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I heard Wednesday is the new Tuesday ...

We never thought it would happen, but Hollywood has finally invented a time machine and is using it to resurrect a number of old franchises. From indieWIRE comes news that MGM's Mary Parent and Harry Sloan are interested in finding out whether audiences want Sly Stallone to return for another Rocky installment. The article adds, "Parent asked for a show of hands from the audience who might be in to that. Though there were a few very enthusiastic responses, many kept quiet." Hmm, maybe they were just pretending not to listen.

During the same MGM panel, Parent mentioned the recently-announced Robocop remake and said it "would be great in 3-D, as would something we're hoping to announce soon." Announce soon? What is it? Could it be Rocky vs Robocop: The Future Ends Here ... in 3-D? Fingers crossed. Here's our earlier story on the Robocop remake, which also includes a remake of Red Dawn. God help us. [via Moviehole]

Finally, on the Star Trek front, a few possible spoilers have leaked out over at TrekMovie.com. I won't go into many details here, though I will say the spoilers have to do with the several different ships featured in the film. Speaking of, what's the official title for this flick? Do we have one yet? Is it just Star Trek? Star Trek XI? How about Star Trek New Beginnings: The Future and the Past Together At Last? On a separate note, MTV spoke with William Shatner who -- wait for it -- is still pretty upset about not being included in the new film. His words (not mine): "I'm solidly behind being disappointed that I'm not in it." Next week Shatner re-phrases things and notes: "I'm not not devastated, though I am positive about being negative."

John Landis may or may not belong in "director jail," as Ryan Stewart wrote about yesterday, but he won't be directing the upcoming big-budget remake The Wolf Man. Instead, Variety is reporting that Joe Johnston has been signed by Universal Pictures to fill the director's chair recently vacated by Mark Romanek due to "creative differences."

Johnston's directorial career began nearly 20 years ago with the earnestly entertaining Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and The Rocketeer. He got bogged down with The Pagemaster and Jumanji before delivering the appealing drama October Sky, my fave of his films. He returned to big budget studio projects with Jurassic Park III and Hidalgo.

Is he the right director for The Wolf Man? Based on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven), the new film is set to star Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. Reportedly, Romanek worked for about a year on the film, and del Toro has long been attached to star, but the two producers that Variety says were "integral in keeping the project on track" -- Scott Stuber and Mary Parent -- have a mixed record.

We've seen plenty of sports figures go on to make movies (like The Rock in this week's new release The Game Plan), but how often do they become screenwriters rather than actors? That is what happened to former Ohio State center Leonard Hartman. And the guy is really getting a number of breaks, in all sorts of genres. So far his only credit listed on the IMDb is a short called Gray Matter, but he's got a ton of projects in the pipeline. As we told you earlier in the year, he's adapting a Depression-era circus-set drama titled Water for Elephants and he wrote the spec script which became the upcoming Goosebumps movie. He also previously wrote a spec about the Homestead Act, which was to be made by the late Alan J. Pakula, and pitched another period piece idea that will be produced by screenwriter Gary Ross (Seabiscuit). Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Hartman has another spec script called Fury, which was just bought by Universal (also home to Goosebumps and the Ross pic).

Like most projects announced in the trades, there's not much revealed in THR about the plot of Fury. But it is probably good to assume that it isn't a comic adaptation about Nick Fury, nor remake of Fritz Lang's classic (sorry if the photo is misleading, there wasn't anything better to use here). All that is known is that it's an action thriller about a group of special forces, and it has a bit of the ol' supernatural in it. Hopefully it will be about some kind of special forces team with supernatural powers -- you know, like basically a team of superheroes. The movie will be produced by Scott Stuber and Mary Parent, who are best known for You, Me and Dupree and The Kingdom, two very different films, and neither of which is like a comic-book-type actioner. I'm sure we'll find out more about Fury in the coming months or year, so stay tuned.

There's a bit of a theme running through the work of one of the newest screenwriting duos, Craig and Jeff Cox. They're the men responsible for the upcoming Blades of Glory -- that movie about the two single figure skaters who lose their medals due to a brawl, are banned from singles competition, and after a hiatus, decide to try again as a pair. Maybe seeing Will Ferrell and Jon Heder skate around is what led them to their next film, tentatively named I, Thalus, which will be another treatment of the Olympics.

Obviously, it's not about modern-day quest for the gold. The Cox brothers are bringing the comedy back to the first Olympics. Unfortunately, that's all they will tell us at this time. As with any comedy, this could be easily good, or easily bad. The Cox Brothers are teaming with producers Scott Stuber and Mary Parent, who can instil hope or fear, depending on your taste. They worked together on You, Me and Dupree, Stuber has the recent The Break-Up under his belt, and Parent... she's connected to the hopefully-shelved Oldboy remake.

Since no further information is available, there is lots of room for speculation. I have this funny feeling that they're not going to be faithful to the original games, unless they whip out some black bars, as contestants originally competed naked -- although they might be able to do it with wrestling, if Borat is any indication. Also, considering the subject matter of the current Cox film, it'll be interesting to see if they include ancient practices of homosexuality, or if they leave some things in the past.

I think it's rare to watch raw independent filmmakers slowly push their way into theaters and actually succeed at doing so. I first noticed brothers Jay and Mark Duplass through their shorts, specifically The Intervention. For those of you who haven't seen it, the film is available on their MySpace page along with a few others. The thing that's great about the shorts is, while mixing the perfect blend of comedy and drama, they're all incredibly simple ... yet very complex.

Ultimately, these shorts are what led to their first feature film, The Puffy Chair. After winning an audience award at SXSW, pic hits arthouse theaters across the country this weekend -- and Austin is stoked about it. Variety is now reporting that Brothers Duplass have signed a blind deal (does that mean they can't see it, but need to trust it is there?) with producers Mary Parent and Scott Stuber to write and eventually direct a film. What kind of film? Hell if I know, but seeing as these two producers are behind The Break Up and You, Me and Dupree, there's a good chance we're talking big commercial hit. These boys may soon need to paint that red chair gold. Good for them -- I dig that kind of journey.