Welcome to a blast of news so amazing that you won’t have to go for that high colonic appointment this week. We read the stories, chew them up, swallow them, regurgitate that news, and feed it back to you like a giant momma bird. So, lean back your head and prepare to be satisfied…
Okay, I know that was a really gross image, but anyway, we have a news roundup for you.
League of Extraordinary Gentleman
It was announced recently that 20th Century Fox would be rebooting the 2003 film starring Sean Connery. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, based on the 1999 comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, and there had been talk of a TV series back in 2013, according to Variety. Now, the plan is a hard reboot of the franchise. For those of you unfamiliar with the comic or the movie, the premise is heroes, and villains, of history, like Alan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, and many others, are brought together as a special group working to stop the nefarious plans of whoever the current evil doer in the world may be… or even from another world, as the second comic series focused on a War of the Worlds-esque story as MArtians were invading Great Britain. I loved the comics and was not as impressed with the movie, but this remake being written by Jayson Rothwell and overseen by Ira Napoliello and Matt Reilly may be something to look out for.
Johnny Quest
The classic animated series seems to be getting the live action treatment as E! Online announced that Robert Rodriguez, director of the Spy Kids franchise and Shark Boy and Lava Girl, would be taking on Johnny Quest as his next big film. This is another property that almost had something happen a few years ago, as a movie was planned starring Zach Effron and Dwayne Johnson back in 2006. Not much else to report except that Terry Rossio, writer of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, will be writing the script.
The Goonies
The classic coming of age adventure movie, The Goonies, is on the verge of a huge 30th anniversary celebration up in Seattle. Unfortunately, sad news from the Goondocks. Mary Ellen Trainor, the actress that played Mrs. Walsh, Mikey’s mom, in the film, passed away on May 20, 2015. Trainor is also well known for her roles in all four Lethal Weapon movies, and even had roles in Freaky Friday with Jaime-Lee Curtis and Linsday Lohan and Scrooged with Bill Murray. She was 62 years old. You can read more on The Wrap.
Legend of Conan
In the vein of Rambo, Rocky 5, and Terminator Genisys, the latest installment in the Conan franchise will be set 30 years after the original, with Conan facing the one thing that will be his final defeat… his own mortality. With a script by Chris Morgan and Andrea Berloff, the film promises to have reprise roles from at least three characters from the original film series. There are talks now that this movie could open up a whole cinematic universe, since the full library of Robert E. Howard’s works have been purchased by producer Fredrik Malmberg, who got Paradox Entertainment in a stock deal. Who knows what the future holds for the Cimmerian and the entire Hyborean Age.
Friday the 13th
Sad news as it was reported from EW that Betsy Plamer, the actress who played Jason Vorhees’ mother in the original Friday the 13th died May 28th, 2015. She had more than 60 credits in TV and film, but was best known as Jason’s mom. She was even the original letter turner on Wheel of Fortune. she was 88 years old.
Stephen King’s It
Finally, sad news for fans of Pennywise the clown, as the Wrap reported that Cary Fukunaga is out as director and the project has been “pushed indefinitely”. This major reboot of the massive Stephen King novel was having budget issues, mainly that Fukunaga’s drafts were coming in way over budget and New Line Cinema was not having any of that. It is unclear if New Line will draft anyone in the near future to help this project or the fate of anyone already tapped to star in the film. Maybe, if we ever get the Dark Tower movies/TV series that Ron Howard was working on, he will step over and grab this property as well… wishful thinking, I know, but… We all float down here.
