steven Spielberg and Will Smith purportedly attached at one time or another.

Lee's last feature film was 2008's "Miracle at St. Anna" and his resume includes "Malcolm X," "She Gotta Have It" and "She Hate Me."

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to pen "Carrie" remake for MGM, Screen Gems

It's hard to think of high school proms and not for at least a moment, recall Sissy Spacek covered in pig's blood in the film adaptation of Stephen King's "Carrie."

Well, MGM and Screen Gems will be attempting to recreate those memories with a remake of the classic horror film and have brought in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to write the script.

"Carrie" began scaring audiences in 1976

Deadline is reporting that Aguirre-Sacasa, who mostly recently rewrote the "Spider-Man" musical, will stay more faithful to King's book, comparing it to Joel and Ethan Coen's work on "True Grit."

Aguirre-Sacasa, a comic book writer, wrote the graphic novel adaptation of King's "The Stand."

Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly spoke with King on the proposed remake, and he didn't sound overly thrilled.

“The real question is why, when the original was so good?" EW quoted King. "I mean, not 'Casablanca,' or anything, but a really good horror-suspense film, much better than the book. Piper Laurie really got her teeth into the bad-mom thing."

He did add that he could "get behind it" if David Lynch ("Mullholland Dr.," "Twin Peaks," "Dune") or David Cronenberg ("The Dead Zone," "The Fly," "A History of Violence") was involved.

For fear of sounding like a broken record, I'll skip my usual speech about remakes and simply ask why? No, really, I want to know, because I have no idea. Besides, didn't they already try this will the ill-conceived "The Rage: Carrie 2" in 1999?

Filming begins on Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows'

Filming has begun on Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp.

Johnanthan Frid

Warner Bros. issued a press release today about the film, which will be shot entirely in England.

The original series ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971 and featured a wide variety of supernatural storylines, including vampires, witches, time travel and parallel universes. It's most famous character was Barnabas Collins (Johnathan Frid), who will be played by Depp in the Burton's film.

Warner Bros. provided the following plot synopsis for the film:

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

This is not the first "Dark Shadows" remake. NBC hosted a short-lived series in 1991, but it was canceled after only one season. A pilot was filmed for a second revival in 2004 for The WB, but it wasn't picked up.

Between its very successful original run and years of repeats on Syfy and other networks, "Dark Shadows" has a solid following, and the series is now available on DVD. As with most remakes, however, it's unclear how fan will treat a big-budget remake.

Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby to pen 'Tomb Raider' reboot

GK Films announced today the Academy Award-nominated writing team of Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby will write the first feature of its recently announced reboot of the "Tomb Raider" film franchise.

Graham King and Tim Headington will produce. No casting has been announced. GK Films announced in March it had acquired the rights to the property from Square Enix Ltd.

Lara Croft

Fergus and Ostby's credits include Jon Favreau's "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey Jr. Their next film "Cowboys & Aliens," also a collaboration with Favreau and starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, is set to be released on July 29.

"Mark and Hawk's clear sensibilities of action and emotion are perfect for the direction we are taking this franchise," King said.

"We are thrilled to be working with Graham King and his formidable team -- and we aim to write an origin story for Lara Croft that solidifies her place alongside Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor in the pantheon of great female action heroes," Fergus and Hawk stated.

"It is great to have such a high caliber of writing talent on board to realize the film vision of this exciting project," said Phil Rogers president and CEO, Square Enix Europe.

The original "Tomb Raider" game was published in 1996 by the London based video game company Eidos and became one of the most successful video games of the time. Today Eidos (including Crystal Dynamics), is part of an international interactive entertainment group, Square Enix Europe. The games have sold more than 35 million units worldwide.

Paramount Pictures made two movies starring Angelina Jolie based on the daredevil archaeologist in 2001 and 2003. They grossed a total of $432 million at the worldwide box office.

Here we go with another reboot of a recent franchise, although at least seven years have passed in this case. Whether you liked the films or not -- I was somewhere in the middle -- Jolie left a mighty strong impression on the Lara Croft character and in the minds of fans, so it will be doubly hard for the producers to find a replacement.

Cooper interested in "The Crow" lead

When Relativity Media announced last week they had signed director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) to “re-imagine” the 1994 cult hit, “The Crow,” I questioned who would want to step into a role originally portrayed by Brandon Lee, who was killed by an on-set accident during filming.

Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision, Bradley Cooper is in early talks to take over for Lee in the new version.

The report continues that Cooper recently met with Fresnadillo and the two “hit it off.”

Cooper would play Eric Draven, who’s resurrected as The Crow to avenge his wife’s murder so he can reunite with her in the hereafter, as first envisioned by graphic novelist James O’Barr.

“The original 'Crow' was groundbreaking cinema; its gothic visual and musical ideas influenced a generation and cinema itself,” said Producer Edward R. Pressman, who has worked on the entire franchise.

Last week I questioned the need for remaking a “groundbreaking” film, and those questions remain. Still, I have to admit Cooper is an interesting choice for Draven. The actor impressed me considerably for his work in “Limitless,” where he showed ability as both a polished, smooth-talking genius and as a withdrawal-suffering wreck.

The news of Cooper's interest comes only a week after Fresnadillo was named director, so things seems to be moving a pretty fast pace for the remake.

More news as it becomes available.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will direct 'The Crow' reboot

Hollywood keeps remaking and rebooting films so often it would take a blog devoted entirely to the subject to have a chance of staying abreast of it all.

Still, sometimes you just have to take a moment and say...really?

Such is the case of Relativity Media's announcement yesterday that they have signed director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) to “re-imagine” the 1994 cult hit, “The Crow.”

According to Relativity, Fresnadillo will collaboratively develop the script once a writer is attached to adapt the screenplay. Casting has not yet been announced.

The Crow adaptation will be a reboot of the iconic cult character Eric Draven, who’s resurrected as The Crow to avenge his wife’s murder so he can reunite with her in the hereafter, as first envisioned by graphic novelist James O’Barr, the studio said.

“Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is an incredibly talented and imaginative filmmaker,” Relativity Media’s president of worldwide production Tucker Tooley said. “We are thrilled to have him at the helm and are excited to work with both Pressman and Apaches on what we all believe will be a compelling and innovative reimagining of 'The Crow.'”

“The original 'Crow' was groundbreaking cinema; its gothic visual and musical ideas influenced a generation and cinema itself,” said Producer Edward R. Pressman, who has worked on the entire franchise. “With Juan Carlos, we have every confidence that his new 'Crow' will have a similar impact on the contemporary audience.”

Here's a thought. When a film's “visual and musical ideas influenced a generation and cinema itself,” doesn't it deserve to stand on its own and be remade 17 years later? Of course there have been sequels, but fans have had the luxury to simply ignore them, and as far as I can tell, most have.

(This doesn't get into the fact that Brandon Lee was killed on set while filming the original “Crow” by a gun mishap. Good luck to the guy who has to step into those shoes.)

Ignoring the inherit absurdity of remaking “The Crow,” is there really a market for a reboot? The original film made around $50 million at the box office. The first sequel, “City of Angels” (1996) made far less--$17.9 million. The next two--“Salvation” (2000) and “Wicked Prayer” (2005)--didn't even make it to theaters and instead went direct to video. Each of the sequels was met with progressively worse receptions.

The original comic was published in 1989 and no new material has come out since 1999. The only seemingly existing fan-base is those of the first film, who will most likely greet this latest news on the same level as blasphemy.

I guess we've just reached a point where Hollywood thinks a “groundbreaking” film is simply one that needs to be done again.