It seems like no movie is immune to getting rebooted or remade these days. From superhero stories to horror classics, plenty of famous franchises are getting major makeovers.
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00:00It seems like no movie is immune to getting rebooted or remade these days.
00:04From superhero stories to horror classics, plenty of famous franchises are getting major
00:09makeovers.
00:10The Sean Connery-starring 1986 film Highlander imagines a world where some humans are born
00:15with a gift called the quickening that transforms them into immortals when they die unnatural
00:19and violent deaths, as the only way to kill them is by beheading.
00:23The world's immortals face off in a battle spanning the ages, with the ultimate prize
00:27being the sum of all their energy.
00:29Several sequels followed, with the most recent coming out in 2007.
00:32The story was continued in the popular 1992 TV show Highlander the Series, starring Adrian
00:37Ball, which lasted six seasons before it ended.
00:40Another short-lived spinoff series, Highlander the Raven, aired in syndication in 1998.
00:45Since then, at least one adaptation seems to have languished in development hell before
00:49eventually getting dropped.
00:50In 2009, Fast & Furious director Justin Lim was connected to a Highlander reboot, with
00:55Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg brought on to take a stab at the project in 2011.
01:00People are asking about you.
01:04What am I supposed to say?
01:08Tell them I'm immortal."
01:09Fortunately for fans of the franchise, it was announced in 2023 that Highlander was
01:13getting a $100 million reboot from Lionsgate, with Henry Cavill starring and John Wick director
01:19Chad Stahelski at the helm.
01:21The new production will be a prequel and is set to begin filming in January 2025 for
01:25a possible 2026 release.
01:27Speaking of the film at CinemaCon in 2024, Cavill teased that the movie will delve deep
01:32into the Highlander lore.
01:34The better part of a century has passed since the first Superman comic rolled out in 1938.
01:39Starring Kirk Allen as the Man of Steel, Columbia Pictures' 15-part 1948 serial ended up being
01:44the franchise's first live-action adaptation, but certainly not the last.
01:48Since then, The Last Son of Krypton has made quite a few big-screen appearances.
01:52There's the 1951 B-movie Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves, the Christopher
01:57Reeve era beginning in 1978, the Brandon Rouse starring Superman Returns, and Henry Cavill's
02:03Man of Steel era beginning in 2013.
02:05And that's to say nothing of small-screen iterations like Smallville and Lois and Clark.
02:10As part of DC's most recent efforts to keep up with Marvel's popularity, the franchise
02:14has a Superman reboot on the way from James Gunn, with a release date set for July 11th,
02:192025.
02:20Gunn already has plenty of experience in the superhero genre, with directorial credits
02:23that include the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel as well as DC's The Suicide
02:28Squad.
02:29In this soft reboot, which wrapped filming in July 2024, Superman will be around 25 years
02:34old and still working to find his place in the world as an adopted human with an otherworldly
02:39heritage.
02:40It stars David Corenswear as Superman, Nicholas Holt as Lex Luthor, and Rachel Brosnahan as
02:44Lois Lane.
02:46With its endless stream of memeable moments and three unique endings, Clue is essential
02:50viewing.
02:51Even though it's considered a cult classic today, the board game-inspired comedy performed
02:55rather poorly when it first came out.
02:57But thankfully, it didn't take long for folks to warm up to it.
02:59Clue ended up spawning a nationally-run stage adaptation and has received television homages
03:04everywhere from Psych to Adventure Time, attempts at a Clue reboot have been fizzling out since
03:092009, when Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Ring, was connected
03:14to an adaptation.
03:15Hasbro's efforts to shop the project bounced from Universal to 20th Century Fox before
03:19eventually landing with Sony.
03:21Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman were connected to the project at one point, but both have
03:25moved on to other projects.
03:26Just checking.
03:27Everything alright?
03:28Yep.
03:29Two corpses.
03:30Everything's fine.
03:31In September 2024, Barbarian director Zach Kreger was reportedly in talks about signing
03:37on to direct, while Army of the Dead screenwriter Shea Hatton was on board to pen the script.
03:42But Kreger may have already moved on to another Sony production, leaving the film's future
03:46and several key details — like who will direct and star in it — very much up in
03:49the air, as of fall 2024.
03:52Another remake that's seemingly been languishing in development hell for ages is a big-screen
03:56adaptation of the 1970s spy-fight action superhero series The Six Million Dollar Man.
04:02Starring Lee Majors as Colonel Steve Austin, the original show followed an astronaut who
04:06gets a completely bionic overhaul after a NASA test flight leaves him badly injured.
