-
trailers
John Travolta Refocuses Violent-Trailer Attention On NYC
Trailer day continues at Defamer with a glimpse at John Travolta's latest firearm-toting, urban-obliterator role in the upcoming remake of The Taking of Pelham 123. More » -
trade roundup
Nirvana on Elm Street
· Samuel Bayer, director of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, will reboot Nightmare on Elm Street. Odd choice? Not when you consider the iconic things he's done with striped tops and jumping girls. More » -
the end of ideas
Remodeled 'Melrose Place' Prepares To Move In New Cast
Oh hey, it looks like The CW is really, actually going to go ahead with this Melrose Place remake to accompany the 90210 we forgot we had once cared about. So who's going to star? More » -
the end of ideas
Five Reasons This Planned 'Slap Shot' Remake Makes Us Cringe
Every now and then we see or hear about a remake concept we can live with, even endorse. An updating of the 1977 hockey classic Slap Shot is not one of those ideas. Here's why: More » -
the end of ideas
Fox, Ridley Scott Apparently Reviving 'A-Team' For Real This Time
A year after Fox inflated and mercilessly dashed a few hundred Americans' hopes of a big-screen A-Team adaptation, behold the promise of a new start — with surprisingly, almost bafflingly influential connections. More » -
the end of ideas
Hilary Duff Spearheads Much-Needed 'Bonnie and Clyde' For Tweens
It's been a while since we spotted the column of smoke heralding the End of Ideas train's arrival at Pop Culture Junction. But apparently Hilary Duff needed a ride, so cover your mouths. More » -
trailers
Rape-Revenge Classic Updated With Terrifying Score By Starbucks
There's ultimately no point in dreading the remake of Wes Craven's vicious, still-shocking 1972 thriller Last House on the Left, even despite a new trailer bringing to mind torture porn by way of Restoration Hardware. More » -
tron
Disney Casts Lead in Insanely Overbudgeted 'Tron' Sequel
After flirting with actors like Ryan Gosling and Chris Pine, Disney has cast Four Brothers star Garrett Hedlund as the lead in Tron, the sequel to...Tron. More » -
-
the end of ideas
Pick Your Reality Poison: Ghost-Chasing Cops, or Marry Megan Hauserman
Usually our distress over new TV and movie concepts is fueled by the brutal recycling of ideas. Today, though? We'd take Godfather 4 over what's coming down the reality-TV pipe. More » -
the end of ideas
Broke George Lucas Sells Off 'Star Wars' Stage Musical
On the same day a Vanity Fair writer delivered the definitive history of the worst Star Wars spinoff ever, another report suggests that infamous show may soon have competition. -
the end of ideas
'Karate Kid' Remake To Make Do Without Karate, Miyagi or Valley
Call us 80's purists if you must (it's a fair charge — after all, these Betamax tapes of Space Camp aren't gonna watch themselves), but when remaking The Karate Kid, some things are essential. -
the end of ideas
Success of 'Twilight' Spares World From Remake of 'Near Dark'
The 1987 vampire classic Near Dark has been on the industry's equivalent of death row for a while, with Michael Bay producing a remake for Rogue Pictures. But Twilight just issued a stay of execution. -
Jurassic Park 4
'Jurassic Park 4' Shelved For Need of Not-Dead Writer
Nobody should have to die to stop a bad idea from becoming a reality in Hollywood. Nevertheless, it happens, as producer Frank Marshall alluded Sunday during the junket for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, where a long-gestating sequel-of-a-sequel-of-a-sequel rumor was extinguished for good. -
Pop Culture Doomsday
Good Morning. Your World Is Ending.
