Police Academy and Pet Sematary remakes on the way to theaters

THR’s HeatVision reports that New Line is relaunching the Police Academy franchise, with original producer Paul Maslansky onboard for a new spin on the series, which originally spawned six sequels and a television series that lasted one season in 1997. No writer or director are attached to the project yet.

The original Police Academy centered on a city opening the doors of its police force to any recruit, which turn out to be a group of misfit officers, who ultimately band together and save the city.

The 1984 film starred Steve Guttenberg as Mahoney, a criminal offender who’s forced to enter the academy and later emerges as the ragtag crew’s leader. Other characters included Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), gun-crazy Tackleberry (David Graf), mousy Hooks (Marion Ramsey) and sound effects king Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow).

The first entries in the franchise highlighted sexual humor, then later sequels showcased kid-friendly jokes.

The new film is expected to take the story back to its roots, but with new characters.

According to another report on THR, sequel-mania continues with news that Matthew Greenberg, who wrote the Stephen King adaptation 1408, is writing the script for the Pet Sematary redo.

Pet Sematary was originally published in 1983, centering on a family that trades city life for a more relaxed existence in a small town in Maine, then discover that they’ve moved near a pet cemetery that rests on an ancient burial ground. After the husband’s young son is killed in an auto accident, the father takes the boy’s body to the cemetery, where it is resurrected in demonic form.

Paramount nabbed rights to the book and released the original film in 1989, starring Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Fred Gwynne.