It wouldn’t be Hollywood if there weren’t numerous remakes and sequels happening, so here’s some updates on a few that have been flying somewhat, if not totally under, the radar.
Remember last month when it was announced that Terry Gilliam‘s “Time Bandits” was getting a remake? Well, buried in that piece was a little morsel that “The Long Good Friday” was getting primed for a TV series with Ray Winstone involved in some capacity. Turns it out, it’s moving quite steadily along.
Speaking with BBC Radio 5 (via EW), Winstone confirmed that he’s involved in the project (though it isn’t clear in what capacity) and stresses that it won’t be an exact remake. “We’re not remaking the film,” he said. “You can’t remake that. Hoskins is so brilliant and the story’s so great. We’re actually like, taking it [to] today [and making it about] his family, maybe his son, who works in the City. We might be doing something about that. We’re having it written at the moment and we’ll see how we go with it.” So it looks like it will still be somewhat connected to the film, but it won’t be a straight remake. Though it begs the question, why don’t they just spin it entirely into a new idea completely?
Anyway, in this age of Tyler Perry megahits, even he can’t match just how broad of a hit “Waiting to Exhale” was back in 1995. Starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, Dennis Haysbert and Gregory Hines, the story of four black women dealing with their relationships and men touched a cultural nerve. The film was not only a hit at the box office, but it spawned a best-selling soundtrack probably best known for the singles “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” by Whitney Houston and “Not Gon’ Cry” by Mary J. Blige. And it looks like there’s more adventures on the way for Savannah, Bernadine, Robin and Gloria.
Mlive recently picked up on a tweet by author Terry McMillan saying, “We are working on the script for HAPPY. Will know in about a month or so when we’ll begin production. Probably on screens in 2012.” She’s referring to her book “Getting To Happy” that picks up on the characters 15 years later, and each of the leads have a new set of challenges to face. It’s definitely a movie niche that studios would love to fill so we expect this one to be developing hard, but whether or not they can pull the cast back (ahem, Whitney is a bit of a mess) remains to be seen.
We’re not going to believe this last one until we see it, but it looks like it’s really happening. In an interview with Vibe (via ONTD), rapper Soulja Boy reveals that a remake of “Juice” — the 1992 urban teen flick that notably starred Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps — is gearing up for a remake with him in the lead. Even worse, it’s gonna have a Soulja Boy soundtrack.
“Basically, it’s your boy Soulja and I’m Bishop in 2011, running around in the streets, man. You know how the movie goes, but we’re flipping it and shooting in Atlanta. I want to show these people my acting side and me being creative—always giving them something new; that’s all. I got same video director [Dale “Rage” Resteghini] that shot “Crank That,” “Kiss Me Through The Phone,” “Turn My Swag On” —my most successful videos. The whole mixtape is the soundtrack for the movie,” he told Vibe. And there’s more.
“Actually Cam’Ron reached out to get in the movie. Some of the original actors that were in the original reached out too. We’re in pre-production right now. We start filming on the Apr. 28th in Atlanta,” Mr. Boy added. He confirmed Khalil Kain who played Raheem in the original would be back as well. So yeah, this will probably be fucking terrible and we wouldn’t be surprised if it winds up going straight to DVD. In fact, it probably will.
