The SEQUELS That Time Forgot

[MacGuffin]

Race on as pair set 'Mad World' sequel
Source: Hollywood Reporter

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" just got a little madder.

Ed Bass, one of the producers behind "Bobby," and Karen Sharpe Kramer, the widow of "Mad World" director Stanley Kramer, have teamed to make a sequel to the comedy classic.

Titled "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD World," the film would be, like the 1963 film, a large ensemble movie mixing comics and dramatic actors. The story follows the descendants of the characters from the first movie who are thrust into another madcap chase to find a cache of money after it is revealed that the money found in the first movie was counterfeit.

Bass' relationship with the sequel began in 1991 when he produced the "Mad World" documentary "Something a Little Less Serious" with Stanley Kramer. The two began planning a sequel, but Kramer became ill, and the project was put on hold. Kramer died in 2001.

A sequel was further derailed when Paramount released 2001's "Rat Race," which had a similar concept.

Bass reconnected last year with Karen Sharpe Kramer -- who held the rights and had produced a TV remake of her husband's Western classic "High Noon" -- when making "Bobby." The Robert F. Kennedy biopic is recently nominated for a SAG Award for best ensemble as well as a Golden Globe for best motion picture drama.

"I wanted to do a follow-up to 'Bobby,' which had a one of the best casts ever assembled, and was wondering what to do next," Bass said. "Then I learned that Bobby (Kennedy) was at the premiere of 'Mad World' back in '63. I said, All right, all the signs are there."

No director is attached, and Bass and Kramer plan to finance the pic independently.

The duo want the sequel to be have an even bigger cast than the original, and they hope to involve actors from the original movie.

"Now is the time to make this picture while members of the original film can still appear in cameos," said Kramer, referring to such cast members as Jonathan Winters, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Edie Adams, Carl Reiner, Peter Falk and Jerry Lewis.

George Barris -- the car designer and car customizer behind such famed screen vehicles as the Batmobile, the Monkeemobile and KITT, the car from "Knight Rider" -- is designing cars for the movie.

[MacGuffin]

Warner greenlights The Lost Boys 2
Source: Moviehole

IESB has confirmed that Warner Bros Home Video – So yeah, sorry, it's going direct to DVD – is in production on a sequel to the 80's fave, "The Lost Boys". Filming is due to begin sometime soon, in sunny San Diego.

Granted, a sequel to "The Lost Boys" – that's the vampiric actioner starring Kiefer Sutherland as a bleached-blonde bloodsucker of the night who picks a fight with the humanly Jason Patric – has been talked about for years. It doesn't sound like this sequel will take the form of any of those previously discussed ideas – including "The Lost Girls" (remember that? Britney Spears was supposedly going to play an evil chick vampire) or the "Frog Brothers" spin-off. I even heard a rumour a few years back that Joss Whedon had taken a stab at writing a sequel... back before "Buffy" picked up her dagger.

Now, if I were a betting man (My wallet's empty, so I'm not... but not by choice), I'd say "The Lost Boys 2" will be one of those in-name-only sequels. There may be a link to the original movie – maybe Corey Feldman will cameo? Or maybe someone will simply reference a character from the original film? – but personally, I think they'll just ride the coattails of the name. Which is fine with me. I love this series. I always thought there was potential here. Hopefully they come up with something refrigerator-cool.

The first of Warner's new DVD original sequels is "Dukes of Hazzard : The Beginning", which my peeps tell me is actually quite good. They got the hair colour right on Daisy Duke this time... so there's a point right there.

[MacGuffin]

Jaws : Rising details online
Source: Moviehole

According to the terrific troops at Filmrot.com, "Jaws 5" – it's the one that's going direct to video, remember? – is further along than they at first suspected [and we feared].

The new film will be called "Jaws : Rising" and it's from the pen of screenwriter John Lansing (though "Fast and the Furious "Tokyo Drift" scribe Chris Morgan has been brought in to tidy it up). Lansing's back catalogue is about as extraordinary as the writing scrawled on the back of a public toilet door, but nevertheless, his experience writing action ("Renegade", "Magnum P.I") obviously convinced Universal he was capable of the job.

