Lanter Knows the Code for War Games Sequel

This comes directly from the "WTF?" department (yes, we have one of those here at Cinematical). After I just got finished waxing nostalgic about the original War Games, word comes that the long-discussed sequel to the 1983 film is now going to me made for sure. For a long time, there were just rumors and some bits of info. Then, a script was written and a director attached. Next, there were a couple of title changes and a few other pieces of news that seemed to indicate the film would happen for sure. But then, not a word. During that time, I always held out hope that because of all the various machinations, and the fact that they never announced any cast, the film would eventually go away -- never to be heard from again.

Much to my disappointment, that doesn't appear to be the case because according to Production Weekly, War Games 2: The Dead Code now has a leading man -- Matt Lanter, of the TV show Heroes. To recap for those (like me) too stunned and disappointed to remember: Stuart Gillard will be directing the War Games sequel, from a script by Randall M. Badat, about a computer hacker (played by Lanter) who goes online to play a terrorist-attack simulation game against a government super-computer named Ripley (Ripley? Is nothing sacred?). Of course, once he starts playing the game he realizes he's way over his head because Riply is actually a paranoid artificially intelligent machine bent on saving the human race by imprisoning it. The hacker must then race against time to stop the super-computer and save humanity before it's too late.

So, let's get this straight: The sequel to one of the watershed films of the '80s is being directed by a guy who's biggest feature film credits are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Rocket Man? Being written by a guy who's only feature film credits are Hear No Evil and Surf II and will star a guy that almost no one has ever heard of (I watch Heroes but even I couldn't pick Lanter out of a lineup)? Plus, the story sounds like something concocted after a weekend binge with a bottle of Tequila while watching Fox News Channel. Wow, this sounds like a movie that just has to be made.

Can you sense my extreme sarcasm here? I bet you can. I'm sure Gillard, Badat and Lanter are probably nice guys who were looking for a job, but I just have to say to them -- look elsewhere. This huge mistake begins shooting on November 20 in Montreal -- with arrival at your local Blockbuster soon afterward. Is anyone really interested in wasting 90 minutes of their lives on seeing this movie?