As many times as we heard it from that filthy, bearded man standing outside the Farmers Market with a big sign (Alan Rosenberg—is that you?), we never really believed the Pop Culture Apocalypse would soon be upon us. Well—we guess we were wrong! Try not to panic as its four horsemen—Nicolas Cage with a suspiciously luscious head of wizard-hair, Jay Baruchel conducting a broom army, Russell Brand getting his naughty bits scrubbed by an Oscar-winning manservant, and Rowdy Dwayne Johnson—ride in after the breaking of the seventh remake, followed thereafter by the arrival of the beastly Endtime Ruler (Kathleen Turner). Your coverage awaits! -
reality tv
Counterintuitive Horror Film Wants You to Root For Survival of Reality-Star Cast
We're not sure if this amounts to its own chapter in the End of Ideas canon or is actually a visionary effort deserving a new appellation altogether, but one thing appears to be certain: The Z-list thriller-in-the-making Reality Horror Night will not be for the faint of heart. -
eddie murphy
Egregious Lack Of Banana-Stuffed Tailpipes Hurts Leaked 'Beverly Hills Cop 4' Draft
We're not sure which of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief we've hit in our consideration of Beverly Hills Cop 4. Denial and anger seem ages ago, as does bargaining. And a script review appearing online today has us skipping depression altogether for what we suppose is something akin to acceptance — if you call "believing there is actually a studio cynical enough to greenlight this with Brett Ratner behind the camera" acceptance, or if that just throws us back to the beginning again. Help us sort it out, will you? -
The Greatest American Hero
Holding Out For a Hero? Here's one for the End of Ideas Hall of Fame: The '80s TV comedy The Greatest American Hero is being talked up for a feature-length film revival. Writer-producer Stephen Cannell and star William Katt tell the LAT it's just a matter of time before their series about a schoolteacher-turned-bumbling crimefighter returns for a new generation. "We have a script," Cannell warned. "We have a director. I'm in the middle of making the deal now for distribution. We have a bite now. It will happen. [...] I want all the 7-year-olds to be able to go and their parents will remember the show and want to share it with them." It it OK if we just point them to the DVD set and call it good? Please? [LAT] -
will smith
Steven Spielberg, Will Smith Make Historic Pact to Dilute Bloody Korean Masterpiece
We think we might have found Bad Lieutenant's successor for Unholiest Hollywood Remake: Steven Spielberg and Will Smith may partner to adapt the ultraviolent Korean revenge flick Oldboy for American audiences. DreamWorks will produce, Universal will distribute and Smith will reportedly star as a man seeking payback after 15 years of kidnapped captivity. And we will reserve judgment, though we have at least three good reasons not to. More » -
three stooges
'Three Stooges' Revival Promises New Slapfights For N'yuk-Starved America
The Farrelly Brothers' long-delayed dream of a Three Stooges revival may yet come true at MGM, which announced Monday it had green-lit the project for a 2009 release. It's a stunning milestone correcting the project's inertia at Warner Brothers, where execs were said to have balked at the introduction of the brothers' trademark scrotum-zippering sight gags to the more conventional eye-gouging hallmarks of Larry, Moe and Curly's '30s-era shorts. But that was then, and this — despite the lingering questions of cast (Crowe as Moe?), storyline and whether or not MGM remembers how to produce films — is now. More » -
zac efron
Zac Efron To Perform Barnstorming Dance Of Anger In 'Footloose' Remake
With its star's $42 million worth of opening-weekend muscle and the all-important Kevin Bacon blessing behind it, Zac Efron and his Footloose remake are leaping to the front of the development queue at Paramount. The updating of the studio's 1984 high-school dance melodrama, which has been idle at the studio for years without that singular, Bacon-esque talent to guide it to market, now has a rewrite on the way, new songs in the works and one heartthrob to rule them all — for a price, notes Variety. More » -
once
Oscar-Winner 'Once' Ready For Broadway Recycling
Once, by far the cheapest (and cheapest-looking) movie to ever win an Oscar, is getting over one more time on the muscle of its soundtrack. A trio of producers today announced they have optioned last year's indie hit for the stage, plotting to bring the tale of an Irish busker and his broken-vacuum toting Eastern European ladylove who absolutely refuse to stop singing under any circumstances to the Broadway berth where they belong. But will the original duo be invited back, whether you want them or not? More » -
mel gibson
Mel Gibson, Richard Donner Pool Resources to Euthanize 'Lethal Weapon'
