Those manatees really know how to keep themselves busy. In one of the more irreverent news items of the day, Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane -- whose voice work is currently on display in Hellboy II: The Golden Army -- has told TV Week that he hopes to get a Family Guy movie off the ground in a year or so. The announcement was first picked up by Ain't It Cool News, where most commenters seem fairly lukewarm about the idea. Honestly, it's hard not to agree with them. Family Guy already has two feature length titles out on DVD, and neither one really raised the bar for the show or even played better than a decent episode.

At least The Simpsons movie had a plot that made sense for ninety minutes. Family Guy, with its incessant randomness, generally works as a series of distractions. In other words, not the sort of thing that really needs to get expanded beyond the half hour structure. Then again, the show has its devout base, which eagerly anticipates each sloppily constructed gag like clockwork, so maybe the new film project is good business sense. Either way, the South Park two-parter that took Family Guy to task remains far more entertaining (and insightful) than Family Guy's entire six-season run.

Now that just about every horror movie ever made has been RE-made, I guess we're now preparing for a massive onslaught of science fiction retreads ripofffs remakes. New versions of The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and When Worlds Collide are in various stages of re-production -- and now it's time for the 1970s sci-fi flicks to be exploited. To that end, Irish director John Moore will direct a remake of Peter Hyams' 1978 sci-fi thriller Capricorn One. I imagine it will be only weeks before we get fresh news on remakes of Logan's Run, Soylent Green, Zardoz, and Silent Running.

The original Capricorn starred Elliott Gould and James Brolin, and it was about the trouble that goes down after NASA decides to "fake" a moon Mars landing. According to Variety, the screenplay comes from Jurassic Park 3 writer Peter Buchman and the funding will come from New Regency / Fox. The director's last film was an ill-fated remake of The Omen (which was just so damn boring), but I'm definitely a fan of Moore's Flight of the Phoenix as well as his basic-yet-entertaining Behind Enemy Lines. Also, he just finished up Max Payne for Fox, and I'm definitely looking forward to that one.

Yesterday we told you that Ricky Gervais was in talks to reprise his character from the first Night at the Museum for its sequel, now titled Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian, and that whether or not he joined the film depended upon his very busy upcoming schedule. I told him he has to do it (seeing as he was the best part of the first film), and he definitely wants to do it, but we'll see. Now Variety tells us today that Night 2 will take Avatar's release date of May 22, 2009, with the highly-anticipated James Cameron 3D film shifting over to a December 18, 2009 release. This kinda sucks, as I'm sure a lot of you were looking forward to Avatar kicking off the summer of 2009 with a bang. Instead, it will arrive shortly before Santa does. (Am I the only one who would rather the big films come in summer? December is always so ... hectic. Shopping, lists, fat men in suits ... I could go on.) Then again, Avatar will now be released on the same weekend that saw Titanic back in 1997. So perhaps it's a lucky weekend for Cameron.

Now that Night at the Museum 2 is swapping locations, they can also include some more historical figures. Variety tells us that Reese Witherspoon has been approached to play Amelia Earhart. The trade also indicates that other cast members from the first film might return (like Gervais), but we won't hear about those moves for another few weeks. Ben Stiller is already attached to reprise his role from the first film. As a straight-up kids film, I kinda enjoyed the first Night at the Museum. While the plot was cruddy, and the bad guys weren't all that scary, the flick was very alive and entertaining ... for kids. I'm curious to see what they do with the sequel. On another front, Fox also announced that it will release Ice Age 3 in digital 3D on July 1, 2009.

Talk of a Wolverine movie have been ongoing since (I think) right after X2 came out, and the project has been moving forward (slowly but surely) since that time. Now comes word from Variety that the Hugh Jackman spinoff project has claimed a release date, changed its title (slightly), and promises some new mutants that we haven't seen yet ... as well as some old young friends.

May 1, 2009, is when the Gavin Hood-directed Fox action movie will make its debut, and when it arrives it'll most likely be called X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- which means we can probably expect to hear some fresh news about X-Men Origins: Magneto some time soon. It also looks like Liev Schreiber is close to signing on as William Stryker. Yes, he'll be playing the younger version of the Brian Cox character from X2.

According to Variety, the story "explores the claw-wielding character Wolverine's violent and romantic past, and his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program, as well as his encounters with other mutants." (The Wolverine screenplay comes from Troy writer David Benioff.) And since Mr. Hood is presently scheduled to shoot some of Wolverine in New Orleans, that's led to some speculation that Gambit may be among the new mutants.

