Unfortunately, the execs seemed to
think Chase Crawford could fill Bacon’s shoes on this, giving him the lead role. Efron I could see in this role because he has a certain charm to him and he can dance, but Crawford is just a wet blanket and has zero personality. And since the director Kenny Ortega, who directed the “High School Musical” franchise, has turned this remake into a full blown musical, Crawford better have an amazing voice to carry his character. This will most likely be a disaster with him in the lead role, but as long they cast the part of Ariel a bit better, it might not be “Justin and Kelly” bad. Miley Cyrus, Julianne Hough and Hayden Panettierre are all in talks to fill in Lori Singer’s role as Ariel Moore, the daughter of the bible thumping preacher who removes dancing, singing and music from the small town. I think Hough is quite a natural fit there, since she is a supreme dancer and a wonderful singer, but I am afraid if she is cast this will turn into a countrified version of the original, with Rascal Flats covering classic Kenny Loggins songs, like “I’m Free”, which will make me very angry. And while the theme of the movie, teenage rebellion, religious overlords and dance fever is actually pretty timely to America, I still don’t want anyone messing with this soundtrack. So let’s watch the video now and hope the execs over at Paramount Pictures really don’t screw this one up to much.

The remake will be directed and produced by Gore Verbinski, the man behind “Pirates of the Caribbean”. It will be fourth board game from Hasbro that Universal will be adapting to big screen versions. The basic plot of the movie/game is the viewers/players take on the task of figuring who done in it in a twist filled murder mystery. Word is that this version will be darker than the original, which had a sort of Mel Brooks feel to it. While the original might not have been a box office smash, it had a second life with its omnipresence on cable movie channels and now on DVD. I could see people like Parker Posey and David Cross involved in this version, a virtual who’s who of the snarky comedic scene. Unfortunately, if they decide to go with a more thriller version of the game, this might end up being some sad horror movie.

In other crazy remake news, Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company is interested in remaking the 80’s children’s classic The NeverEnding Story”. It will be a “modernization” of the classic fantasy flick and will not deviate to great from the original. No writers are attached at this time. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there are plans to remake “Robo-Cop” and one of my favorite movies of all time “Total Recall”. It won’t take much to make my brain turn to mush if they screw that one up. But I do wonder if Governor Schwarzenegger would make an appearance in the new version? That might be interesting enough not to protest it.

Anyways, Jane’s Addiction is supposedly now playing a show at SXSW next month in Austin, along with Metallica, and there are still many rumors floating around about Coachella’s lineup being updated to a few “surprise” reunions: Mike Patton, Morrissey and Perry Farrell will be there – who is to say something won’t happen. To get yourself psyched even further, check out Depeche Mode’s new video “Wrong” from the upcoming album, Sounds Of The Universe, which hits the US shores on April 21st. Enjoy.

I think this idea could go to so many different places. It seems from the studio’s talent picks that it will aim to be more kid friendly, but I would love to see what a subversive director, like Tim Burton or Spike Jonze, would do with this concept.


It’s a bit embarrassing, but I used to get a bit scared when my friends or I would hit on a box near Lord Licorice or the Molasses dude? This could be like Willy Wonka meets Jumanji, but hopefully better than the latter. Whichever style, I am incredibly excited to see what these two men do with this concept.