It's been a long time since the Red Sonja remake was announced -- actually, it's not so much a remake as an all-new movie based on the character who originated in the pages of Marvel Comics (and who was based on two separate characters created by Robert E. Howard) -- but now we finally have some updates, courtesy of USA Today. First, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (Desperado) will be producing. Second, Rodriguez' girlfriend, Rose McGowan (Grindhouse), is playing the lead. Third, Rodriguez protégé Douglas Aarniokoski (second unit on Once Upon a Time in Mexico) is directing. Fourth, shooting begins this October. Supposedly neither Rodriguez nor McGowan have seen Richard Fleischer's 1985 version, so we should attempt to wipe away all memories of that critical and commercial failure, if possible, and try to imagine something completely different. Something that will be good enough to kick off a franchise.

I'm actually not sure if I ever saw the old Red Sonja, either, but I can still only picture Brigitte Nielsen in the title role. It's just one of those iconic -- I don't want to say performances, because it's just the actress and costume I picture -- casting decisions. You know you can see her, too: that awesome red mullet; that scale armor skirt; the breast plate that hardly covers her breasts. OK, now try to imagine Rose McGowan in the same costume. I know, it's hot, but it still doesn't seem right. However, Rodriguez told USA Today exactly why she does seem right: "Rose is a pistol. She's whip-smart, has attitude to burn, is sexy, extremely strong, yet has a vulnerable side that would surprise her closest friends. That description also fits Red Sonja."

There must be a Hollywood rule that stipulates a new version of The Three Musketeers every ten years or so. The last outing of the gallant Frenchmen was 1998's The Man in the Iron Mask, so they are right on schedule. Variety is reporting that Millennium Films is the latest to tackle the tale.

Details are scarce, but what sets this new take apart is that it will be an origin story for Aramis, Porthos and Athos. As their backgrounds were shrouded in mystery, this means it will not really be using much that is actually written by Alexander Dumas.
The film is intended to be a franchise, with D'Artagnan appearing in the second or third installment.

He's one of pop culture's most beloved outer space adventurers, but we sure haven't seen a lot of good ol' Buck Rogers lately. (Then again, Flash Gordon's most recent incarnation was pretty awful, so maybe that's a good thing.) Born in 1928 from the pen of Mr. Philip Nowlan, Buck Rogers was a pilot / astronaut who fell into a five-century coma, only to awaken to find the world all futurized and stuff: robots, laser guns, spaceships, interstellar wars, all that jazz.

On screens of various size, the character has appeared in a 12-part 1939 serial from Universal Pictures, a short-lived 1950 television series, and (of course) a 1979 movie / TV program that starred Gil Gerard and (sigh) Erin Gray. So the big guy is heading back to the cinemas? Yep. According to IGN Movies, it's Avi Lerner's Millennium Films that will resurrect the Buck Rogers character for a whole new generation of sci-fi nerdlings. (I guess Millennium is using their Rambo money on this project.)

But it gets even geekier! Apparently author / artist / filmmaker Frank Miller will be the one in the director's chair! IGN says that the $40 million Buck Rogers project will be Miller's next gig once he's all finished with The Spirit. The screenplay comes from genre veteran Flint Dille, but there's one thing that gives me a little pause, and it's this quote specifically: "The cheapness of the low-budget effects will be a running joke in the movie, which will retain the campiness of the 1980s TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century starring Gil Gerard." Whoa, really? That's the direction you want to go in, fellas? Maybe I'm just an old-school Kaelist, but I think BAD things happen when you try to force "campiness." A sense of humor is fine, but let's not make a cheap joke out of good ol' Buck Rogers.

Even though we reported a few months ago that New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to Robert E. Howard's famous sword-fighting Cimmerian Conan the Barbarian, it now appears that news was a bit premature. According to Variety, production/distribution company Millennium Films has finally won the rights to the character after New Line could not close the deal -- even after getting the exclusive right to negotiate for the franchise back in June.

According to the article, rights-holder Paradox Entertainment president and chief executive officer Fredrik Malmberg finally chose Millennium Films after extricating the rights from Warner Brothers last spring -- where the franchise had languished for several years under various directors including The Wachowski Brothers and Robert Rodriguez. With New Line unable to come to final terms this week, Malmberg went with Millennium in a seven-figure deal allowing the company to produce a slate of films based on the character.

Malmberg will produce the new films along with Millennium's Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and George Furla. The company intends to start production on the first of the films by next spring. Reading this news I have to say I'm a bit concerned. As a huge fan of the original Robert E. Howard books and many of the subsequent print and cinematic versions of Conan -- with the notable exception of Red Sonja -- I worry that the cinematic future of this great character is now in the hands of the people responsible for films like Alien Hunter, The Shepherd and Blonde Ambition.

Although, to be fair, Millennium has also turned out some good films too, including, um, well help me out here . . At least, according to the article, they say they intend to be more faithful to the original source material than the series of films featuring His Honor the Governor of California. I hope they stick to that and the films turn out great because the character and the story deserve it. Although, I have to say I'm not particularly optimistic about the chances of that actually happening.

He reportedly had a lot of help on V for Vendetta. Then he helped out as an 'additional director' on The Invasion. So when are we going to see if James McTeigue can direct a film solo? Possibly as early as next year, actually. The former first assistant director (The Matrix trilogy; Attack of the Clones) has just been hired to make Bangkok 8, a mystery thriller set in Thailand. Based on the first of a series of novels by John Burdett, Bangkok 8 follows the story of a Thai police detective investigating the murder of his partner and a U.S. marine, both of whom died by snake bite. The trail of the murderers takes the Buddhist detective, who is named Sonchai Jitpleecheep, into the seedy underground of the jade, drug and sex trades of Bangkok.

The movie should appeal to anyone familiar with Bangkok, as Burdett, who lives in Thailand, fills his books with plenty of commentary and insight about the city and its corruptions. But despite the fact that it sounds like too much of foreign film to attract the sort of fans McTeigue is used to, the movie will presumably have enough action elements to sell to a wide audience. One thing the novel has going for it, as far as multiplex interests are concerned, is an American love interest, described by Amazon.com as a "sexually frustrated FBI agent." Also, Sonchai apparently has conversations with the ghost of his dead partner. Millennium Films hopes to turn Burdett's series into a franchise of films, so McTeigue will definitely need to deliver something better than V for Vendetta. And since this time he will be without the assistance and guidance of the Wachowski Brothers, who are probably too busy making Speed Racer, I wish McTeigue a lot of luck.