In these rapey-sequel times, it takes a real man to stand up against the bloated revivals of franchise whose glories are long past. And while we'll assume that there is more to the implosion of Lethal Weapon 5 than just one jilted director's story, we'll take Richard Donner's perspective for now as some of the most reassuring news we've heard since doctors disclosed that Indiana Jones would recover from his violent auteurist tag-teaming last week. Saving it from Joel Silver's own heat-seeker makes it all the better. More » -
indiana jones
Harrison Ford All But Confirms 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of the $100 Million Payday'
It would be too easy to say that Harrison Ford hit the Crystal Head Vodka a little hard before today's interview at the LA Times; how else to explain his eagerness to jump aboard Indiana Jones 5 so soon after the franchise's fourth installment? He's 66! George Lucas can't settle on a script! And Shia still has months of recovery ahead for his pinkie and balls. All signs but the dollar say "stop," but that's all the actor apparently needed to wax fantastic about the potential pouring forth everywhere from the box office to cereal aisles: More » -
blade runner 2
Lost in Time, Like Tears in Rain: Yesterday, we brought you the news that the writing duo behind Eagle Eye had set their sights on Blade Runner 2 — and now, one half of that team is washing his hands of the project. Said screenwriter John Glenn to Slashfilm: "Travis [Wright] and I actually broke off as writing partners years ago - after the first draft of Eagle Eye. Due to previous commitments, I couldn’t make the screening/Q&A last week — so to be honest, I have no idea what Travis was talking about or why he brought up a project we were tooling with years ago, when we still wrote together...It never got too far off the ground because the movie is so perfect, so the more we thought about it, the more uneasy we became with the idea...My apologies to you and your readers for the confusion Travis created." [Slashfilm] -
blade runner 2
'Eagle Eye' Team Hopes to Replicate Its Success With Wholly Unnecessary 'Blade Runner 2'
Sometimes the Ridley Scott sci-fi classic Blade Runner can seem like a film franchise all by itself, what with the numerous international cuts, "no, for real this time" director's cuts, and "no, for really real" final cuts the film has spawned. One thing Blade Runner has never had, though, is a sequel — and that's something the writing duo behind the Shia LeBeouf starrer Eagle Eye is working to change. Cowriters Travis Wright and John Glenn have already scripted studio updates to The Warriors and Clash of the Titans, and at a Creative Screenwriting event recently, Wright said Blade Runner is the next property on their hit list: More » -
johnny depp
First Look! Disney Mule Johnny Depp Reviving Tonto For New, 'Lone Ranger'-Starved Generation
With infidel Mickey Mouse still in hiding after last week's death-sentence fatwa, Disney appears to be rolling the dice on a bold rebranding of sorts. Behold — Disney Depp (née Johnny), whose anchoring of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise yielded yesterday's news of not only Pirates 4, but also the star's attachment as Tim Burton's Mad Hatter in a live-action Alice in Wonderland and as Tonto in a revival of The Lone Ranger. The announcement was made Wednesday in Disney's marathon State of the Mouse Biennial, putting its jittery investors at ease, its fans in an uproar and the press into some kind of overwhelmed coma. Johhny Depp? As Tonto? In Josh Groban's incredulous words, "Really?!" More » -
chris farley
Snow White, Esquire Vs. 'Beverly Hills Ninja 2': Vote Now For the Least-Essential Project of 2009
The trades are alight with hellfire today as the End of Ideas train has derailed once again, exploding and settling a fine, acrid dust on the surfaces of morning lattes all over town. And as you sip yours, know that you're not hallucinating, despite what you've read: Sony really does plan a sequel to the late Chris Farley's non-essential Beverly Hills Ninja, summoning a script from the original film's screenwriter and conceiving it as the first mainstream American film to be shot entirely in South Korea. We're sure the nation is thrilled — more excited, anyhow, than it would be if it faced the prospect of a contemporary Snow White revision tentatively titled Georgia and the Seven Associates. Right. As in "lawyers": More » -
the thirteenth room
Lawsuits Waiting to Happen, Vol. MCXVIII: Now that it's been rid of Bob Shaye and his 500-thread-count sheets, New Line's bed these days seems a friendlier habitat for Mike De Luca. The studio's ex-production boss reportedly plans to exercise its genre mandate with The Thirteenth Room, a novel adaptation whose rights NL acquired Monday and which De Luca is looking to produce. Stop us if you've heard the logline before, though: "[The book] follows a man accused of brutally murdering his wife who is given a chance to save her by going back in time, in one-hour increments. He puts together clues to figure out not only who killed her but why." De Luca thinks the whole thing's pretty crafty. "It has a great cinematic structure that unfolds in reverse," he told Variety. Meanwhile, we're waiting for word on whether Christopher Nolan's lawyers plan to follow the hot new Watchmen/Disturbia model of suing De Luca after he's shot his unofficial Memento revision. It's not a trend we're fond of, but neither are remakes. Call it even. [Variety] -
