Welcome to Remake Hell, and 5 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: Will Smith is apparently linked to Annie... Production tax credits are in trouble... Downey flees Oz... The wildest Oscar-race speculation of the season to date... and more...

· You might think a studio whose most substantial successes of 2010 included an original sci-fi thriller (Inception) and a lean heist/romance based on a book (The Town) might invest a bit in similarly adventuresome development strategies. Alas, word on the street is that Warner Bros. has a remake boner for Lethal Weapon, The Wild Bunch and Westworld. "Technology alone is almost reason enough to remake it," notes THR of the latter. Mmmhmm. [THR]

· More debilitating rumor: Will Smith, his daughter Willow Smith and Jay-Z are linked to a possible updating/remake of the musical Annie. Obviously. [Variety]

· Surprise! Robert Downey Jr. will not star as the title character in Sam Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful. Johnny Depp is the latest lead to be "circling," which means Jim Carrey will presumably be next, followed by Mike Myers, who'll finally commit and do it for scale. [THR]

· Film and TV production incentives are in trouble in cash-strapped states like Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and others. "That has been enough to send a shudder through Hollywood, where producers have come to rely on taxpayer support for films like How Do You Know, The Social Network, Love and Other Drugs, 127 Hours and many others," reports the NYT. Wow! Imagine a world where How Do You Know cost $140 million instead of $120 million. Thanks, taxpayers! I don't know whether I need a drink or a Kleenex. [NYT]

· "The King's Speech, by the time it finally gets to... the king's speech, has become an allegory for the age of Barack Obama," writes Owen Gleiberman, explaining how zeitgeist works against the film's Oscar hopes. "[...] The King's Speech is about a tormented man who learns to speak. But it is also about a king who moves a nation with the kind of pretty words that few today can pretend will solve a nation's problems. And that, I believe, takes a bit of the bloom off this Oscar rose." Wait, what? [EW]

· Here's a bit of good news to end with: An independent theater owner in Illinois sold his 3-D projection equipment back to the supplier, explaining, "This is more trouble than it's worth." This will make you stand up and cheer... and then you remember Drive Angry is coming out. Oh well! It's the little things. [Decatur Herald and Review]