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The Wolverines have successfully fought back against the oppressive studio debt that has kept them on the shelf for years and will finally reach theaters, The LA Times reports. Next year, anyway.
Originally shot in 2009, the Red Dawn remake was scheduled to open in November of last year, but with studio MGM collapsing financially, the movie was delayed indefinitely. While other studios could have snatched up the remake — which stars now-established actors Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Adrienne Palicki (the upcoming G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation), and Josh Hutcherson (the upcoming The Hunger Games) — but the chosen enemy in the remake scared off potential studios.
more on the Red Dawn remake >> Posted 09.28.11 by Ryan -
MGM's recent financial crisis left a few of its upcoming slate in the dark, particularly the Red Dawn remake. Shot in 2009, the remake was scheduled to open on November 26 of last year, but, until MGM managed to climb out of debt, the release date was erased in exchange for a date to be determined.
MGM emerged from bankruptcy in December, and immediately set to work on more lucrative projects like James Bond 23 (working title) and Peter Jackson's two-part adaptation of The Hobbit. Once the studio began looking at distributing Red Dawn, however, it became apparent that the villain of the movie would have to be changed entirely.
who's invading now? >> Posted 03.16.11 by Ryan -
Toy Story 3 has been blowing up the box office here in the U.S. ($244M), Mexico ($34M), and most of the rest of the world, but the Russians are somehow resistant to the charm of Ken and Barbie, spending a mere $5M on the pic in its first 10 days of release. By contrast, Shrek Forever After earned $38M over the same period in May.
So why a green Ogre and not Buzz Lightyear? Analysts point to a couple of factors. First, a recent heat wave forced many families to flee the oppressive city temps for the cooler, theater-free countryside. And second, the population is simply unfamiliar with the story and characters because the first Toy Story movie was released in 1995, when many Russians still huddled around small black-and-white televisions for their family entertainment.
Posted 07.02.10 by reelz -
Josh Hutcherson spoke to MTV about his latest acting gig, the remake of 1984's Red Dawn. Hutcherson claims they "blew up all of downtown Detroit last week."
We shot a scene where where we blew the face off this giant building. It was a giant, probably 200-foot high mushroom cloud of flames engulfing downtown Detroit! That was really cool.
The original Red Dawn was also violent, despite having a young cast including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and Lea Thompson. Hutcherson plays a character "based on C. Thomas Howell's character, Robert" that is "sort of a tech guy" that, by the end of the movie, becomes "a total warrior, drinking blood from the animals and going crazy." Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, and Isabel Lucas round out the cast.
The experience is clearly one that Hutcherson is enjoying.
Everybody's loving it and loving the new story line. We've changed up quite a bit of stuff. The Chinese are invading now, instead of the Russians. But the heart of the movie is there, and that's what's really important.
Red Dawn is currently scheduled for a November 24, 2010, release. Stunt coordinator Dan Bradley is making his directorial debut from a script by Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia).
Posted 11.05.09 by Ryan -
Ever since Jeffrey Dean Morgan appeared in Watchmen, he hasn't stopped working. Dean Morgan has already finished the period drama Shanghai, is currently shooting The Losers (another comic book adaptation), and, he tells ComingSoon, will start work on yet another movie once The Losers wraps:
I'm jumping back in. I go to work on something about ten days after I've finished shooting [The Losers] ... It's a remake of a movie that I love ... Red Dawn I just love that f**king movie, ever since I was a kid.
Dean Morgan will trade the warm climates of The Losers' Puerto Rican location for Red Dawn's Detroit, where he will join Chris Hemsworth (the newly minted Thor), Josh Peck, Adrienne Palicki, and Josh Hutcherson to play a member of a militant group that fights off a communist invasion.
I guess I'm more or less the old Powers Booth character. There's all the kids and Powers Booth is the pilot that lands in the film and kind of helps them take down the bad guys. Blow communism away. It's a really good, young cast. I'll be the old guy in it, which is cool.
Red Dawn is scheduled for release September 2010, at which point Dean Morgan hopes to be working on a third comic book movie, Lobo, an adaptation focused on DC Comics' violent anti-hero being directed by Guy Ritchie. Dean Morgan has an in for the role, considering Joel Silver is producing both The Losers and Lobo, but he told SuperheroHype that he may have to do some special training in order to be cast:
Lobo would be very cool. I don't think that I'm as big as Lobo is, but if you could, like, transplant Mickey Rourke's body on my head, that would be just great.
Dean Morgan says his involvement in comic book movies is no accident:
You're always looking for material that's kind of smart and fun and this seems to be where it is right now. The studios are really gravitating towards it, more than I've ever seen them gravitate towards anything in a long time. Comic books are really the thing right now and I don't see that going away for at least the next couple of years.
Posted 09.15.09 by Ryan -
When Marvel cast Chris Hemsworth as Thor, a collective "Who?" echoed around the Internet. When it was explained that Hemsworth played Kirk's father in Star Trek, the question changed to: "Him?" Marvel Entertainment President Kevin Feige is not among the cries of panic. Feige thinks the Australian actor has something pretty special:
As new actors make their way into feature films, it is a rare thing to find someone who is not only immensely watchable and engaging, but can also represent a timeless and key character from the Marvel universe in such a compelling way. We have been watching Chris hone his craft over the last several months and due to his persistence and talent he rose above everyone else embodying the actor we were looking for.
Star Trek screenwriter Alex Kurtzman was so impressed, he thinks Hemsworth could carry his own Star Trek:
So many people seemed to marvel at the fact that they cried in the first 10 minutes of Trek, and that's directly a result of the amazing work Chris did. As long as he plays the part, there could be an entire Star Trek movie devoted to the heroic adventures of George Kirk.
Hemsworth will soon be seen everywhere. Up next is the thriller A Perfect Getaway, opening August 14, followed by Joss Whedon's horror flick The Cabin in the Woods opening February 5. Before Thor, Hemsworth will also shoot the remake of Red Dawn, opening September 2010.
Posted 06.22.09 by Ryan -
Let it burn in good, movie lovers: Red Dawn, John Milius' bloody, jingoistic -- and utterly awesome -- 1984 tale of teen commandos fending off a Soviet invasion, could be getting the remake treatment in the near future. According to The Hollywood Reporter, studio execs at MGM have confirmed that an update of the brat pack classic is on the table. No other details are available at this point, and it's not even clear if a script is in the works.
Would-be writers of a Red Dawn remake would be hard-pressed to find a villain on par with the evil empire of the old U.S.S.R., though China does indeed look promising. And what actor working today could possibly fill the immense shoes of the venerable C. Thomas Howell? That's no easy feat. Why do you think they haven't remade Soul Man or Side Out?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Posted 05.19.08 by reelz -
Today's an especially great day to be an American, as John Milius's masterpiece of '80s jingoism, Red Dawn, finally gets the Collector's Edition DVD treatment. Who better to stave off a massive Soviet invasion than Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen and C. Thomas Howell? Not to mention a pre-nosejob Jennifer Grey. The Reds never had a chance.
When it opened in 1984, Red Dawn held the dual distinctions of being the first PG-13 movie ever released and setting the Guinness World Record for the highest number of violent acts ever depicted in a film. Let's see the Commies top that.
Also out today on DVD: Sandra Bullock's supernatural thriller Premonition, Sienna Miller's Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl, and the mutant redneck gorefest The Hills Have Eyes 2.
Posted 07.17.07 by reelz