"Rising" will see Michael Brody, the son of the original characters , and his family moving to Amity where he'll once again encounter that human-hungry son of a bitch, Bruce. When his daughter becomes lost at sea – naturally, close to 'Jaws' - Michael is forced to team up with new Amity Chief of Police, Elgar Douglas, and local fisherman Lyle Buffet and attempt a rescue attempt.

So, um, that's "Jaws 2" by way of "Jaws" with a link to "Jaws IV", hey?

Jaws ain't the only thing that bites, eh?

[MacGuffin]

L.A. Coincidental: Clooney vs. Crowe?
BREAKING NEWS: Would the real sequel to "L.A. Confidential" please step forward?

TMZ has learned that the creative team and stars from the original "L.A. Confidential" are in discussions with Twentieth Century Fox-based Regency Enterprises about reteaming for a sequel to the Oscar-winning noir script.

No doubt, their discussions will cause some consternation to Joe Carnahan ("Narc") who's already announced plans to direct his own "L.A. Confidential" sequel: An adaptation of James Ellroy's "White Jazz" with George Clooney toplining as Det. David Klein. "Jazz" is the fourth book in Ellroy's Los Angeles tetralogy. "LA Confidential" was the third, preceded by "The Black Dahlia" and "The Big Nowhere."

Insiders tell TMZ that the Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland sequel being discussed wouldn't rely on the plot of "White Jazz," but simply pick up where "L.A. Confidential" left off: With Lt. Ed Exley (originally played by Guy Pearce), a rising star in the LAPD, and Officer Bud White (originally played by Russell Crowe), now an ex-cop who lives with an ex-whore. As of last month, Pearce was being mulled for a part in "White Jazz," but he downplayed the rumors at a press conference to promote the new Andy Warhol film "Factory Girl." Indeed, in Ellroy's "White Jazz," Exley's character actually has a very small part; in Helgeland and Hanson's project, it could potentially be made far larger. No deals have been made, but the discussions are on-going.

[MacGuffin]

Mad Max minus Mel
Source: Herald Sun

MAD Max could be coming back, but don't expect Mel Gibson to reprise his role in the classic Australian movie, says director George Miller.

Miller made his name with the post-apocalyptic vision of Mad Max, made in 1979, and its sequels, Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Now, fresh from winning an Oscar for his animated feature Happy Feet, Miller is planning a fourth instalment of Mad Max, with its murderous bikie gangs and bandits roaming the Australian outback.

Miller believes the star of the trilogy, Mel Gibson, is now too old and focused on his own films to want to again portray the lead character of "Mad" Max Rockatansky.

Instead, Miller hopes to secure a rising young star for the role.

The fourth Mad Max movie was in development before Miller took on directing Happy Feet, and now he's turning back to the project.

"I have a few projects in the pipeline including an animation ... but I do want to make another Mad Max movie and get stuck back into that," the 62-year-old said in Sydney today.

"It (the lead) won't be Mel. He was 21 when he made the first one, now he's a lot older and his passion is for film making and directing.

"I don't think he is into acting and I don't think he would be interested in being involved at all."

The Sydney-based filmmaker said he had managed to "come back down to earth" following his Oscar win, thanks to constructive advice from Hollywood friends including Australians Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

"I was warned not to inhale too much because you can take it a little too seriously," he said.

"We didn't expect to win, but it was a good excuse to drink, party and to act like teenagers again."

Miller was a special guest at today's 2007 Aurora film maker initiative, announcing four new feature film scripts which will be workshopped and eventually adapted to the big screen.

The initiative is an intensive script development program run by the New South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO).

One of the scripts chosen today was Mr Darwin's Shooter, the story about a friendship between a boy and a young Charles Darwin, which will be directed by acclaimed director Fred Schepisi.

"It's a very significant initiative for film makers, particularly in the case of Fred Schepisi, who have significant international careers and are desperate to make films back home," Miller said.

Three other films, Six Weeks To Heaven, Grace and Eleven Months, were also selected.

