ridley-scott2Ridley Scott is one BUSY individual.  But let’s face facts–the man’s got like thirty hojillion projects in the works right now, so his announcement that he’s considering an Alien prequel needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  A grain of salt about, say, the size of a Buick.

But he’s clearly been thinking it over, and even has some possible strategies.  Dig the word:

“It’s a brand new box of tricks. We know what the road map is, and the screenplay is now being put on paper. The prequel will be a while ago. It’s very difficult to put a year on Alien, but [for example] if Alien was towards the end of this century, then the prequel story will take place thirty years prior.”

There are possibilities here.  After all, I seem to remember that one of the earliest parts of Alien described an alien ship that crash-landed on LV 426.  Checking Wikipedia confirms my scattered memories, so a great point for an Alien prequel would be, what is that ship, and how did it get jam-packed with xenomorphs?

Of course, it’s a fair bet that that’s a Predator ship that was seeding the planet for use as a hunting ground, so they may have already kinda sorta covered that already.  Still though, I find myself plenty interested in where they’re looking to go with this one.

Popularity: unranked [?]

NOTLD-originsNight of the Living Dead: Origins.  That’s a thought that should both astonish and horrify all at the same time.  While there was already one remake, and as far as I’m concerned it’s the gold standard of remakes, I’m not too sure about a new “remake“…especially one that’s billing itself as, get this–an American-style anime.

Like I said, it’s called Night of the Living Dead: Origins, and they’re meaning to have it explore some of the characters’ backstories.  On the one hand, that’s kind of an interesting idea–I like the thought of figuring out everybody’s backstories myself.  Sure, we know the Coopers got to the farmhouse, but do we really know how?  And which version of Cooper will they follow: the jackass from the remake or the helpful one from the original?  I don’t know, and that’s what this movie should help explain.  What about Tommy and Judy Rose?  And what happened to Ben in Evans City?  How did he KNOW it was a “war zone”?  There are some good questions here that a remake could help explore, but I find myself skeptical of Hollywood’s ability to handle the remake.  Especially since they’re handing the remake over to a couple guys that don’t have much of a filmography that I’ve even heard of.  But seeing as how Night of the Living Dead is now public domain, if I remember correctly, it’s not like there’s anything stopping anyone else from doing the job right.

No word on release dates just yet, but hopefully we’ll be hearing more about this in short order.

Popularity: unranked [?]

220px-mcg_at_wondercon_2009_1Let’s all take a moment to remember that McG is not some kind of visionary movie directing hero.  He’s a music video director that’s handled a couple action flicks, probably because they’re essentially the same thing, only one’s longer and doesn’t involve music near as much.

Viewed in that light, McG’s comments about the upcoming Terminator 5 movie have to be viewed with some skepticism and a few chuckles.

Sometimes people like to take time off, but I’m excited about the next installation of the story in the Terminator idea. So for me, it’s terribly exciting to get back out there and show a different face of that idea, and perhaps get out of the apocalyptic world into a contemporary world. And I think the audience is going to be very excited about our way in. And I haven’t talked to anybody yet about that–you’re the first one.

See what I mean?  Guy thinks he’s some kind of genius.  The worst part is, he’s wrong–”get out of the apocalyptic world”?  Dude, it’s TERMINATOR.  It’s all ABOUT an apocalyptic world.  What are you going to do, ignore that whole aspect of things?  Maybe show John Connor sitting down to tea with Skynet?  Perhaps a little rom-com action with the Terminatrix?

But it seems that his overall plan requires Terminator 5 to be…a prequel.

Man, now I’m REALLY worried.  At least Terminator 4 had a legion of explosions and whatnot going for it, but if McG’s looking to pull its teeth before it even gets started, then what’s the point?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Premiere X Men Origins Wolverine LA

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is racking it in, placing it along the ranks of the X-Men trilogy. Hugh Jackman has been doing great and apparently the opening weekend is only the tip of the iceberg. Wolverine has beaten other films that debuted as well such as Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past ($15.3 million) and Obsessed ($12.2 million).

The trilogy’s final chapter, ” X-Men: The Last Stand ,” had the franchise’s best opening with $102.8 million. But “Wolverine” came in ahead of the first two movies; “X-Men” did $54.5 million in its first weekend and ” X2: X-Men United ” took in $85.6 million.

“It’s all systems go,” said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox , which releases the “X-Men” movies. “Audiences have a huge appetite for Hugh and this character.”

(Source) Yahoo Movies

Popularity: 1% [?]

Warner Bros. sparked a development project for prequel to the Will Smith starrer I Am Legend.

The plan is for Smith to bring back his role as scientist Robert Neville with Francis Lawrence returning to direct.

The studio has set D.B.Weiss to write a script that is based on a detailed outline that was hatched over the past few months by Smith, his producing partners and Lawrence.

Variety reports the prequel will chronicle the final days of humanity in New York before a man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the lone survivor among a mutated mob in the city.

Producing a prequel is the only way to extend I Am Legend franchise that grossed $584 million worldwide for Warner Bros. and maintain Smith in the lead role. To refresh your memory, his character was killed in the first film, after extracting a potential cure for the virus for the scattered survivors.

Popularity: 1% [?]