Looks like after letting the project percolate for quite some time, Fox is raring to go on their remake of Robert Wise's 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. And who'll be playing Klaatu -- the strangely human-looking alien who visits earth with an important message AND a massive robot? None other than Neo himself. According to Variety, Keanu Reeves signed a deal over the weekend, which means this remake is officially working in hyper-drive.

The re-do will be directed by third-timer Scott Derrickson, who really displayed his sci-fi chops on The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Hellraiser 5: Inferno. Nah, I just kid the guy. Fox must have seen something in his reel to warrant this kind of responsibility, so I'll lay off Derrickson for now. The fact that Fox is remaking such a classic film ... hell, it seems kinda pointless to rail against the machine now that War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, Psycho and Halloween have all been remade. Sigh. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that it's one of those "Hey, better than I expected!" remakes instead of one of those "Ugh, I just knew it would suck!" ones.

Variety also indicates that screenwriter David Scarpa (The Last Castle) will be on adaptation duty. Good luck Dave! You're remaking one of the classic sci-fi screenplays (written by Edmund North, based on the story by Harry Bates) for your second assignment! Ah, and get this part: "The 1951 film's premise, a response to the rise of the Cold War after WWII, is being updated, and the film will use advances in visual effects." As if we thought they would actually stick with the original themes and laser-buzz special effects.

Previous reports on this project are available here and here. And since Fox looks to be fast-tracking this one in advance of "The Strike," you can expect more reports soon. (Release date: May 8.) And Keanu is easily as wooden as Michael Rennie was, so I don't see a big problem in the casting department. (Just kiddin', Keanu!)

Last February we shared with you a few vague reports that seemed to indicate one thing: Fox had claimed a May 5 (2008) release date for a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, which is one of the first movies I remember watching with my dad and is therefore an unquestionably awesome film. (Lots of other people like it too, apparently.) In an effort to fill my previous report with text other than "Why the HELL would they remake this movie?" I threw out a few possible directors for the project ... but I never saw this one coming.

Scott Derrickson, the guy who directed Hellraiser: Inferno and The Exorcism of Emily Rose (as well as an adaptation of Milton's Paradise Lost, which is almost finished), has been tapped by Fox to remake Robert Wise's science-fiction classic. Now, I don't know the guy and I'm sure he's got more talent than his current filmography might indicate ... but did Fox really just hire a two-time low-budget horror helmer to oversee a remake to one of the most beloved sci-fi stories of all time? According to one reliable source, that's precisely what Fox did.

Early word indicates that the story will be "modernized" and that the production will be one of the largest (and longest) to hit Vancouver in quite some time. For those of you too young and/or disinterested to give the original Day a fair shake, I'll remind you that it's about a spaceman who arrives on Earth (with a giant robot) with a mission: Get humans to stop killing each other already. But when humanity responds the way it always does in sci-fi movies, the spaceman (and his giant robot) have to take more ... drastic measures. (It's all right there in the title!) Best of luck to Mr. Derrickson on this project; more information will be shared as soon as it becomes available.

All we have to go on thus far is an updated release date schedule at Box Office Mojo and a Fox-confirmed report over at FirstShowing.net, but it sure as hell looks like Fox has claimed May 9 of next year for a movie called The Day the Earth Stood Still. Yep, another big-budget sci-fi remake, not at all unlike Spielberg's War of the Worlds, that really rotten Time Machine foul-up, or that re-do of When Worlds Collide that Stephen Sommers keeps threating to create.

We have no casting news, no director to announce ... heck, this remake isn't even listed at the IMDb yet. But BOM is a very reliable source, plus FS.net did get a confirmation from the studio, so I guess it's time to start shaking our virtual fists and chatting away on message boards about how The Day the Earth Stood Still is a mega-supreme ultra-classic that doesn't "need" to be remade ... except of course in the arena of commerce. Any guesses, folks? For director I'll speculate ... Alex Proyas? Francis Lawrence? Paul W.S. Anderson? (Just kidding.) Heck, I have no idea. Too bad Spielberg's got his plate full, eh? (More info on this remake as the Cineteam uncovers it!)