You'd think there wouldn't be a ton of stuff to catch you post-Turkey blokes up with, but it's the exact opposite. So here's some stuff(ing) and things to skim over today:

-- Folks are going bonkers today over news in Production Weekly that the much-anticipated (and kinda secretive) Tron sequel has changed its title to TRZ in order to trick young kids into thinking MTV has adapted their now-retired TRL for the big screen. Okay, that's not the real reason ... but do we really need to know the real reason? TRZ? Here's the snippet of plot synopsis they provided: "After being transported into the surreal landscape of a mainframe computer to destroy an intruder, a programmer finds himself allied with the leader of a rebellion against a corrupt cyber-entity." According to Disney, an official title for the Tron sequel is not set yet.

-- George Miller finally went on the record and told a talk show in Sydney that he's officially off Justice League. He's done. That's it. Over. Dark Horizons says Miller thinks the film will be recast when (and if) it happens because "the studios seem to want bigger stars in their superhero movies now." We wonder why?

-- According to Shock, a source tells them Rob Zombie will indeed return to direct Halloween 2, the follow-up to his successful (at the box office) reboot of the franchise, titled Halloween. Additionally, the site claims Halloween 2 will begin shooting as early as this March.

-- Why do all the Nazi flicks come out during the holidays? And how do you sell them?

-- Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law has been arrested for the deaths of the actress/singer's mother, brother and nephew, according to CBS News.

After the jump: First looks at Whip It and Youth in Revolt, more on Chef and a very cool short film contest.

Filed under: RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels

Continue reading Stuff and Things: Some Post-Turkey 'Tron' Sequel Hatin'

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Le casting se précise pour le remake de Fame avec une nouvelle brochette d'acteurs.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 as it will be one helluvah day thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment. All arriving on the same say are: Friday the 13th Uncut: Deluxe Edition DVD, FRIDAY THE 13TH Uncut: Deluxe Edition Blu-ray, Friday the 13th Part II: Deluxe Edition DVD and Friday the 13th Part 3 3D: Deluxe Edition DVD (yep, it's actually in 3-D this time!), all featured in widescreen with 5.1 surround. Beyond the break you'll find full specs, along with cover art for all four items. New Line Cinema's remake of FRIDAY THE 13TH arrives in theaters February 13th.

Réalisé par des amateurs, Black Mesa est le remake de Half-Life, qui vient de fêter ses dix printemps. L'occasion de voir, en vidéo, un teaser qui annonce assurément du travail bien fait et léché à souhait, et qui vient remémorer du même coup, pas mal de (vieux) souvenirs aux croulants du jeu vidéo. Quoi ? Pourquoi vous me regardez ainsi ? Vous voulez mon portrait digital en 1600*1200 ? En tout…

It never fails to amuse me whenever parents get all worked up about an occasional f-bomb or a flash of boob, but show 'em a story about child genocide peppered with mild misogyny and presto -- you've got a children's classic! Almost two years ago, it was announced that Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón would be taking on an update of Roald Dahl's The Witches, and it was originally reported that Cuarón was going to direct. Now, though, it seems like things have changed, and Empire has broken the news (in an interview with Cuarón) that Del Toro has not only finished the screenplay, but will also be taking the helm for the fantasy update.

Dahl's original story centered on a conspiracy of witches looking to rid the world of children (great bedtime story, huh?), and received the feature film treatment once before. But, that hasn't stopped the studio from going ahead with a brand new version of the dark children's tale, and by the sounds of it, there are going to be plenty of changes in Del Toro's update. Cuarón told Empire, "It won't be like the original Nicolas Roeg version, which was a beautiful film," because (and this is the very exciting part), Del Toro plans to "do it completely in stop-motion animation."

When Nicolas Roeg's version was released back in 1990, a few changes were made to make the story a little less disturbing for the kiddies (including a much lower body count). But for you purists out there, at least we can rely on the fact that at least Del Toro isn't afraid to play rough with kids on the big screen.

Sound off below, and tell us what you think about Del Toro's plan for the 'kiddie-killing' update...

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking

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Today on Offworld we got a deep look inside the mechanics of World of Goo, one of our top picks for independent game of the year, as well as a first look at how one of the earliest computer games ever made translates to the iPhone. We also found an exhaustive list of games using the ubiquitous Wilhelm Scream, and noted an upcoming book that charts the history of LucasArts games (a division of the same company that made the Scream famous). We also saw that Bullfrog's classic Dungeon Keeper PC game is getting revived as an Asian MMO, listened to Morricone-by-way-of-Street-Fighter, saw new Tetris and Breakout tabletop games doubling as piggy banks, watched the first video of a jaw-dropping fan-remake of the original Half-Life, and examined why Left 4 Dead has the best tutorial ever... and why you never noticed it had one to begin with....br style="clear: both;"/ a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=ed86bd4f07cc383db58dd1f4cb4e0495p=1"img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=ed86bd4f07cc383db58dd1f4cb4e0495p=1"//a img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=ed86bd4f07cc383db58dd1f4cb4e0495" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/

Some very interesting developments come in this morning courtesy of Shock, who report that Rob Zombie has officially come on board to write and direct Halloween 2 for Dimension Films. They also write that filming is slated for March, which means Zombie will have to hit the gas on writing a script, unless he's secretly been developing it over the past few months. Sources close to us have told us that Zombie has been asked repeatedly to produce the remake, and Zombie even told us he wouldn't stick his name on something unless he was actually involved in the creative process. We've put out calls and e-mails to various sources attempting to get some sort of confirmation (and the silence makes me think something is definitely up), we'll get back to you with an update as soon as it comes in. If this is true, I guess we can scratch T-REX off the slate for awhile. Post your thoughts beyond the break!

