Have you seen the British crime classic The Long Good Friday lately? The film holds up just fine. But this is 2007, and it's getting remade, and by none other than the virtuoso who brought us Mortal Kombat, Soldier and Aliens vs. Predator, which I have to say was one of the most unexpectedly boring films I've ever seen. The original Good Friday was made in 1980 and starred Bob Hoskins as a sort of East End Scarface who becomes the target of a bombing campaign. According to the BBC, filming on the remake will begin in Miami in 2008, but no details on cast have been announced yet. Things appear to be moving quickly, though, so expect it soon.

The chairman of Handmade Films, which is footing the bill, had this to say about the project: "The original was a highly-praised classic and one of Handmade's most prized films, but its reach was limited primarily to the U.K. Following continued interest from the U.S., we realized that this remake could attract audiences worldwide with an updated setting and contemporary overtones." Anderson himself is also quoted in the piece, noting: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to put a new spin on this classic film which promises to reveal today's gritty underworld in equally shocking fashion." Hmm ... haven't you figured out by now that new spins aren't your cup of tea? Nor is providing content that is 'gritty' or 'shocking.' By the way, you may be interested to know that the photo of Bob Hoskins above was snapped immediately after someone told him that one of his finest roles was being shepherded into the next generation by Paul W.S. Anderson.

For anyone who is as big a Terry Gilliam fan as I, the following might need to be read while sitting down. According to Variety, Handmade Films, the production company co-created by George Harrison, is set to remake Time Bandits, which Gilliam made for the company twenty-five years ago. Possibly my first introduction to the fantastic film maker and also to many of the Monty Python cast, the film is very dear to me as both a Gilliam fan and as a child of the '80s. It tells of a young boy who travels through time and space with a group of little people who have stolen a special map from "the Supreme Being" in order to guide them on a tour of events throughout history, robbing from characters as diverse as Agamemnon, Robin Hood and Napoleon along the way.

Without Gilliam's cooperation and without the cast, which originally included Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Ian Holm and the finest bunch of diminutive actors ever, I just can't imagine how good a Time Bandits redo could be, though I will say that if Handmade reuse Gilliam and Palin's script, it won't be too terrible. I'm not that excited about whatever kind of computer effects they might employ, however.

Handmade, now headed by Patrick Meehan with a production arm led by former Nelson Entertainment exec Anthony Rufus-Isaacs, is supposedly looking to remake more of its older films and in addition to Time Bandits is also working on an update of The Long Good Friday, which originally starred Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, and a new version of Mona Lisa, which also starred Hoskins, to be directed by Larry Clark.

[via Cinema Blend]