For (lots) of previous reports on Wolverine, just toss the word "wolverine" into our search bar and get comfortable.

It's a good thing we really trust the guys at Twitchfilm, because I'd hate to be sharing this report if it wasn't accurate. But according to Twitchmaster Todd Brown, it looks like Fox has removed director Xavier Gens from post-production on Hitman. Why? Because his preferred cut of the film was (get this) too violent! Really? Wow. See, here's how I know Hollywood is a lunatic bin: Whomever hired Mr. Gens for this job had to know two things:

1. The director's first film -- Frontiere(s) -- is so amazingly and powerfully violent that it almost becomes parody.

2. The video game? You know, the one that this new Hitman movie is BASED ON? It's a pretty damn violent game. Like, really violent.

But reports indicate that the producers want a PG-13 flick to sell to the kids. So out come the hired scissors and out goes a young Frenchman who probably didn't know what hit him. As far as the movie goes, us grown-up action-lovers will undoubtedly have to wait for the Unrated Director's Cut DVD to see the flick Mr. Gens intended. (Because studios will gladly admit their earlier mistakes, but only when there are extra DVDs to sell.)

So you know what? That's what I'll do. If Hitman comes out as a PG-13 flick, I'll simply skip the theatrical release and rent the DVD in a few months. Fox pulled the exact same hedge-betting with Live Free or Die Hard earlier this year (unrated DVD coming soon!), and I daresay it's getting a little annoying. At this point an action film's theatrical release feels more like a 90-minute advertisement for the "big boy" DVD version.

I mean, really. Remember this story once you get to see Frontiere(s). You won't believe they hired THIS director if the original goal was a PG-13 movie.

It's a sci-fi action flick starring Hayden Christensen, and it's called Jumper. Sound like something you'd want to see? Eh, maybe. But if I went on to explain that the flick comes from the director of Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith ... and all of a sudden the movie sounds just a little more intriguing. (To me, anyway. I'm a Doug Liman fan.) Based on the novel by Steven Gould -- and adapted for the screen by the eclectic team of David S. Goyer, Simon Kinberg and Jim Uhls -- Jumper is about a young adult who has the power of teleportation. Which leads to all sorts of espionage mayhem and chases and such.

Co-starring alongside the former Anakin Skywalker are Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Tom Hulce, Michael Rooker and Samuel L. Jackson in a wig that looks like white astroturf. Fox presently has Jumper scheduled for that coveted February 15 release date, but if you'd like to click through the newly-updated official site, please do so right here. The brand-new trailer is also included, so stop back and share your thoughts. I hate to sound so negative, but I'm getting a distinct Operation: Stormbreaker vibe on this flick. Either way, the teleporting stuff looks really cool.

So now that Halo 3 has officially hit stores (in a ginormous way), folks are probably wondering whether Halo: The Movie would start picking up some pre-strike steam. I swear, it's the oddest project I've ever come across. The friggin' video game is a monster -- I mean a real whale here -- and yet Hollywood is avoiding the movie as if it were the plague. I shouldn't really blame all of Hollywood; primarily we're talking Universal and Fox, both of whom originally attempted to team up on the project. But after months of arguing over who really took the cookie from the cookie jar, the project was put to rest. Now, Neill Blomkamp, the relative unknown who was originally tapped by Peter Jackson to direct the Halo film, speaks out about what happened, where the project is now and what his Halo movie would've looked like.

Blomkamp spoke to Creativity Online, and among other things in the interview, he says, "The film is entirely dead. Whatever happens with that movie, assuming that movie gets made, will be a totally different configuration. It's not so much me as the entire vessel sank. Basically, it was a combination of; there were two studios involved that weren't getting along in the process of making it, Universal and Fox. That kind of stuff happens, it's a fragile industry. So the film collapsed at the end of last year, and it's been dead, ever since then. I'll be curious to see what happens." Blomkamp also talks about the three promotional shorts he made for Halo 3, and how none of them had anything to do with a potential movie. Those were made specifically to promote Halo 3, although fans (like me) looked at them as more of a tease.

It really is a shame, and I hope people from Universal and Fox read this, because this dude Neill Blomkamp would've made an amazing Halo film, unlike any video game adaptation out there. Just check out some of the things he says about his vision: "I wanted it to feel like the most brutal, real version of science fiction in a war environment that you've seen in a while. And Universal was on board with that. I don't really remember what Fox thought about it, but Universal seemed down with it. It would have been cool, it would have been a unique take on things, science fiction in a dirty, organic way." So then what the hell happened? Why couldn't they get this done? Apparently there were budgetary concerns, but I would've taken the chance. Who knows what will happen from here, but rest assured Halo: The Movie directed by Neill Blomkamp will soon join the growing list of films that should've been made, but never were.