dane cook
Dane Cook Isn't Afraid to Steal Another Guy's Girl - Or His Movie's Plot
We've been telling you about The End of Ideas for a while now, but generally in the context where otherwise upstanding individuals knowingly attach their names to remakes, rehashes, reimaginings and revisions whose very existence could threaten even a VMA attendee's faith in a benevolent God. (His close neighbors are starting to have their doubts, anyway.) But to think that a Dane Cook movie that even he has found reason to second-guess could in fact be a poorly rendered rip-off of a straight-to-video David Boreanaz exercise from a decade ago? Really, now — that's just unholy. Judge for yourself after the jump as we bring you the special-needs trailer for Cook's forthcoming My Best Friend's Girl and its 2006 counterpart for the forgotten rom-com Mr. Fix It. As an added bonus, find a dormant IMDB comment thread parsing the films' respective plots: "What a rip-off! I predict this movie will never be released..." Alas. More » -
guillermo del toro
Guillermo del Toro to Pump Out Stale Remakes For Universal Until 2017
Whatever your impressions of would-be bank robber and generally overrated fantasy maven Guillermo del Toro, his new long-term pact with Universal can't be the kind of thing that rouses too much confidence in his growth and versatility — even among fans. After his five-year commitment to The Hobbit, the filmmaker will reportedly return back to his Hellboy backers for four films in as many years. And if/when we ever write our book on the End of Ideas epidemic sweeping Hollywood, his unique stretch from this year's sequel Hellboy II to one of three remake possibilities in 2017 may be worth an entire chapter's worth of consideration: More » -
poltergeist
Poltergeist Enemy No. 1: After a forcefully (and surprisingly) angry appeal to God himself, late child star Heather O'Rourke is perched on the edge of her cloud bank today with an eye on Vadim Perelman, the director of self-serious melodrama including House of Sand and Fog, The Life Before Her Eyes who'll next helm MGM's planned remake of the 1982 horror/sci-fi classic Poltergeist. Production EVP Cale Boyter hours ago confirmed rumors that had been circulating since the weekend, issuing a statement saying: "We are excited to have Vadim direct Poltergeist, a title which already has a built-in movie-going audience. With his established track record, we look forward to having him lead the creative direction on this new character-based horror project that will utilize the original film as a jumping-off point." We, too, have contemplated higher, more fatal jumping-off points of our own at the thought of a remake. Still, our faith in young O'Rourke — who immortalized the original with her catchphrase "They're heeeere" before tragically passing away in 1988 — should, must win out in the end. Watch your ass, Perelman. [MGM] -
natalie portman
Natalie Portman Turns Scream Queen: An 'End of Ideas' Roundup
Another day, another windfall of remakes, updates and adaptations requiring attention on our End of Ideas scorecard. It could be worse, we suppose, than Natalie Portman allegedly signing on for a graphic horror re-do, or yet another movie-to-TV serialization that could possibly make Dennis Hopper's own new show a folly in comparison. Even staffers at the LA Times are getting in on the recycling act today. It's never been hotter! More » -
mike myers
The Death of 'Austin Powers' (And Six More Hobbled Franchises Worth Putting Down)
After the unfortunate reception for The Love Guru, it's just too easy to write off New Line's prospective Austin Powers revival (which Mike Myers is reportedly working on for New Line with former series collaborator Mike McCullers) as yet another ill-advised folly belching the black smoke of Myers's career. In fact, taken as merely a part of the larger phenomenon we at Defamer like to call The End of Ideas, the Powers franchise is but a speck of the shit on Hollywood's collective bathroom wall — a tableau diligently studied today by the haz-mat crew at Entertainment Weekly. More » -
george lucas
George Lucas Promises 'Indiana Jones 5' With More Unified, Progressive Spirit of Audience- Loathing
Look, just because we want to see the guy locked up for crimes against our (and most others') childhoods doesn't mean we despise George Lucas. We're getting there, of course, but there's no denying that beneath that wavy tuft of white hair and sprawling wattle is a thoughtful, brilliant, self-made billionaire whose accomplishments as a single father aren't far behind those of the Star Wars franchise he clearly so yearns to destroy. More » -
john waters
Will John Waters and 'Hairspray 2' Break Musicals' Sequel Curse?
