mario kassar Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Everyone has their list of movies that should not be remade -- whether it's an epic classic like Gone with the Wind, or a cult mainstay like Heathers. That doesn't stop filmmakers from trying, however, with some that re-imagine things and others that recreate things shot by shot and miserably fail. *cough* Psycho *cough* Now we're going into Fritz Lang territory as Variety reports that his epic science fiction film Metropolis is about to be remade. Happy 80th birthday, Metropolis, you could very well be headed for a crappy remake.

To be fair, I'm not completely against the idea, although the only way I'd want to see the possibility is if some great, unique filmmaker took it. If Guy Maddin was going to continue his silent film craze with his take on the German classic, I'd buy it. He does wonders with silent film. However, producer Thomas Schühly (Alexander) bought the remake rights, and is currently working with co-producer Mario Kassar to get a "top director" to helm the project. I imagine that means we'll get a script to accompany this version, and lots of mainstream buzz.

Schuehly says: "With the overwhelming role technology plays in our daily lives, the growing gap between rich and poor, including the gradual elimination of the middle class, the story of Metropolis is a frightening reflection of our society that takes place in an all too possible not too distant future." Why mess with it as a remake? In situations like these, I don't know why filmmakers don't take the base story, use one of those "inspired by" credits, and do something new -- so you give props to the story while also allowing it to exist on its own.

But what do you think? Can the producer behind Alexander, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and The Name of the Rose handle Metropolis? Oh yeah, and just to make it more exciting -- Kassar produced Basic Instinct 2.

Has any writer ever gotten through an article about the Terminator series without making an "I'll be back" reference? I'm going to give it a shot. As Scott told you a few months back, the merchandising, licensing and film rights to the Terminator franchise were recently sold from producing partners Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna (how'd you like to go through high school with that last name?) to a company called Halcyon. Halcyon formed a corporation called T Asset to make Terminator 4, aiming for a Summer 2009 release. T3 screenwriters Michael Ferris and John Brancato were brought on to write the script. The studio even has designs on making T4 the first film in a whole new Terminator trilogy. But yesterday, Halcyon filed a lawsuit accusing MGM of "wrongful and malicious threats to disrupt T Asset's absolute right to negotiate with other motion picture studios regarding the distribution of T Asset's planned production and distribution of the fourth sequel in the highly valuable Terminator franchise."

So what does that all mean in layman's terms? In a nutshell, T Asset wants MGM to butt out. MGM is claiming that they had "the right to an exclusive 30-day first negotiation with respect to the distribution of T4." Negotiations went over 30 days. T Asset says MGM's negotiating period is expired, MGM disagrees. Boom, pow, you got yourself a Hollywood lawsuit. T Asset also accuses MGM of including the assumed financial success of T4 in economic projections that MGM is using to raise money. Apparently MGM is so high on the prospect of Terminator gold, they offered nearly $200 million dollars for the production and advertising of T4 on June 14th. Look, I love the Terminator movies (the first two anyway), but does anyone really think T4 will be as big a smash as previous installments? James Cameron leaving after T2 hit the series pretty hard, but at least T3 still had Schwarzenegger and it made money. All we know about the cast of T4 is that Marcus Schenkenberg is in it (PLEASE don't let him take over for Arnold), and that name's not going to light up a marquee. IMDb has Edward Furlong rumored to be attached, and I certainly hope they're not banking on Mr. Brainscan putting asses in the seats. They'd have to really up the ante on special effects or something to make this proposed trilogy something that will excite the public. I'm going to grab a sandwich and give this some thought. But...I'll be back. Damn it.