Wed
Jun 3 2009 1:15pm
Where’s Waldo?: A Movie News Roundup (Rebooted)

So, now that the weekend is over and everyone has finally stopped crying over Up (come on, you know you did), it’s time to take a look at some movie news that should start the waterworks all over again. Is there a movie or TV show from your childhood that you cherish? A franchise that you think has come to a well-deserved close? A film that you thought had done something well enough to not need a remake? Well, aren’t you silly. Where’s Waldo, Alien, Barbarella, and Clash of the Titans are all on the chopping block. Plus, the G.I. Joe TV spot you didn’t know you hadn’t seen, and Bryan Singer whines. (Some more.)

* The picture above is not a mistake: they’re making a Where’s Waldo movie. Universal Pictures is quick to note that it will be family-friendly, in case you were hoping for some hardcore Waldo action. (If you were, please don’t tell me.) This is possibly the worst movie idea since Ridley Scott decided to make a movie about Monopoly. It is, sadly, not the worst idea in this column.

* Speaking of Ridley Scott ruining everything, he is currently in the process of rebooting Alien. He will produce but not direct, in a transparent attempt to avoid the fannish Shame Squads who will trail his every move from this day onward, peering at him through a haze of his own atmospheric smoke effects, their baleful stares silently condemning what he has done to one of the few good movies he’s ever made.

* By those standards, this is good news: the Barbarella remake, which died on the operating table with director Robert Rodriguez, is being picked up by Robert Luketic. He directed Legally Blonde. A source close to the project says it will be a space adventure “with a sexy twist.” Really? In a Barbarella movie? Look at you rockin’ the boat, Luketic!

* And we’re not done with the recycling. Kurt Wimmer is writing a reboot of Total Recall. Wimmer previously wrote the screenplay for the hypnotically uneven Equilibrium. One can only hope that he brings the same sort of narrative mastery to Total Recall that he did in Equilibrium, when you meet the omnipotent bad guy in the last three minutes of the movie and he is immediately dispatched. (This reboot is going to be amazing, isn’t it?)

* Perhaps jealous of Ryan Reynolds and his intimate involvement with the Deadpool movie, Bryan Singer goes on the record as saying he’s sad not to be a part of the X-Men franchise any more. Not that he’d even want to direct another X-Men movie; he’s just saying he misses it, and he’d like to, but he doesn’t need to, so everything is fine; don’t you worry about him, you kids just go out and have a good time, he’ll find some ramen or something in the cupboard, it’s no big deal.

* Clash of the Titans doesn’t necessarily need a remake; however, of all the movies here, it’s the one that might actually benefit from a reboot, since there was plenty of room for improvement in the original. (PuhLENTY.) And even if it’s not better, it at least gives us an idea of the iconic British actors of our day who are still willing to wear togas: Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, I am looking at you.

* You know, I was going to make fun of this G.I. Joe TV spot, but after all that other reboot blasphemy, this trailer seems like a work of staggering genius. At least you get a shot of Christopher Eccleston in a vest, which is already better cinematic quality than I could have supposed from this thing.

(Waldo is in the very bottom left corner, next to the Hair Dryer Alien.)

11 comments
Pablo Defendini
1. pablodefendini
Bryan Singer is sad to not be involved in the X-franchise anymore?

Aw. Cry me a fucking river.

It will be a long, long time before I forgive him for bailing on X3 in favour of Superman Reborn, and leaving the children of the atom in the oh-so-explodey hands of Brett "I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch" Ratner.

Grrrr. Nerdrage.
Dave Thompson
2. DKT
Ridley Scott is rebooting Alien? Of all the people who might want to do that (most of whom I could at least sympathize with in attempting to touch greatness), doesn't he have something different he'd want to try? Or why not just make Alien5 and lay down the punctuation for the franchise.
Dave Thompson
3. DKT
@1 pablodefendi:

I could be wrong, but I thought it was Fox who dragged their heels on rehiring Singer? Either way, it makes me want to crawl into bed with X2 on my laptop and remember the greatness that once was the X-Men franchise and what could've been.
Richard Fife
4. R.Fife
Is it sad that I found Waldo in like 3 seconds? I spent way too much time with those books when I was younger.

Anywho, thanks for the warning Genevieve. And yes, I actually got a little choked up at the beginning of Up and over the Absent Father stuff. Gimme a break! *runs off to find a quart of Haagan Daas*
Torie Atkinson
5. Torie
Wow, there really are no ideas left in Hollywood.

Total Recall is in that weird category of movies that are way too fresh in my cultural memory to warrant a remake at this point. I can see a good one down the line in maybe ten years, but now? I don't see any way it could be improved upon with where we're at now.

Barbarella is exactly what it is. You can't "translate" it.

And Clash of the Titans? I LOVE THAT MOVIE. I know I have no right to, but I utterly love it and I just know that any reboot will be "serious" and terrible.
Pablo Defendini
6. pablodefendini
@DKT #3

I hadn't heard that, but it sure makes sense—Fox, screwing up a SF property? Naw, never happen. Still. I think of the ending of X2, and the movie that could have been (I mean, they practically came out and said: "Next: The Dark Phoenix Saga!"), and I get very very sad.
Dayle McClintock
7. trinityvixen
@DKT #3, @pablo #6:

Yeah, Fox is to blame for Singer bailing. They balked at the budgetary stuff on X3, and Warner Brothers threw money at him to make Superman Returns, so he left. Further proof that the spite was on Fox's side? They killed off Cyclops because James Marsden went to work on Superman Returns. Apparently, there was no conflict of shooting time (or wasn't until Fox freaked the fuck out and pushed X3 forward as fast as possible), they just were resentful that he followed after a persona-non-grata.

Count me in as one who was totally destroyed by the what-could-have-been with X2. Singer wasn't perfect, but they could have done so much more with what he set up...
Jordan Hamessley
8. Jordache
Speaking of unnecessary reboots...

It appears that Kevin Williamson wants to reboot the Scream franchise.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/06/scream-to-be-rebooted-as-a-trilogy-courteney-cox-and-david-arquette-in-discussions-to-return-.html
Dave Thompson
9. DKT
The Scream thing sounds more like a continuation and less like a reboot...unless I'm missing something in there. Maybe the "new trilogy" will be following the children of Cox's and Arquette's characters?
David Spiller
10. scifidavid
A like these Tor movie news round-ups. They keep me from needing to troll all over the net looking for movies news and they have what I would consider the appropriate degree of cynicism about the goings on in Hollywood.

As for Mr. Singer, his defection from the X-series to Superman resulted in the screwing up of both movie franchises. Whatever happened to Mr. Singer's "Wrath of Khan style" follow-up to Superman Returns? And wasn't he also threatening to remake Logan's Run?

Sort of off-topic, with BSG over and Lost gone until 2010. Is there anything on the small screen of any real quality for SF&F fans. I'm looking forward to the return of Doctor Who and Torchwood and I'm hopeful about Flash Forward, SGU and Warehouse 13.
Snowkestrel
11. Snowkestrel
@1 pablodefendi:

RE: "I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch"

Having seen the clip on Youtube prior to seeing X3, and having laughed my proverbial tail off, I thought that line was the one thing that Ratner got right in X3.

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