 "Photo: MCT campus")
Hollywood always has money in mind when concocting the next films on their roster.
It is now typical to have remakes and sequels consume a majority of the box office dollar. As of the summer of 2007, it also was littered with threequels, including "Spiderman 3" and the third "Pirates of the Caribbean." And 2008 will not disappoint with "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," as well as the anticipated sequel to Batman Begins (sans the stale Katie Holmes), with "The Dark Knight."
However, when looking at the upcoming films for next year, an interesting trend starts to show itself. Not only are the inevitable sequels on the list, but quite a few blasts from the past are present as well. These include the fourth "Indiana Jones" film (the first to be made since 1989), as well as a new "Star Trek," a fresh take on "The Hulk" series and the first feature film to be made from the 1960s anime, "Speed Racer."
The upcoming "Speed Racer" stars "Into the Wild" actor Emilie Hirsch as Speed and Christina Ricci as his trusty girlfriend, Trixie. This feature film based off of the popular anime is the return of "The Matrix" helmers, Andy and Larry Wachowski, to the directors' chairs.
It will no doubt contain mind-bending special effects combined with a plot that mixes both action sequences and slow tempo scenes of character development that the brothers Wachowski seem to stick to like glue. The film will follow Speed, Trixie and his racing family as they try to outrace the evil Royalton Corporation, whose team the loyal Speed would not join because he would not leave his family behind despite the offer of a profitable contract.
Aside from Speed Racer, 2008 sees the triumphant return of Indiana Jones with the long-winded title, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
This is perhaps the longest awaited revamp of the year. "Crystal Skull" reteams Harrison Ford as the sarcastic and resourceful archeologist with the series director and American legend Steven Spielberg behind the lens.
The plot of the film has been kept strictly under wraps, but what is known is that Karen Allen is reprising her role from the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as Marion Ravenwood, and that Cate Blanchett is a lead in the film. Not to mention the fact that Shia LaBeouf is rumored to play Indy's son in the film.
With a brilliant cast and the name Spielberg attached to an already beloved film franchise, it should generate major box office revenue as well as kooky fans dressed as the characters, much like the excited fans did when Star Wars was brought back from the dead in 1999.
Star Trek XI, to be directed by action phenomenon, JJ. Abrams ("Mission Impossible 3" and television's "Alias") may be the least inspired face-lift applied to an old story with a slated release of next year. Casting for the key roles is dismal at best with Chris Pine ("Princess Diaries 2") as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Sylar from "Heroes") as Spock, John Cho (Harold from "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle") as Sulu, Zoe Saldana ("Guess Who") as Uhura and Simon Pegg (the titular Shaun from "Shaun of the Dead") as Scotty. Paramount Studios hope that this younger and fresher take on the series will revitalize it with this generation of moviegoers and hopefully spawn a new franchise. I hope for the opposite; it would be much healthier for the American viewing public.
As for the last new spin on the old, "The Incredible Hulk;" I was not so impressed. Then on a second glance I came to learn that it is not a sequel to 2003's disaster of a movie, "Hulk", which starred a miscast Eric Bana. Rather this film is a total reimagining with the brilliant yet interesting casting of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Liv Tyler as love interest, Betty Ross.
Louis Leterrier, best known for the action films Transporter and Transporter 2 will direct. The plot revolves around quiet physicist, Bruce Banner, who, while searching for and almost finding the cure to his affliction where he becomes the green monster when angry, is pursued by the government who want to use his powers and by an enemy of equal proportions, The Abomination (Tim Roth). All the while, he is trying to love Betty and save New York City from total destruction.
Now with Britney Spears releasing a new album rather then a new headline in the same week as the return of the Backstreet Boys; the entertainment world seems to have become a twilight zone of returning trends that I, nor any stockbroker, would have ever predicted.
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