Producer Ben Myron has reportedly been developing a new Flash Gordon movie for five years now. Jesse Alexander (TV's Alias) penned a rather enjoyable draft back in 1997 when the project was set-up elsewhere. For my own take on how to bring Flash Gordon back to the silver screen, check out this Stax Report.
Buck Rogers: According to Comics2Film, Walt Disney Pictures has been developing a new big-screen Buck Rogers since 1997. Tony Puryear (Eraser) wrote the original draft of the screenplay, which reportedly would have featured Rogers saving the Earth "by using his plane to destroy something that's threatening the world. The aftershock throws Rogers into suspended animation in a cryogenic tube, and he's found in the 25th century by a band of revolutionaries and space pirates. He joins them in their bid to stop aliens who now control Earth and who have enslaved humanity."
Iron Fist screenwriter John Turman later took a pass at the script for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney.
Tarzan of the Apes: Big Fish screenwriter John August was hired by Warner Brothers back in June to script this "big-budget" Jerry Weintraub production. The screenwriter advised Variety that Tarzan is "an enduring cultural myth like Hercules or Robin Hood."
August is said to be a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel and of the 1970s animated series. "The movie versions of Tarzan always portray him as a sort of jungle hippie," August told Variety. "Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan is a much different character. He's more ferocious and wild, like Wolverine without the claws. That's the version we want to use." No word yet on how far along this "big summer actioner" is in development.
Solomon Kane: Variety reported last May that French producer/distributor Samuel Hadida's Davis Films (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and Wandering Star had come aboard to develop the live-action, feature film version of Solomon Kane. The $55 million adaptation of the Robert E. Howard character is now looking for "an A-list director and star ready to put the pic into production next year. Hadida's distribution company Metropolitan will release it in France in 2005." The screen rights to Kane are held by Paul and Michael Berrows, the former managers of Duran Duran, who will produce the film along with Hadida. The writers are David Jung and Steve Dandois.
Don Murphy and Greg Hoffman were previously going to produce Solomon Kane for New Line Cinema but those plans fell through. "This is one of those classic stories that come up from time to time when you are a successful producer specializing in a certain area (Sci-Fi, Fantasy) and you agree to deal with wannabes," Murphy advised us last year. "I feel for the poor writers who worked on this for a year without pay, but the expression is you lay down with dogs ... Solomon Kane may still happen once the Howard estate realizes they are missing the boat with the Berrows."
Doc Savage: Man of Bronze: When asked in summer 2002 what was going on with Doc Savage, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, then attached to star, advised fans, "I really don't know. I mean Frank Darabont wrote a fantastic script for Doc Savage." The project's reported $220 million price tag is probably the main reason why it hasn't been produced yet.
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California and won't be acting again for at least several years, Doc Savage's chances of being made seem more remote than ever.
The Lone Ranger: Married scribes David Webb Peoples (Unforgiven) and Janet Peoples (Twelve Monkeys) are scripting Columbia Pictures' big-screen revamp of the beloved Western icon. Lucy Fisher and Doug Wick will produce via their Red Wagon Entertainment banner. Variety said this $70 million version will offer "a new take on the characters of the Lone Ranger, his horse Silver and trusty companion Tonto."
"Its origin story combines all the elements of a classic Western – the Texas Rangers, the Indians and one man's tale of friendship and revenge," Wick advised The Hollywood Reporter.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto graced the small screen during the 1950s but their last big-screen outing was the 1981 turkey, The Legend of the Lone Ranger.
Charlie Chan: X2: X-Men United screenwriters Mike Dougherty & Dan Harris were hired last year by 20th Century Fox to pen a remake of Charlie Chan for star and executive producer Lucy Liu. The trades reported that Liu would portray the granddaughter of the titular Chinese/Hawaiian sleuth created by author Earl Derr Biggers. John Woo and Terence Chang are slated to produce Charlie Chan under their Lion Rock Productions banner.
Recently, however, Asian and Asian-American activists voiced their strong opposition to the return of a character they deem offensive and stereotypical. There's been no definitive word yet on whether these objections have killed off Charlie Chan but both Dougherty & Harris have now moved on to other projects.
A number of Charlie Chan serials were produced during the 1930s and 1940s. Swedish thesp Warner Oland first played the character on the big-screen; Sidney Toler, Roland Winters and J. Carrol Naish inherited the role. The aphorism-spouting sleuth's last big-screen outing was 1981's Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen, starring Peter Ustinov. All of the aforementioned actors who portrayed Chan were Caucasian.
John Carter of Mars: The word on the Web is that Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez is in hush-hush talks to helm the long-awaited feature film version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' sci-fi swashbuckler. The rumor mill even suggested that Emmy-winner Josh Duhamel (Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, TV's Las Vegas) would play the title role. Paramount Pictures is reportedly on the prowl for a new franchise and John Carter might be it. The studio shelled out "$300,000 against $2 million" for the screen rights to Rice Burroughs' 11-volume series back in April 2002. Alphaville's Jim Jacks and Sean Daniel will produce.
Jacks advised Variety in 2002 that at least three of the most popular books (including Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars) will "be made into pics of a scope 'akin to The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but were impossible to make before, because CGI (technology) wasn't there.'"
Disney previously tried to bring the Mars books to the big screen, wasting several years and millions of dollars in development. Tom Cruise, director John McTiernan, Cinergi producers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna, and Pirates of the Caribbean scribes Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott have all gone to Mars in the past.
King Conan: Crown of Iron: The future of the third screen outing for Robert E. Howard's barbarian hero remains up in the air. IGN FilmForce recently broke the news that King Conan's producers, Larry and Andy Wachowski, had exited the project. John Milius remains onboard as the pic's writer-director but star Arnold Schwarzenegger is no longer involved given his new political career. Milius is said to be unconcerned about Schwarzenegger's availability; the key to the project is the character of Conan and not the actor portraying him.
Whether Warner Brothers will continue to develop King Conan or if they will allow their option to lapse instead remains to be seen. There's also no word yet on who might replace the Wachowskis as producer.
Zorro 2: Of all the projects mentioned here, this is the only one with a happy ending (so far). The sequel to the 1998 hit is gearing up to film in Mexico later this spring for a 2005 release. "The script is fantastic," star Antonio Banderas recently revealed. "Everyone will be back – [executive producer] Steven Spielberg, director Martin Campbell, Catherine Zeta-Jones."
Even Sir Anthony Hopkins will return as the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, even though his character died at the end of The Mask of Zorro. "He has a lot more to tell me. It has a supernatural element," said Banderas.
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! claims the sequel will be called The Return of Zorro and that the writers of the original film, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, have scripted it. Rumors have long suggested that the story has Zorro's love Elena (Zeta-Jones) donning a mask and costume of her own.