[Thanks to Shawn for the tip]

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!)

They did it with War of the Worlds. They did it with The Time Machine. And they did it (again and again and again) with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (Plus we keep hearing about new versions of When Worlds Collide, Logan's Run and The Day the Earth Stood Still, lord help us all.) So what's to stop, say, 20th Century Fox from mounting a brand-new version of Fantastic Voyage? Absolutely nothing. Seems that with all the classic horror titles being remade every two weeks, those clever producers are now moving into classic sci-fi titles. And guess who's been invited to direct...

Yes, according to Variety, the man who gave you Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow and the upcoming 10,000 B.C. -- Mr. Roland Emmerich -- will be helming the Fantastic Voyage remake for Fox. And if you haven't formed an opinion yet, I'll let you know that the latest draft comes from "The Wibberleys," also known as credited screenwriters on The 6th Day, I Spy, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Boys 2, National Treasure and ... The Shaggy Dog. Emmerich and The Wibberleys. (Pause for dramatic effect.) Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

To those not entirely well-versed in classic '60s sci-fi, I'll remind you that Fantastic Voyage is about a team of scientists who climb inside a nifty ship and get miniaturized so they can travel through the bloodstream of a dying genius and save his life. (Just like Innerspace ... only first!) The 1966 Richard Fleischer film starred the likes of Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasance and Raquel Welch ... which means the remake will probably star Aaron Eckhart, Jack Black and Jessica Alba.

And whoever decides to remake The Incredible Shrinking Man is going to earn one strongly-worded blog-rant from yours truly. Darnit.

Time once again for our weekly Indie Film Blog Group Hug, wherein we check in with other film blogs around the internet to see what other folks are writing about. One of these days, I want to throw a big party at my house and have all the other film bloggers from around the world converge in my living room to wax eloquent about all things film-related over chips and salsa, taquitos and icy-cold margaritas. Wouldn't that be a blast? In the meantime, the Group Hug will have to suffice ...

Oh, and by the way, fellow cinephiles, if you have a film blog I don't know about (or even if you've previously submitted your blog and I haven't covered it in a while), drop me a line at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com to point me your way.

• Over on The Hot Blog, David Poland writes about whether it means anything that Fox pulled out of Comic-Con, and ponders the whole sticky-wicket issues of which critics get into sceenings when, which leads to a discussion of embargoes, which then gets into the whole kerfuffle surrounding the Baltimore Sun and NYT breaking embargo on the lastest (and last) Harry Potter tome. And somehow, he manages to tie it all together in a way that actually makes sense ...
• ... Meanwhile over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Poland's sometime-rival Jeff Wells commentates nicely (I think) on Poland's piece and offers up his own take on the whole Fox-pulls-out-of-Comic-Con-Does-That-Mean-The-Simpsons-Movie-sucks thing.
• Apparently everyone the Baltimore Sun and NYT have everyone thinking about all things Potter this week, as both Anne Thompson, Matt Dentler, and Karina Longworth ** (great minds thinking alike) have posts up about the Harry Potter embargo-breaking, too.
• Strange Culture is already thinking Oscars ... in July! That's right, RC is already positing that Roger Deakins will be nominated for an Oscar for cinematography -- and that's probably a pretty good guess. Any early bets on other Oscar noms?
• Indie Film Nation, which runs some nifty podcasts about all things indie, has a fascinating interview up with Richard Moore, the director of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Good stuff. While you're already over there, check out last week's interview with Goetz Weber, CEO and co-founder of inDPlay.
• Checking out what's going down over at Twitch, Kurt has a little post up {via just about everyone on the planet, so this is obviously old news to everyone but me -- figures) about the possibility that one of my favorite films ever, John Carpenter's They Live, might -- that's might -- be made into a series for the Sci-Fi channel. They live is great political satire wrapped up as a fun horror flick, and I agree with Kurt -- it's never been more relevant than it is now. Keep your fingers crossed -- if it does ever get made, that's one series that's getting set to record on my DVR, baby. Don't forget your special sunglasses ...

**Karina does indeed have a great mind, but that particular post was about Fox and Comic-Con, not Harry Potter. It's still a good post and worth reading, though. The moral of this story? Don't read 40 different film blogs while simultaneously writing a post and getting four kids ready to get out the door for swim lessons without double-checking that you've got it all right. Thanks for setting it straight, Karina. It's good to still have you around to keep us on our toes.