Disney Schmisney: Fox Rebooting Fantastic Four

· Not to be outdone by Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel, Fox announced Monday it would kick-start a slate of new films based on the comics giant's Fantastic Four series. Screenwriter/producer Akiva Goldsman is in charge of rebooting the antiquated 2005 original, which also spawned 2007's Rise of the Silver Surfer. Beyond that, Fox also reminded Disney that it owns indefinite rights to the X-Men franchise and all of its respective origin stories -- which still doesn't rule out the prospect of those hotly in-demand (at least around these parts) Mouse gloves with Wolverine claws. Don't make us wait. [Variety]

Teen Wolf inches closer to its own reboot, The L Word tries again with real lesbians, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

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· A few months after greenlighting a series based on the 25-year-old B-comedy starring Michael J. Fox, MTV has re-emphasized its commitment to Teen Wolf. The pilot is headed down the pipe, and the network's execs encourage you not to worry: "It has a fresh take and is very different from the original. [...] It has more of an American Werewolf in Paris feel to it." Would that be the same American Werewolf in Paris still pulling a 9 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes? What could go wrong? [THR]

· Having tired of scripts, actors, directors, and all the other creative headaches that accompany making episodic TV, the producers of The L Word have decided to bring the series back to Showtime as The Real L Word, featuring six actual lesbians going about their daily lives in Los Angeles. This one's drawing parallels to the Real Housewives franchise, which I suppose is a step up from American Werewolf in Paris, but still. [Variety]

· Brandon T. Jackson and Natari Naughton will join Ice Cube and Bow Wow in the comedy Lottery Ticket, in which the latter actor must duel opportunistic neighbors for a weekend in the projects while holding on to a jackpot-winning lotto ticket. [Variety]

· Keanu Reeves will be falsely accused of a bank robbery in the indie romcom Henry's Crime, scripted by Anvil director Sacha Gervasi. For his punishment he'll be sentenced to six weeks of shooting this winter in Buffalo. [Variety]



Comments

  • Furious D says:

    1. This deal will turn out bad for both Disney and Marvel.
    2. One of my favourite stories about how MTV operates involves a Canadian TV show. The show was about a group of foul mouthed criminals and drug dealers and how their scams get them into stupid situations. MTV said that they loved the show's "edginess" and wanted to buy it, but would only buy it if the show ditched the crimes, the foul language, and the constant drug references.
    3. Something to show the world that lesbians are just as boring as everyone else. (I know, I used to share an apartment with a lesbian)
    4. This Lottery Ticket is not a winner.
    5. Winter in Buffalo is against the constitution. Keanu better get his lawyers on this.

  • Donovan says:

    Akiva Goldsman. Akiva Goldsman?! I'd be interested if it were Gregg Araki rebooting what is probably the floppiest, most cartoonishly homoerotic of all the superhero franchises - imagine what he'd do with Ioan Gruffud's oversized endowment... Hollywood is just getting dumber and dumber... so dumb that they're exhuming bad ideas from their late '90s mass-grave and splashing some cologne over the rotting (figurative) corpses: "Akiva Goldsman will bring new life to our superhero franchise!!!" - even a hillbilly serial killer has enough sense to keep quiet with gibberish like that. And Joel Schumacher has no comment.

  • snickers says:

    With Akiva Goldsman on this, we'll be looking at a third reboot in a couple years.

  • JudgeFudge says:

    The Fantastic Four and Increible Hulk films should just resign themselves to making every new feature a reboot. It might make the contractual stuff easier. "Okay, time for a fourth Incredible Hulk Film - who do we want to play the hulk this time? Who's available? Michael Cera might be good. Fuck, why not Larry the Cable Guy. Angelina Jolie? We've never had a girl hulk before? How are we going to re tell the origin story? How realistic do we want the hulk to be this time? Maybe he should be big and orange?"