Prequels, Sequels & Remakes

Jon Favreau on Iron Man (which is really excellent and you should go see if you haven’t) sequels: "I think what needs to be explored next ... is how the weight of being a public superhero is going to affect Tony Stark's personality and start to expand on the hairline fractures in his personality and his spirit. By the way, once you have the audience, you have a lot of freedom to go further tonally. But when you launch a franchise, if you notice, they always play it much closer to the vest with these superhero films until the parents and the audiences make up their minds that they like them." Word is that work will begin on Iron Man 2 early 2009, with a 2010 release.

Guillermo del Toro on casting the fifty year gap filling movie and The Hobbit: “I want to be very clear about this. I am not going to recast any actor that is willing and able to work with us. It would be my hope to bring back the same actors to play the parts. The casting on the trilogy was perfect.” … ‘’[Holm] certainly is the paragon we aspire to. He will be involved in some manner, I'm sure. But at his age ... it's too early to tell. We are just in the early stages. It's too early to make commitments of that sort. We prefer to let the screenplay and the way the character comes to life guide us in the casting. I have many people in mind. Anything [else] I say will be used against me in a court of law.’’

Teresa Palmer has been cast in Transformers 2, while Jonah Hill is in talks to play Shia Labeouf’s comedic sidekick.

A Slap Shot sequel, Slap Shot: Junior League, is in the works. Written by Brad Riddell, it “centers on a group of Orphans, led by a young woman named Riley, who not only have to convince the town that they’re worth mention in a form guide, but save their homes at the same time.”

Corey Haim is in Crank 2.

Despite the first not coming out ‘til May 10, a sequel to the live action Higurashi no Naku Koro ni movie has already been announced. The films are based 07th Expansion’s visual mystery novels about murders involving a rural village’s festival.

Celador Films and Pathe will team up again on a sequel to The Decent. The first one’s editor, Jon Harris, will make his directorial debut with James Watkins’ script. Shauna MacDonald and Natalie Mendoza, reprising their roles, Gavan O'Herlihy, Joshua Dallas, Anna Skellern, Douglas Hodge and Krysten Cummings have been cast. The story is that the survivor from the first film goes back in to try to save her friends.

Producer Belle Avery says a Grizzly Park sequel will film in 2009. "In the second one, you’re going to have two kids who maybe want to change, but I’m not going to tell you if they do or not. It will take place in spring instead of fall, and the bear is really hungry."

After reports of J.J. Abrams having the rights for an American Let the Right One In, it is, in fact, Hammer Films who hold them for the Swedish made vampire movie.

Original Witch Mountain children Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann will be in the remake, Race to Witch Mountain. Eisenmann will be a sheriff and Richards as a waitress at a roadhouse.