With the flood of new digital 3D films in development right now, it should come as no surprise that there are some older films potentially getting a 3D upgrade as well (like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, for example). However, I certainly didn’t expect to hear about about a film that’s nearly 30 years old getting reworked with the new technology. I didn’t even realize that such a thing was actually possible, but apparently it is, because producer Richard Rubinstein has just announced plans to bring George A. Romero’s classic zombie film Dawn of the Dead back to the big screen in true 3D! That’s right, we’re talking about the 1979 original, not Zack Snyder’s recent remake.
The company responsible for the digital upgrade will be In-Three, Inc., based in Agoura Hill, CA, who have apparently impressed such directors as George Lucas, James Cameron and Peter Jackson with demos of their process. The conversion is expected take about a year to complete.
Rubinstein had this to say: “When Mike Messina and I began to investigate using In-Three’s technique, I was very skeptical… I couldn’t see how it could be used without re-editing George’s film, which I was not going to do. I was also concerned that converting a 29-year-old movie would not be competitive qualitatively with the new 3-D live-action features being shot today. I was wrong in both cases. George’s DAWN OF THE DEAD can be reformatted into 3-D without any editing, and the image looks spectacular!”
Well at the very least, this sounds much more exciting than that low-budget Night of the Living Dead 3D movie. Just having the original Dawn of the Dead back in theatres would be really cool. There is also talk of Rubinstein working on a sequel to Dawn of the Dead, which may or may end up being a good thing. What do you think?
Treknobabble is a continuing series of columns written by uber-Trekkie Reed Farrington in anticipation of the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie.
Last Treknobabble, I was building up courage to approach a lone woman at a nightclub where a 4-day Star Trek convention was just beginning. Mixed in with the coterie of Star Trek geeks were the trendy contingent who occupied most of the dance floor. I made my way down the stairs from the upper level, making sure that I was not in her direct line-of-sight so as to avoid scaring her off. Best to sneak up on the unsuspecting fawn.
“Hi, my name is Reed. You wouldn’t happen to be a fan of Star Trek, would you?” Note that this opening line works best at Star Trek conventions. Now I could make up a conversation here, but truth be told, that whole night is somewhat of a blur (and not because I was imbibing Romulan Ale). From what I can recall, she was a big fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was looking forward to the premiere of Star Trek: First Contact.
It may seem hard to believe, but the fifth installment of the Saw franchise will hit theatres later this year, and preparations are already well underway for part 6. How is it possible that we are already talking about Saw VI?! That seems insane to me. It was announced today that Saw VI will see yet another new director taking the reins, as David Hackl will be not be continuing with the franchise after part V. Instead he will be handing the job over to Kevin Greutert.
Normally you’d think that Saw would be an ideal franchise for up and coming directors to cut their teeth on, but it seems like all they’re doing now is recycling people who have worked on the previous Saw films in various other positions. Hackle was production designer on Saw II, III and IV, while Greutert has been the editor on all of the Saw films to date. To be fair, Greutert has directed a few short films of his own, one of which, entitled “Old Friends”, is embedded below. At any rate, it seems that the Saw franchise is now on the verge of rivaling the longevity of Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street horror franchises. What do you have to say about that?
Posted by Sean on May 15th, 2008 Filed under: DVD Source: DVD Active
Finally, after what seems like years of waiting, the much-anticipated director’s cut of Alex Proyas’ Dark City is finally coming to both DVD and Blu-ray. New Line Home Entertainment have announced the full specs for this new release of the 1998 film, which will also include the original theatrical version. Extras include:
3 audio commentary tracks (with director Alex Proyas, Writers Lem Dobbs, and David S Goyer, Director of Photography Dariusz Wolski, Production Designer Patrick Tatopoulous, and film critic Roger Ebert)
Introduction by Alex Proyas
Featurette: Memories of Shell Beach (Making Of)
Featurette: Architecture of Dreams
Text Essays
Neil Gaiman’s Review of Dark City
Pop-Up Trivia Fact Track
Production Gallery
Trailers
According to the running time on the package, it looks like the director’s cut will be approximately 11 minutes longer. I can’t wait to get my hands on this… it seems like a good reason to finally buy a Blu-ray player too. Look for the Dark City Director’s Cut in stores on July 29th for a retail price of $19.97 ($34.99 for Blu-ray).
Earlier this week there was a bit of confusion over the weekend box office report, which claimed that Speed Racer had just barely edged out the Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz comedy What Happens in Vegas for the #2 spot. At the time, a lot of people were surprised because the numbers that had come out for Friday and Saturday seemed to indicate that Speed Racer was tracking way behind What Happens in Vegas, and then on the last day suddenly surged ahead. Mysteriously, a few days later, the box office charts changed again to show What Happens in Vegas at #2 after all. What happened?
