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This comes directly from the "WTF?" department (yes, we have one of those here at Cinematical). After I just got finished waxing nostalgic about the original War Games, word comes that the long-discussed sequel to the 1983 film is now going to me made for sure. For a long time, there were just rumors and some bits of info. Then, a script was written and a director attached. Next, there were a couple of title changes and a few other pieces of news that seemed to indicate the film would happen for sure. But then, not a word. During that time, I always held out hope that because of all the various machinations, and the fact that they never announced any cast, the film would eventually go away -- never to be heard from again.

Much to my disappointment, that doesn't appear to be the case because according to Production Weekly, War Games 2: The Dead Code now has a leading man -- Matt Lanter, of the TV show Heroes. To recap for those (like me) too stunned and disappointed to remember: Stuart Gillard will be directing the War Games sequel, from a script by Randall M. Badat, about a computer hacker (played by Lanter) who goes online to play a terrorist-attack simulation game against a government super-computer named Ripley (Ripley? Is nothing sacred?). Of course, once he starts playing the game he realizes he's way over his head because Riply is actually a paranoid artificially intelligent machine bent on saving the human race by imprisoning it. The hacker must then race against time to stop the super-computer and save humanity before it's too late.

So, let's get this straight: The sequel to one of the watershed films of the '80s is being directed by a guy who's biggest feature film credits are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Rocket Man? Being written by a guy who's only feature film credits are Hear No Evil and Surf II and will star a guy that almost no one has ever heard of (I watch Heroes but even I couldn't pick Lanter out of a lineup)? Plus, the story sounds like something concocted after a weekend binge with a bottle of Tequila while watching Fox News Channel. Wow, this sounds like a movie that just has to be made.

Can you sense my extreme sarcasm here? I bet you can. I'm sure Gillard, Badat and Lanter are probably nice guys who were looking for a job, but I just have to say to them -- look elsewhere. This huge mistake begins shooting on November 20 in Montreal -- with arrival at your local Blockbuster soon afterward. Is anyone really interested in wasting 90 minutes of their lives on seeing this movie?

This isn't the first time the world has been threatened by a sequel to the 1983 Matthew Broderick vehicle and quintessential 80s flick War Games. Way back in June of 2005 it was reported here on Cinematical that a film called War Games II: The Deadly Key was in the works. Obviously that project was nuked back into the stone-age, and the notion of developing a War Games franchise was set aside.

Once again, though, the idea of a sequel has reared its head, and with shooting scheduled to begin in Montreal, Canada this November, it looks like this one will actually get made. Stuart Gillard (with many television credits and the direction of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III to his name) will helmWar Games 2: The Dead Game, from a screenplay by Randall M. Badat (whose most recent feature credit on IMDB is the 1993 film Hear No Evil). Anyone feeling hopeful about this yet? The storyline, according to Production Weekly, follows a teenage hacker "whose world gets turned upside after playing an online terrorist-attack simulator game against a government super-computer designed to profile potential terrorists. All hell breaks loose when Homeland Security is convinced that he's a terrorist intent on disrupting the fabric of society." While the story has been updated to reflect a modern awareness of terrorist threats, the basic premise sounds more like a remake than a sequel.

Call me cynical, but how can this be a good idea? War Games was successful in its day, but does the title really carry enough clout to warrant any interest from the general public? No word on a release date, but the smart money says this is going straight to DVD.