In the tradition of classic musical sequels like Goodbye, Dolly and Seven Divorces for Seven Brothers, the creative team behind Hairspray is set to return for a follow-up slated for 2010. New Line has reportedly brought aboard John Waters — whose original 1988 hit was adapted to a Broadway tuner that grossed $200 million when re-adapted for the screen last year — to scribble a new treatment "[picking] up the Baltimore saga of the Turnblad family after the resolution of the first film, which was set in 1962." More » -
The rocky horror picture show
Miley Cyrus ('Slut!') And Seven Other Casting Ideas For MTV's 'Rocky Horror' Remake
As we briefly touched upon a post or so ago, MTV has announced they'll be producing a remake of midnight movie classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which struck us as a slightly less onerous addition to our ever-growing End of Ideas library. (Perhaps it was the delightful image of a whole new generation of Rocky disciples chanting, "Lips! Lips! Lips!" in anticipation of Audrina Patridge's ladyparts' soulful rendition of "Science Fiction, Double Feature" that did it.) Variety has the details: More » -
sacha baron cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen To Explore His Serious Side In Searing Immigration-Law Drama, 'Accidentes'
Always on the lookout for the next bushy-stashed, swarthily complected foreigner to add to his comedic repertoire, Sacha Baron Cohen has attached himself to a comedy pitch snapped up by Fox Atomic. From Bruno co-writer Peter Baynham, the movie is based on those ubiquitous billboards and DASH ads you've likely idled behind in traffic countless times before. Yes, Accidentes, the adventures of "el mejor abogado," is coming to a cinema near you: More » -
valley girl
'10,' 'Valley Girl' Lead Charge as Terrifying Remake Fever Grips Hollywood
Because the week wasn't ruined enough with RoboCop news and word of Gene Simmons judging ad jingles, the End of Ideas caravan rolls on today with not one, not two but three whole fucking remake concepts for us to dread — none more irritating than Hyde Park's reimagining of Blake Edwards's classic 10. It's not that the Dudley Moore/Bo Derek comedy is untouchable, but at least Edwards doesn't have hold it down while the new producers rape it: More » -
defamer
Darren Aronofsky Front-Runner to Direct 'RoboCop' Sequel/Remake Nobody Wants
Call us skeptics, cynics, whatever, but we're far more interested in the rumors circling MGM's RoboCop reboot than anything in the film itself. A few weeks ago we checked out whispers that director Darren Aronofsky was at the top of the short list to helm the film, which has a 2010 release date; his reps denied it ("But Darren's flattered!" we were assured), but alas, the chatter persists, with yet another report circulating this week that the studio is close to signing Aronofsky for the project — which, as if it's any consolation, is reportedly a sequel, not an updating. More » -
gene simmons
Culture-Wrecking Duo Gene Simmons and Mark Burnett Team Up Again For 'Jingles'
Half the stories on this sluggish midsummer news day seem to concern the same bad idea at CBS: Jingles, the Mark Burnett-producedproduct placement platformreality series squaring songwriters off against each other in the pursuit of... the perfect ad jingle. We can't make this up, folks, and even if we could we probably wouldn't want to — especially not the part in which the newsworthiest elements of the show are its judges: A kerfuffle-plagued, ex-Wal-Mart marketing guru and — seriously, we're too exhausted/sad/Dark Knighted-out to fuck with you — Gene Simmons: More »












































