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Everything old is new again
Reboot. To many self-styled movie aficionados, the word has come to represent everything they perceive to be wrong with Hollywood. They complain that the increasing number of reboots — six already this year, with many, many more on the way — is a sign that movie studios have simply run out of ideas. But, though the word describing them may be relatively new, Hollywood has been rebooting franchises for a very long time. Sherlock Holmes, Superman, Tarzan, James Bond, Batman — the longevity of these characters as cinematic icons has depended upon periodic reinventions to keep them fresh (we're still waiting for Tarzan's). Obviously, some reboots are better than others, which is why we want you to help us rate the Top 10 Best Movie Reboots.
Rate the Top 10 Best Movie Reboots >>
Posted 10.02.12 by BrentJS -
It's official: The Weinstein Company is continuing every franchise they own the rights to. After releasing Scream 4 in April, the studio (via their Dimension Films label) is looking to relaunch its remaining franchises, as ComingSoon reports that Halloween 3-D and Scary Movie 5 have both received release dates.
A few years ago, Dimension had started putting together a third installment on director Rob Zombie's Halloween reboot (there was a sequel — 2009's Halloween II), hiring My Bloody Valentine 3-D director Patrick Lussier. Lussier turned to screenwriter, and frequent collaborator, Todd Farmer to write a script for the proposed 3-D sequel, but Dimension halted production in October of 2009.
Last month, Lussier and Farmer publicly admitted that Halloween 3-D was something they wanted to make, but we were waiting for someone to tell them to "go make it." It's unclear whether Dimension will use Farmer's script or whether Lussier will direct, but with a release date of Oct. 26, 2012, for Halloween 3-D it would be surprising to bring on another writer and director. Lussier and Farmer are currently busy preparing a reinvention of the Hellraiser franchise for the studio, but could conceivably start Halloween 3-D once they have finished.
what about Scary Movie 5? >> Posted 06.20.11 by Ryan -
Michael Myers might live again to escape death.
In 2007, The Weinstein Company successfully rebooted the Halloween franchise with director Rob Zombie's Halloween remake. After raking in $80 million in worldwide box office, Zombie directed Halloween II in 2009. While the sequel only made about half the profit, the studio immediately began developing a third Halloween anyway.
My Bloody Valentine 3-D director Patrick Lussier was hired in September 2009 to helm Halloween 3-D, and he quickly turned to frequent collaborator Todd Farmer to write a script. A year later, however, The Weinstein Company halted production. Lussier had no answer about the delay, admitting to Bloody-Disgusting last October that "we were very excited about the script we wrote." Still, the sequel languished.
In a recent interview with MTV, Lussier admitted that he and Farmer are still interested in making Halloween 3D.
what did Lussier say? >> Posted 05.27.11 by Ryan -
Despite Halloween II's box office returns only taking third place during its opening weekend, the Los Angeles Times reports that Halloween 3D is in development. Considering Halloween II was beaten by another horror movie, The Final Destination, which was shot in 3D, the Weinstein Co.'s decision to make a third Halloween in 3D is no surprise.
Rob Zombie, who wrote and directed both of the Halloween remakes, claims he will "never" return for a third, and Weinstein Co. co-chairman Bob Weinstein says that they're negotiating with an experienced horror director to take over Halloween 3D who will bring a "different take" to the franchise. However, if Zombie hates the unnamed director's "take," Zombie's history shows that he may return anyway.
Posted 08.31.09 by Ryan -
Originally, Rob Zombie was happy to sit out of the sequel to his remake of Halloween, but when directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury dropped out, and Zombie heard what other prospective directors were planning for Halloween II, he finally stepped in.
Zombie explained to MTV why he couldn't stay away from Halloween II.
I just got protective of the series, because I had spent so much time trying to revive the whole thing that it looked like they were just going to go back in and destroy it.
Zombie didn't want the new Halloween movies to end up like the original series where "every one had a different director, a different guy playing Michael Myers, a different story line" and seemed, to Zombie, to be "shooting off in all different directions." Working on Halloween II, Zombie felt more freedom, claiming the sequel had "less baggage" than the 2007 remake. The results have Zombie pleased.
Everybody liked the stuff that was different, new. There was nobody raising their hand going, "Yes, please give me more of the same old crap! I love seeing the same old crap!" Even though studios seem to think that's what everybody wants, nobody wants it.
Zombie may have felt "protective" for Halloween II, but claims he will "never" return for a third Halloween.
Posted 08.27.09 by Ryan -
When Rob Zombie decided to write and direct the sequel to his Halloween remake, he had less than a year to get it into theaters. Luckily, Zombie found the sequel was easier to work on. "The first one had a lot of ... baggage? I guess that's the word? Whereas this one had none," he told DreadCentral. "What's great about following up your own movie is now it's all new. The thought of past Halloweens hasn't even entered any of our minds."