04:11Left with superhuman abilities thanks to his fancy new cybernetic implants, Austin goes
04:15to work for a top-secret government agency.
04:17The popular series ran for five seasons and led to the three-season 1976 spin-off The
04:22Bionic Woman, as well as a handful of made-for-TV movies.
04:25The 2007 remake of Bionic Woman seemed promising, but its eight episodes were met with critical
04:30disdain before it was canceled.
04:32Although several attempts at a reboot of the original show have failed to emerge, Mark
04:35Wahlberg says he's still committed to bringing the franchise back as a theatrical feature.
04:40Wahlberg, who's been attached to the project since 2014, gave an update in 2024, telling
04:45Comic Book,
04:46"...I have one superhero movie in mind, and it's The Six Billion Dollar Man, formerly
04:49known as The Six Million Dollar Man, gone up due to inflation."
04:53When the 1986 musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, based on the Off-Broadway show and
04:571960 dark comedy horror flick, came out, it was an instant hit, thanks in no small part
05:02to some truly hilarious performances.
05:04Both versions follow the nerdy, put-upon-flourish shop worker Seymour Krelborn, whose discovery
05:09of a mysterious talking plant helps him win over the girl of his dreams.
05:12There's just one catch — the plant has a peculiar, carnivorous diet.
05:16"...I'm gonna go down to Schmendrick's and pick you up some nice chopped sirloin."
05:19"...Must be blood."
05:20"...Tooey, that's disgusting."
05:22"...Must be brinish."
05:24The original source material is getting another reimagining as The Little Shop of Halloween
05:28Horrors, with insiders saying that this adaptation will share more in common with the 1960 Roger
05:33Corman-directed B-movie than its musical offspring.
05:36The film, which was scheduled to begin production in the fall of 2024, will be directed by horror
05:40comedy legend Joe Dante, who's best known for classics like Gremlins and The Burbs.
05:46Adapting the choose-your-own-adventure world of most video games into films can prove a
05:50tricky endeavor, which is perhaps why so many video game movies end up as box office bombs.
05:55For fans of the massively popular Japanese zombie horror game franchise Resident Evil,
05:59turning the story into a full-length feature film has always been a tall order to fill.
06:03With a mixed but largely profitable box office performance, the seven live-action Resident
06:07Evil films — six of which star Mila Jovovich as the amnesiac hero Alice — have amassed
06:12a serious cult following.
06:13Netflix's 2022 reboot series attempted to harness the magic with a separate storyline
06:18starring the late, great Lance Reddick, but it was ultimately canceled after only a season.
06:23Even though it was much more faithful to the source material than the film adaptations,
06:27it fell flat with audiences.
06:28Now there's hope for fans of the original films, who would also love to see worldbuilding
06:32more directly connected to the games.
06:34Although it's still very much in the rumor phase, Barbarian director Zach Kroeger may
06:37now be closer to doing so with the new Resident Evil reboot, having allegedly passed up a
06:42chance to work on the new Clue film to focus on bringing Raccoon City to movie theaters.
06:47Fans of Todd McFarlane's comic book antihero Spawn have been waiting ages to see their
06:51favorite franchise be booted on screen.
06:53And while it seems they might need to wait a little bit longer, McFarlane says that it's
06:57hope the project will be moving forward in the future.
06:59The return of Al Simmons, who made a deal with a demon in order to return to Earth as
07:03an undead vigilante, is closer than ever.
07:06Efforts to launch a sequel to the original 1997 film have been stuck in development hell
07:10for decades.
07:11By 2017, plans for a Blumhouse production were supposedly underway, with Jamie Foxx
07:16on board as the lead.
07:17But between the pandemic, the strikes, and the usual Hollywood process, that hasn't panned
07:21out thus far.
07:23You sent me to hell, Jason!
07:25I'm here to return the favor!"
07:29The good news is that the ball still seems to be rolling, with McFarlane revealing that
07:32Joker writers Scott Silver and others have been hard at work on the script.
07:37McFarlane told ComicBook.com that he feels confident about where the script, which features
07:40the working title King Spawn, is headed, saying,
07:43"...there's the script, but the writers are… they're not quite sort of satisfied with their
07:47own work, which is what all of us creative people are."
07:49Keeping with a trend maintained by recent productions like Deadpool and Wolverine, King
07:53Spawn will be rated R.