[MacGuffin]

Next Powers Will Be Evil
Source: Sci-Fi Wire

Mike Myers, creator of the Austin Powers film franchise, told SCI FI Wire that he definitely wants to make another movie and will get to it after he finishes his next project, called The Love Guru. And it might focus on Austin's nemesis, Doctor Evil.

"I have figured out that the story will be taken from the point of Doctor Evil," Myers said in an interview while promoting Shrek the Third. "It will be powered from Doctor Evil's point of view." Myers added: "That will be the first of a trilogy. ... I'm just joking! ... I haven't figured it all out. Who knows?"

Doctor Evil is one of many characters Myers played in the previous Austin Powers movies. In the last one, 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember, Doctor Evil became a good guy and passed the baton of evil to his son (Seth Green).

"It takes three and a half to four years for me to do a movie, and it has to be something I'm feeling passionate about at the time, and so I may go into that after The Love Guru," Myers said. (The Love Guru is about a Canadian raised in India who becomes a guru and helps the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.)

[mogwai]

i fear he'll ditch the keith moon project.

[polkablues]

You do?

[mogwai]

yup. don't you?

[Kal]

i dont give a shit... go austin!

[MacGuffin]

Sam Jackson Puckers Up For 'Long Kiss Goodnight' Sequel
Source: MTV

It's the year of the aging action star: Indiana Jones, John McClane...and now Mitch Henessey? Samuel L. Jackson told MTV News that he's eager to revisit the hard-drinking, fast-thinking detective he made famous in "The Long Kiss Goodnight," and is working with director Reny Harlin on a sequel to the eleven-year-old action thriller. "We sort of have a development project now for 'The Long Kiss Goodnight 2.' We're talking to writers, you know, getting it together," he announced.

The 1996 flick did middling business at the domestic box office, but has became a cult hit in the eleven years since its release. It remains one of Jackson's personal favorites, he declared. "Mitch is one of my favorite characters," Jackson enthused. "I mean, every time I pass 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' [on TV], I stop and watch it. If it's on, I stop, I watch it."

The original film followed suburban housewife Samantha Caine (Geena Davis), who, after a bump on the head, begins to remember small parts of her previous life as a top-secret assassin. And none too soon. Samantha soon finds herself in a fight for her life when old enemies track her down. She enlists the aid of Mitch to survive the onslaught, all the while getting stronger and more deadly.

But don't expect a reunion with Ms. Davis, Jackson cautioned. While she was the star of the first film, the sequel will have a fresher, and in many ways, much more sinister, female protagonist.

"Actually, we're thinking, you know, the little girl [Samantha's daughter, Caitlin] is grown up now and possibly got some skills passed onto her by her mom," Jackson said of the film's plot. "Her mom gets killed and we want to find out who did it."

So why in the world, then, does she contact Mitch? "Well, she comes to find me because I'm the only connection to her mom," Jackson said. "And I might know the people that have done that." Jackson can next be seen in "1408," a supernatural horror film starring John Cusack.

[polkablues]

made famous in "The Long Kiss Goodnight," 

Oxymoron.

[Pubrick]

so, does sam jackson KNOW he's a has-been?

[The Sheriff]

looks like it

[MacGuffin]

Goyer eyes U's new 'Invisible' film
Grazer to produce sequel to Wells classic
Source" Variety

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have set David Goyer to write and direct "The Invisible Man," a new take on the H.G. Wells classic. Brian Grazer will produce.

Conceived as a sequel to Wells' original tale, the story centers on a British nephew of the original Invisible Man. Once he discovers his uncle's formula for achieving invisibility, he is recruited by British intelligence agency MI5 during WWII.

"I've always been a fan of the original H.G. Wells book as well as the Universal film and felt the property was ripe for reimagining," Goyer said.

Imagine's David Bernardi and Chris Wade will be involved in a producing capacity.

Goyer, who most recently directed ghost tale "The Invisible" and "Blade: Trinity," is planning to helm the Sheldon Turner-scripted "X-Men" spinoff "Magneto" for Fox.