Well, it appears that Warner Brothers lied, that’s what happened. It seems that they inflated the estimates to save face (and probably save a few execs their jobs). But now we know the truth… Speed Racer grossed just $18.5 million in its opening weekend. Clearly a bit of a debacle when you consider that the movie cost $160 million to make. I just don’t understand how studios can just fudge the numbers like that and have them published before anyone even double-checks them. Haven’t we learned anything from Enron people?! Anyway, I guess the bottom line is that box office stats are even more worthless than we originally thought. And with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian coming out this weekend, I’m afraid Speed Racer will soon be left in the dust.
This week on Weird Web Wednesday, an old clip of Bill O’Reilly flipping out over a teleprompter goof has caused quite a stir. The video is getting pulled off YouTube left and right, so check it out while you still can, and also check out a handful of other on-air meltdowns and teleprompter-related hijinx. Also this week, check out McLovin’s new anti-piracy PSA, some cute cats trying to keep up with a treadmill, and a painful collision with a steeplechase barrier. Trust me when I say that this kind of uplifting entertainment is exactly what you need to get you through the week.
As if the day’s news couldn’t get any stranger, we have word today that yet another retro TV series is headed for a feature film adaptation. 21 Jump Street was a late 80’s police drama best known for kick-starting Johnny Depp’s career (or at least cementing his status as a massive star). Now it looks like the show will be turned into a big screen comedy… at least I’m assuming it will be a comedy because Jonah Hill (Superbad, Accepted) has been hired to write the script and possibly star in it!
Let me just say that I think Jonah Hill is a funny guy, but what’s the deal with every single person associated with Judd Apatow getting writing and directing offers thrown at them? Hill hasn’t even written a single script to date… what makes him the right guy for this job? I suppose it’s possible that he might come out and surprise everyone like Jason Segel did with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but for the moment, I am more than a little dubious. Something tells me that fans of the 21 Jump Street will not be particularly pleased with this announcement either, unless of course it’s going to be a serious crime drama — in which case I’m even more dubious!
Well this has got to be one of the strangest remake ideas I’ve heard to date, but I suppose with Werner Herzog involved, nothing should come as a surprise. Abel Ferrara’s edgy NC-17 film Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel as a corrupt NYC cop with drug and gambling addictions, is about to get an update starring Nicolas Cage! Bad Lieutenant was known in particular for one controversial scene where Harvey Keitel stops two girls for driving underage and masturbates in front of them. I can’t wait to see Cage re-enact this classic moment!
You’ll have to forgive my lack of faith in Nicolas Cage’s ability to measure up to Keitel’s performance here, but with Werner Herzog behind it, I think we can assume he won’t pull any pud… I mean punches. Executive producer Avi Lerner is apparently quoted as saying the new version will “deliver as much filth as the original”. Nice. The remake’s script is being penned by Billy Finkelstein (Law & Order, NYPD Blue). What do you think… good or bad idea?
Woody Allen’s latest film Vicky Cristina Barcelona premieres at Cannes this week, and a teaser trailer for the flick has just hit the web. This movie finds Allen working with Scarlett Johansson yet again in a story about two American backpackers (Vicky, played by Rebecca Hall, and Christina, played by Johnansson) who travel to Spain and become romantically involved with a painter (Javier Bardem). There’s also a little matter of the painter’s jealous ex-girlfriend (Penelope Cruz).
The trailer hints at some hot sex scenes between Johannson and Bardem, and even a little bit of lesbian action between ScarJo and Penelope Cruz (not to mention rumours that there is also a ménage a trois scene somewhere in there). But hey, that’s neither here nor there… this is the latest and greatest masterpiece from Woody Allen! I haven’t seen many of Allen’s films but clearly a lot of people seem to think the quality of his output has dropped over the years. What do you think, are you looking forward to this? Vicky Cristina Barcelona hits select theatres on August 29th.
Although he has yet to sign on the dotted line, but it looks like there is a good chance that Martin Scorsese is on board to direct a new biopic about “Ol’ Blue Eyes”, the legendary singer Frank Sinatra. The movie is being set up at Universal Pictures and will be produced by Sinatra’s youngest daughter Tina.
Obviously Scorsese seems like a great choice to direct a movie about Sinatra, however, his daughter is quick to dismiss the one assumption that immediately jumps to mind. Apparently the movie will not give any credibility to “scurrilous rumours” that the man had any ties to the mafia whatsoever. Well that sounds boring! In all seriousness I’d love to see this movie, so hopefully the contracts will get finalized shortly. Anyone have any ideas as to who should play Sinatra?
