Remakes

James Franco in talks for Hughes Brothers’ live-action Akira adaptation

James Franco is in talks to play Kaneda in the live action film adaptation of Akira, according to JustJared. Akira will be based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s six-volume cyberpunk manga, which was already adapted into a cult classic anime film in Japan. The story will be set in “New Manhattan”, where the leader of a biker ….

Will Smith and Jay-Z team on Annie big screen adaptation and other film projects

According to Variety, a big screen Annie re-imagination with Willow Smith as the titular orphan will be developed by a new joint venture between her dad Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, in association with Sony Pictures. Annie will be produced by Jay-Z and Overbrook, which includes principals Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, ….

Weinstein Company and Miramax looking to partner on sequels to Bad Santa, Swingers, Rounders, Copland and more

Recently THR reported that the Weinstein Company and Miramax Films’ new owners had inked a deal to exploit Miramax’s vast library of cult classics for sequel and TV projects. One of the announced projects is Bad Santa 2, a sequel to the new cult classic “holiday” film, which starred Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox ….

Colin Farrell up for Arnie’s original role in upcoming Total Recall remake

Variety reports that Colin Farrell is circling the planet Mars for Hollywood’s upcoming remake of the 1990 cult classic Paul Verhoeven sci-fi film Total Recall. Columbia Pictures has offered Farrell the lead in its new version, beating out other frontrunners like Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender. The original version of Total Recall starred Arnold Schwarzenegger ….

Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi developing live-action remake of Japanese anime

Starz has picked up the rights to an action project from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert that’s based on a Japanese anime TV series, according to THR Live Feed. The premium cable network is developing Noir, a live-action U.S. remake of a 2001 show about two female assassins working in the criminal underworld, who, after ….

The Toxic Avenger remake goes green and gets a director

Troma Films recently announced that writer, director and producer Steve Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine, High Fidelity) has signed on to direct the upcoming remake of The Toxic Avenger, and will co-write the script with Daniel C. Mitchell. Akiva Goldsman of Weed Road Pictures, and Richard Saperstein & Charlie Corwin of Original Media are producing. ….

The Thing remake to preview this weekend at New York Comic-Con 2010

Universal Pictures presents the cast and filmmakers from its upcoming prequel thriller The Thing. In the film that serves as a prelude to John Carpenter’s cult sci-fi classic 1982 thriller of the same name, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. ….

New Wonder Woman television show in the works at Warner Bros.

Wonder Woman may be headed to the small screen instead of the big screen, according to LiveFeed. The report indicates that Warner Bros. Television is developing a modern-day reboot of the classic DC comic book heroine and has nabbed David E. Kelley, the showrunner behind legal dramas such as Ally McBeal, Boston Legal and The ….

Cult series The Munsters getting television remake treatment

Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is developing a modern-day reboot of the creepshow classic The Munsters, according to EW. The new show is expected to run on NBC, which has only ordered a pilot thus far. The potential series is being described as “Modern Family meets True Blood,” and rumor has it that Guillermo del ….

Emma Stone circling leads in 21 Jump Street and Spider-Man reboots

Emma Stone, from the recently released Easy A, is circling the female lead in the long in development 21 Jump Street film adaptation, opposite Jonah Hill, according to Variety. The story comes from Hill, along with Michael Bacall, who wrote the script. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs director Phil Lord is set to helm ….