Reworked

Re-imagine, re-invent, recycle.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | 2:55 PM

"It's a re-imagining of the original DEATH RACE. It's not a straight remake. It keeps a lot of the original concepts in tact. The masked racer called Frankenstein, who appears to be indestructible, but is not who he appears to be underneath the mask. Yeah, it's still got Machine Gun Joe. It's still a death race, you know, it's a race to the death where the drivers are allowed to kill one another and are encouraged to do so. And just like the original movie had a political message in the 1970s, this does. It's not a massively overt political message but it's about reality television and the Internet run rampant."
—Paul W.S. Anderson talks "Death Race 2008" with Joblo.com.

"The logline remains under wraps, but execs at Warners are aiming to reinvent Holmes and sidekick Dr. John H. Watson. Wigram's noted that the new Holmes would be more adventuresome and take advantage of his skills as a boxer and swordsman."
—Variety reports that Guy Ritchie will direct Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes."

"As reviled as it was when originally released, 'I Spit on Your Grave' was a precursor to a slew of female revenge film hits, Hertzberg said. Contemporary genre fare has become so graphically violent that the original doesn't seem as outrageous as it did 30 years ago. Hertzberg is listening to pitches from writers on how to ratchet up the shock factor. 'After seeing what was done with an R rating on films like 'Saw' and 'Hostel,' we think we can modernize this story, be competitive with what this marketplace expects and not have to aim for an NC-17 or X rating,' Hertzberg said."
—Variety on plans to cash in on one of the most notorious exploitation films ever made while keeping it safe for the multiplexes.

Update: "It was not so much a remake as an homage to Murnau. But I don't feel like doing an homage to Abel Ferrara because I don't know what he did -- I've never seen a film by him. I have no idea who he is. Is he Italian? Is he French? Who is he?"
—Werner Herzog is making "Bad Lieutenant," but it's sort of not a remake, and he'll totally take up Ferrara on his offer to fight, at Defamer.

[Photo: "Death Race," Universal Pictures, 2008]

+ INT: Paul WS Anderson (Joblo.com)
+ Guy Ritchie on Sherlock's case (Variety)
+ Cinetel set for 'Grave' remake (Variety)
+ Defiant Werner Herzog to Defamer: 'Who is Abel Ferrara?' (Defamer)