It appears that LAKE MUNGO has been impressing the masses. We learned this afternoon from a reliable source that writer-director Joel Anderson is in final talks (meaning he isn't signed on just yet) to pen the screenplay for Warner Bros. Pictures' newest Twilight Zone feature film. In the initial announcement it was revealed that they not seeking to remake an episodic movie, as the only big-screen version of the show did 25 years ago, but rather hope to build one continuing story line based on one or more episodes. Paramount Vantage announced they'll be remaking Anderson's MUNGO, which tells the story (in documentary style) of a teenager whose apparent death sets off a series of paranormal events.

When a director says he's trying something different with a remake, that's what gets me excited. If you're going to do the exact same movie, what's the point? Writer-Director Adam Gierasch has officially wrapped his remake of Night of the Demons, which features the rocking cast of Diora Baird, Shannon Elizabeth, Monica Keena, Bobbi Sue Luther, Jonathan Beach, Michael Copon, Tiffany Shepis and Edward Furlong. Beyond the break you can check out the AFM sales art for the film, courtesy of B-D reader 'Billykill'.

A few months back I was discussing Fantastic Fest with Sir Devin Faraci, and he professed to me that one of the films he was most looking forward to -- was something 25 years old! Yes, Devin is a HUGE Planet of the Apes fan, so he was elated to see the "unseen cut" of J. Lee Thompson's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Mega-geeked, in fact.

So when it comes to new info on this long-running franchise, I put much stock in Faraci's ravings. Here's the short version: It looks like there will be an Apes prequel that starts off before the original film. And by "original film," I assume they mean the 1968 one. And then we hear from Cinema Blend (who got it from Production Weekly) that not only is the prequel a go, but also that Fox has hired a director. Namely, Scott Frank, who wrote Get Shorty and Minority Report before hitting the director's chair on The Lookout. The movie will cover the pre-Apes tale of how the primates overtook the planet. So this isn't only a prequel, it's a sort of a Conquest remake, too. Geez, this is getting confusing.

More on this project as it arises, but please do share your thoughts. Like ... do we really NEED a new version of this oft-exhumed tale? Frankly no. But given Mr. Frank's track record, I find myself feeling a little more optimistic than usual.

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Remakes and Sequels

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As a kid one of the creepiest and coolest children's films I watched on a regular basis was The Witches, a big screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's book starring Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch. It was announced back in 2006 that Alfonso Cuaron would direct and Guillermo del Toro would produce a remake of the film, which could easily turn into a mega-franchise (if you've read the book or seen the movie you'll know why). New details have finally surfaced online, which report that producer Guillermo del Toro might direct!

People either seem to love or hate the campaign for Lionsgate's forthcoming remake of My Bloody Valentine (trailer). While most people are bashing the poster and trailer, I think it's a pretty fun way to spin the whole angle. Beyond the break you can check out the UK quad for the film, which is basically the same image as the US one sheet. In the remake Tom (Jensen Ackles) returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the life of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders. VALENTINE hits theaters in the US and UK on January 16th.

Back in October, we heard about the large cast of unknowns that were assembling for the remake of Fame. Now we've got word of the instructors, and I'm happy to say -- Debbie Allen leads the pack!

Variety reports that Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, and Bebe Neuwirth have signed on for "the roles of instructors and supervisors" in the upcoming remake. Don't worry -- Frasier won't be in tights, but sadly, Allen isn't either. Instead of teaching the kids to dance, Allen will be the school's principal (which makes sense), while Dutton plays an acting teacher, Grammer plays an orchestra maestro, Mullally plays a voice instructor, and Neuwirth plays a dance instructor.

Damn, these kids are lucky -- you can't much better than that for your intructors. But perhaps more importantly -- this means a reunion for Lilith and Frasier! Bebe played Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane in Cheers, and popped up as the ex in a handful of Frasier episodes. Will the dance instructor canoodle the maestro once again?

Filed under: Music & Musicals, Casting, Remakes and Sequels

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pThe releases are finally slowing, though there are still a few big releases this week, including: the brand new iPrince of Persia/i title, the belated debut of iGrand Theft Auto IV/i on PC/i and a PS2 remake of a GBA iKingdom Hearts/i game. Complete list inside./ppa href="http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/12/01/this-week-in-game-releases-december-1-7-2008"Read More.../a/p

I guess when two out of three films in a franchise are an absolute blast to watch, you kinda try to get behind the odds that a fourth installment will fall somewhere in the middle between awesome and please don't let me see that again ... ever. After watching Beverly Hills Cop 3, I almost filed a police report convinced the filmmakers had committed some sort of crime against humanity. Now, with the next one, you'd think folks would have learned from earlier mistakes. Well, the fact that Brett Ratner is directing hasn't exactly bolstered anticipation -- but maybe the script is good ...

