'Piranha 3DD' posters and tentative release date revealed

It’s been almost two years since Piranha 3D (a remake of the 1978 B-movie, Piranha) was released in theaters, and the wait for the sequel is nothing if not excruciating. P3D truly had something for everyone: a classic love story, a comically coked up character, buckets of blood, adult actresses, and some crazy prehistoric monster fish shooting out of the screen thanks to the magic of 3D. Still, the question remains: when will the Piranha 3DD (hehe) be released in US theaters?

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Movie remakes: Which movies deserve a do-over?

I’ve had a lot of different opinions concerning remakes recently. Everywhere I look, another one seems to pop up, from the lackluster Straw Dogs to the hilariously thrilling Fright Night. I tend to see two different reactions to remakes. If you’ve seen the original film, whether you loved it or hated it, you’re wary of another attempt at it again. Either it’ll be just as bad as the original or a botched blasphemy. If you haven’t seen the original, then you stand a chance of finding more enthusiasm.

There have been plenty of great remakes among the disappointments as well. Compared to it’s loud and campy predecessors, The Dark Knight series has been welcome with it’s dark and gritty take on the infamous Batman origins.

The Oscars aren’t exempt from remakes either. As USA Today points out, most of the nominations films are adaptations of books, and the Guardian thinks the adaptations will be favored to sweep most of the awards. Since I double-time as a bookseller, I can vouch that a lot of people come through wanting to read the books before seeing the movies. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a good example. The Artist is one of the only original films up for many awards, and I think it stands to win.

So while we’re talking about the idea that not all remakes are bad, I asked some of the writers here at Cinema Soldier what they’d like to see adapted to the big screen from another medium, or some movies that they would love to see get another chance (or a third). Below are our picks for the movies most deserving of remakes. 

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Guillermo del Toro to direct 'Beauty and the Beast,' Emma Watson to star

After seeing Beastly, it’s hard to get excited about any new live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, but wiht Guillermo del Toro at the helm, it’s instantly interesting. Variety reports that the renowned director of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth will take charge of “Beast,” a new take on the classic tale. Better, the casting is already going well, with Emma Watson (Harry Potter) signing on to play the beauty—an interesting, but enticing choice. Andrew Davies, known for Bridget Jones’s Diary back in 2001 but more recently for the quite lame The Three Musketeers, has been tapped to write. 

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'The Crow' reboot underway, again

Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company have agreed on a settlement regarding their dispute over the seemingly doomed remake of cult 1994 classic The Crow, reports Deadline. 

The dispute originated from a disagreement over the 2009 film Nine, when Relativity accused The Weinstein Company of failing to live up to commitments regarding the distribution of the film. They consequently decided to proceed with a different distributor for their remake of The Crow despite both companies already having an agreement in place. An out of court settlement was agreed ahead of what was looking like a lengthy battle and both parties now seem committed to the project having moved quickly to sign F. Javier Guttierez to direct and Jesse Wigutow (It Runs in the Family) to write the script, with Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum previously rumored to take the lead role.

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'The Giant Gila Monster' is being remade - Is this the beginning of a B-Movie comeback?

Typically, news of a movie remake is met with incredulous expressions and moans of “why?” or “how could they mess with a classic?”. Every so often, however, a movie is not just worthy of, but entitled to having its story told more than once. That, I believe, is the case with The Giant Gila Monster.

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'Evil Dead' remake will be "grounded in reality," says writer

It’s not easy to get behind an Ash-less Evil Dead, but it’s possible. An Ash-less Evil Dead written by Diablo Cody though? I just don’t know. To be fair, the Juno writer has been hired only to rewrite Director Fede Alvarez’s script, and is thankfully not going into this project without set boundaries. According to Reelz, Cody has been instructed to keep the remake “grounded in reality,” and promised not to tart up what was once a cult classic with folk music or Jennifer’s Body-style ridiculousness. 

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'The Evil Dead' remake update: Raimi and Campbell are on board, but no Ash

Fans of The Evil Dead, I have some interesting news for you. First, Sam Raimi, creator of the original 1981 The Evil Dead, is involved in the upcoming remake of the film, scheduled for 2013. Sadly, the 2013 version does not include the beloved and darkly heroic Ash, originally played by Bruce Campbell.

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'Steel Magnolias' with an all-black cast: a refreshing remake?

Earlier this week, Deadline revealed that Lifetime is developing a movie based off the classic 1989 film Steel Magnolias, which originally featured well-known names like Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, and Julia Roberts. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have worked together several times (Hairspray, Chicago, The Bucket List), will be producing the film with Sony Pictures TV. You might recognize Zadan's name for producing Footloose—the original and the remake. Attached to direct is Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun).

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Remake of 'The Crow' loses another director

"There ain’t no coming back!" That frantically repeated line from The Crow (1994) might just running through the minds of those working to remake Brandon Lee’s swan song. (The son of Bruce Lee was killed on set the set of the movie in 1993.) The remake is scheduled to be released in 2013, but has already lost its second director, and still has no star.

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Straw Dogs compared: an in-depth look at the 1971 original and 2011 remake

As the release date for this year’s version of Straw Dogs approached, I noticed that expectations among my friends and fellow film-lovers were strikingly polarized. Those already familiar with Sam Peckinpah’s version decried the remake as blasphemy, boldly proclaiming that it would never pack the same punch as its predecessor. On the other hand, many were unaware that it was a remake at all, having never seen, or even heard of, the 1971 version. Though I was familiar with the original, I had never given it a proper viewing (it languinshed for years in the depths of my “to watch” list). But seeing the remake stoked my curiosity, and I finally sat down to watch the original and gauge for myself what all the fuss was about. What follows below is a fairly comprehensive comparison between the two--thoughts and impressions on several major components of each film, and how they stack up.

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