07:55Marvel's societical hit Blade stars Wesley Snipes as a half-human, half-vampire known
08:00as a Dharmpir, or Daywalker, who has the best traits of a vampire and few of their weaknesses.
08:05He was so popular that he reprised the role in two sequels, and even made an appearance
08:09in Deadpool and Wolverine.
08:11Rumors about a new Blade reboot or sequel began circulating in 2013, when it was revealed
08:16that Marvel had generated a new script for the franchise.
08:18Marvel made it official in 2019, announcing at San Diego Comic-Con that a new Blade movie
08:23starring Mahershala Ali was in development.
08:26Unfortunately, the project has faced numerous setbacks, including multiple scripts and two
08:30different directors coming and going.
08:32Addressing those delays in June 2024, co-star Mia Goth told Deadline,
08:36"...they want to make a great movie.
08:38That's the sense that I get from them, and that feels good."
08:40The film was scheduled for a November 7, 2025 release date, but it got bumped from Disney's
08:45release schedule in October 2024 and replaced with the next Predator sequel.
08:50Director Mike Flanagan has built a cult following over the years, with a long stream of creepy
08:54supernatural horror films and limited series.
08:57As one of the most beloved horror filmmakers currently working, it's hard to imagine a
09:00better director for a Blumhouse reboot of The Exorcist — a second one, that is.
09:04In a $400 million deal, Universal secured the rights to make an Exorcist trilogy, with
09:09the studio originally enlisting Halloween filmmaker David Gordon Green to direct them.
09:14When the first film in that trilogy, 2023's The Exorcist Believer, proved a box office
09:18disappointment, the studio replaced him with Flanagan in hopes of turning things around.
09:22If his other works are any indication, Flanagan's appreciation for The Exorcist may be the missing
09:26piece that's needed for the quality reboot fans have been missing.
09:29As he told Deadline,
09:30"...The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honor to have the
09:34chance to try something fresh, bold, and terrifying within this universe."
09:38The film is slated for theatrical release on March 13, 2026.
09:42"...What an excellent day for an exorcism."
09:46Some amazing horror movies are successful in spite of their tiny budgets, but the fact
09:49that The Blair Witch Project was made for just $35,000 is a major part of its terrifying
09:55success.
09:56Two and a half decades later, there's seemingly no one better to revive that magic than Jason
10:00Blum and his team at Blumhouse, who built their reputation with low-budget horror films
10:04like Paranormal Activity.
10:05Announcing the project in an April 2024 press release, Lionsgate revealed that Blum will
10:10be teaming up with producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, whose many production credits
10:14include The Ring, the 2016 TV adaptation of The Exorcist, and the 2024 Max adaptation
10:20of Salem's Lot.
10:21For his part, Blum seems thrilled to be connected to the project.
10:24In his words,
10:25"...I don't think there would have been a Paranormal Activity had there not first been
10:28a Blair Witch, so this feels like a truly special opportunity and I'm excited to see
10:32where it leads."
10:33The original film's three stars also hope to be included in the production process.
10:37In an April 2024 Facebook post on behalf of the actors, citing earlier failed reboots,
10:42Joshua Leonard wrote,
10:43"...as the insiders who created The Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans
10:46love and want for 25 years, we're your single greatest, yet thus far, unutilized secret
10:51weapon."
10:53A fantasy franchise built around a 1980s toy should almost have no right to have worldbuilding
10:57as complex and well-developed as Masters of the Universe, the Sword & Planet franchise
11:01encompassing He-Man and She-Ra.
11:03But since their 1982 creation, the beefy Golden Boy Prince and his twin sister have spawned
11:08their fair share of comic books, animated TV shows, and a film that happened to be a
11:12total bomb.
11:13Starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man while featuring a pre-Friends Courteney Cox and a pre-Star
11:18Trek Voyager Robert Duncan McNeil, the live-action Masters of the Universe was perhaps best characterized
11:23by variety as a, quote,
11:24"...Conan, Star Wars hybrid ripoff."
11:27But with the more recent success of the Netflix animated shows She-Ra and the Princess of
11:31Power and Masters of the Universe Revelation, the franchise is getting another chance to
11:35shine in the live-action space.
11:37The Masters of the Universe reboot will star Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Alison Brie
11:41as Skeletor's witch crony Evil-Lyn, and Camila Mendes as Teela, with Travis Knight on board
11:46to direct.
11:47Chris Butler, who previously worked with Knight on Paranorman and Kubo and the Two Strings,
11:51is co-writing the script for the production, which is currently scheduled for a theatrical
11:54release on June 5, 2026.