Speaking of, Latino Review managed to snag a draft of Beverly Hills Cop 4 (one they claim "the studio loves, but Eddie Murphy is not too keen on"), and they've slapped a C+ grade on it. Based on their description (which includes spoilers, so watch out), the flick looks to be a combination of the original Beverly Hills Cop and Hitch, with Axel Foley (Murphy) trying to figure out who killed one of his friends, all while helping his new, fat partner score with some girl he has a crush on. LR says it's a "pretty standard police corruption story", and it feels "like the writers took an Arnold Schwarzenegger script they had lying around and changed the details to make it a Beverly Hills Cop movie. There's no fun in it."

Good news is the script will probably change before a final product is shoveled into theaters. What do you think a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie needs in order to be successful with fans of the series?

Filed under: Comedy, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Remakes and Sequels

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pa href="http://www.allocine.fr/article/rubarticle_gen_crubrique=23001.html"Tournages/a "Genesis: Apes" : c'est le titre du prochain volet de la franchise "La Planète des Singes", confirmée par Tom Rothman, l'un des dirigeants de la Fox./pp a href="http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18438981.html"Lire tout l'article/a | sur a href="http://www.allocine.fr"iAlloCiné/i/a - le Lundi 1 Décembre 2008/pimg src="http://rss.allocine.fr/~r/ac/actualites/cine/~4/471349571" height="1" width="1"/

Remember that Hairspray sequel that William Goss mentioned back in July? Adam Shankman had signed on to direct the sequel, and the master of the perverse (and creator of the original), John Waters, was going to whip up a story to send out to writers. Looks like things are on schedule -- according to EW, Waters has finished scheming up the sequel, and they're now hunting for a writer.

Basically, Waters has handed over "an outline and some ideas" for the film that will ultimately become the next instalment of Tracy Turnblad as she heads for the "next era of music," the '60s. "That period was superpolitical, it was a time of serious change. We're trying to track, in a comedic way, the historical elements" says Shankman. This will include the British Invasion, which consumes Link (played by Zac Efron in the remake).

On the plus side: Waters schemed up the outline. On the negative side: Waters isn't writing the meat of the script. Will a Waters outline be enough? I'm not so sure.

Filed under: Comedy, Music & Musicals, Scripts, Remakes and Sequels

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I'm working on something where the app will fetch data from a URL and populate a table with the results. I'm trying to get it to fetch if the app is open at an interval (say every 10 minutes for this example). I have that all setup using an NSTimer and it works. My issue is memory. I'm not sure what I should be releasing or reallocating and when. On my dev phone I installed the program, opened it up, and just let it run. After a while (hours) it crashes, I'm assuming out of memory (didn't check the log yet, I had to leave and I don't have access to the phone or XCode until later today). The current flow is:

Open app->makes request->parses response->populates table.

Every 10 minutes it will remake the request->parse response->populate table if response is different.

I'm assuming I'm missing something very simple? Are there any Apple provided examples that do something similar that I missed?

Debbie Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally et Bebe Neuwirth viennent de rejoindre la distribution du remake de 'Fame' rapporte Variety. Ils incarneront les professeurs et les directeurs [...]

Sid Meier nous livre un bon remake d'une de ses vieilles gloires. Pas de bouleversement majeur au programme, plus une mise à jour graphique, mais ça n'empêche pas le titre d'être toujours aussi addictif qu'à l'époque.(...)

pimg src="http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/news2001/21302/pacmance.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"/As part of an in-depth new interview, Pac-Man Championship Edition producer Nobutaka Nakajima and director Tadashi Iguchi have been explaining how "focus on the core fun and polish" with a small team -- and help from Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani -- birthed the critically acclaimed remake. The rare interview with the Bandai Namco duo, whose teams were also responsible for Galaga Legions, explained the creation of the Xbox Live Arcade hit Pac-Man remake as follows: .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=gU2uO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=gU2uO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=3vxBO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=3vxBO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=FqVZO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=FqVZO" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GamasutraNews/~4/471399861" height="1" width="1"/

Découvrez un long spot TV de Le Jour ou la Terre s'arrêta, le remake du classique de Robert Wise, réalisé en 1951.

Remake, remake, quand tu nous tiens ? Hé oui, La Cité des Anges est encore un remake, et pas n'importe lequel, puisqu'il s'agit de celui du film Les Ailes du Désir (1987) de Wim Wenders. De la ville de Berlin, et d'un travail de photographie esthétisant, nous voici à Los Angeles, en pleine comédie romantique américaine. On y perd un peu au change, certes...  Nicolas fait son Dark AngelIl y eut une époque chaste où la comédie romantique était un genre très populaire et...