One of the biggest changes Zombie has made was the look of killer Michael Myers, which hasn't been easy for fans of the original to appreciate:
Michael Myers is funny, because that's the character that nobody wants to see change. They always want him to be and look the same. For me one of the main things that interests me about making Halloween is making that character change. When approaching this film I was like, well, where did Michael go? Did he disappear into the shadows like a ghost and then suddenly reappear? What I thought would be cool and kind of scary would be if he were like right out there in plain sight and no one notices him anymore because he just looks like a homeless bum. When you see pictures of him it looks odd, but within the context of the film it makes perfect sense. It's interesting because that happens sometimes. I mean you see these homeless people, and you're like — who are they? They could be f**kin' serial killers for all you know. Maniacs. But you don't pay any attention to them. Michael is just living on the fringe of society.
Zombie has already stated that he will not do a third Halloween and the latest TV spot claims that Halloween II completes Zombie's "terrifying vision." Still, that doesn't mean that Myers won't be back:
[Halloween II] is a much darker, dirtier, nastier, and more psychotic world. After this there's nothing more we can do. That doesn't mean that there won't be more, there just won't be more involving me.
See the new, homeless look of Michael Myers in the trailer below:
Posted 08.04.09 by Ryan -
Rob Zombie dropped by MTV and was asked whether he would like to make another Halloween. Zombie kept his answer brief:
No. I could not see that in any shape, way or form. Never. If I told you [why], you wouldn't believe me.
Zombie did confirm an appearance by "Weird" Al Yankovic in the movie, though in what capacity Zombie would not say. "'Weird' Al was awesome," said Zombie. "I would get 'Weird" Al back before I would do Halloween 3."
Posted 07.28.09 by Ryan -
With almost every horror movie franchise being remade recently — Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre to name a few — Nightmare on Elm Street wasn't far behind. Robert Englund has been the only actor to appear in the series as Freddy, the dream-wandering psycho killer until Jackie Earle Haley was cast for the remake. In an interview with FearNet, however, Englund seems perfectly content to not be involved with the new Elm Street and sounds pretty excited about what director Samuel Bayer has in mind:
I really am looking forward to how they exploit the dreamscape with CGI and all of the new technologies that they have at their fingertips. That is something I think that is appropriate and that's what I'm looking forward to. My feeling is that [producer] Michael Bay — this guy has more money than God — would not put his name on this if he didn't have some real love for the franchise. He wants to reboot it and reimagine it, and I hope he wants to reimagine it and make it different.
Englund seems pleased with Haley wearing the knife glove this time around and is very taken with Haley's interpretation of the character;
I love Jackie's character. Jackie is not big, and I think that Jackie'ssize is gonna really work for him as Freddy Krueger. Because I've always in my mindset imagined… One of the metaphors or one of the images I've used for Freddy is a little rabid dog that just bites your ankle and holds on. A little yelping dog. And I think Jackie brings that, with his own physicality, to the role, without ever having to work it a little bit. He doesn't really have to work that. He brings that naturally with who he is, which I think is really part of the way I see it.
Englund hope Haley will be allowed to make changes as well:
I'd even like to see Jackie dressed a little differently. Jackie's a wonderful young actor. Let him make it his own. I always used to think of alternates to what I wore in that and I would say, after wearing that sweater for eight movies and a television series, "Maybe he would wear overalls, because he's a janitor." Maybe the hat could be different; maybe it could be a baseball hat or an old frayed baseball hat or something. Maybe the sweater is a vest or maybe it's an old thermal undershirt, those colors or something like that. I mean you've got to keep some of the mythology there. Obviously he's got to be burned and everything. But I sort of hope they avoid my silhouette, and I hope they alter the glove a little bit, rough it up a little bit or make it more [David] Cronenberg or something. I don't know. I just want them to liberate themselves.
Remakes can often not live up to the original, and Englund is sensitive to that fact, but doesn't want that held against the Elm Street remake:
The remakes are tricky. But it's something Hollywood's been doing since the 1920s. I mean they've remade A Star is Born six times. I'm in one of them for God's sake!
Posted 06.30.09 by Ryan -
Rounding out the end of the summer will be Rob Zombie's follow-up to his Halloween remake, Halloween II or H2 depending on what trailer or poster you've seen. While some of the previous trailers have focused on the psychology of Michael Myers, the new trailer Dimension has released wants to satisfy the true horror fans. Watch it below:
Posted 06.22.09 by Ryan -
Two of the TV spots for H2, Rob Zombie's sequel to his remake of Halloween, reveal a new look Zombie has given to the famously masked Michael Myers: his own face. Watch them below:
Details begin to change in the longer, sixty-second TV spot, such as the title becoming Halloween II instead of H2. The spot also claims that the "the secret behind the madness" of Myers "will finally be revealed," even after Zombie's Halloween spent a good hour showing Myers' upbringing and evolution into a psychotic killer. H2, or Halloween II or whatever it ends up being called, shows that the real cause for Michael's descent into madness is a Mommy complex:
Posted 06.16.09 by Ryan