Sequel Talk Galore!!

Sequels are a sure thing in Hollywood and come by the bucketload at us every year. Over the last couple of days a few sequels have been greenlit or heavily talked about, so Schofizzy took the liberty to compile them all for you in one detailed post below. Some of these are mildly to very exciting, unfortunately most are head scratchers. I've ranked them from "why do another one?" category, to the "I am already in line!" status. Enjoy....

The Phantom 2It seems someone out there thinks it is a good idea to make a sequel to the, not at all popular, The Phantom starring Billy Zane. The first 1996 film was a huge flop at the box office and was and is just a utter piece of crap! Regardless, producer Bruce Sherlock who recently won the rights to the film property believes, "It has the makings of a blockbuster," Sherlock told the Associated Press. Pfft...blockbuster, I want what he is smoking! Sherlock continued to tell the Associated Press that the sequel will be a Father/Son story arc outlining what it means to be, The Phantom. He also said the film will be set in current times with the theme of destiny at the fore front. Does this mean that were gonna see the persona handed down to a new generation? Sherlock saya the film will shoot in Australia on a budget of upwards $87 million and that his production company Sherlock Symington Products will be recruiting "top talent" for the film. Sherlock of course did not elaborate on any "top talent" names in the running.

A sequel to The Phantom just drips of disappointment. It really feels like yet another studio trying to capture a piece of the comic craze in Hollywood. Instead, they end up making utter shit! The Phantom is one of the worst comic book films made. Yes, its worse than Elektra. At least it appears, that Sherlock does not want to bring Billy Zane back for the role. Thank god, has anyone seen him since Zoolander? Can you picture any actor that could legitamitely take on the role of The Phantom and actually draw people in to pay and see it?

Spawn 2Next up, Todd McFarlane himself says he wants to see a sequel to Spawn, but the kicker is, he wants to direct it himself! Last week McFarlane told Game Pro he wants to direct a creepy low-budget Spawn sequel with possibly no villain. "I'm still of the mind that [a Spawn movie sequel] is a lower budget, cooler, creepier movie," McFarlane said. He continued, "The dealbreaker is, I direct it. I tell everybody that in advance." McFarlane added, "a $10 million dollar creepy movie? I can do that one....In the movie idea I have for Spawn, there is no super villain. It's a completely real drama that happens to have a spook in it. And it doesn't mean that the spook has an arch-enemy or a nemesis, or any of that." Finally McFarlane finalized why he wants to do the film and why he doesn't understand why it hasn't happened yet. He said, "Look, with $10 million -- and understand that I'm just picking a number here -- you're not going to have a lot of money to work with. They'd have to get a young, inexperienced director anyway. My answer is, why not me? If you're going to go get a schmuck, let me be your schmuck. And oh by the way, I've been living with this movie in my head for a long time. I don't feel like trying to convey what's in my brain to somebody else...it would take too long. I can just do it myself."

Spawn is a stellar creation and to have the creator of the property say, "I want to do this" is always a good thing, but for some reason another Spawn just puts a bad taste in my mouth. The first movie is a disaster! There really is nothing good to say about it, reversely the HBO animated series was outstanding. Spawn is a series that should be let to rest for awhile longer before anyone even touches it. The HBO series did the best job with the arc of the character and no movie is going to be able to flesh out as much as the series, which ran 3 seasons, did. Even if the creator (who I have full confidence in) directs the film, it seems pointless. If and when McFarlane actually gets a sequel to Spawn financed, I will post further critique, untill then this goes in the "not interested" bin.

Alien 5In very doubtful news, Sigourney Weaver told Moviehole, that she would be open to another sequel to Alien but feels that it is very unlikely. The actress was asked if her and Cameron talked about a possible sequel while shooting his recent film Avatar. Weaver replied, "You know, we talked about Aliens. It was a great experience for both of us....I don't think we have a deep, pressing need to finish the saga although, it does definitely feel unfinished to me. And I think if I wanted to go and have a meeting with Jim about it, I'm sure he'd be game." Weaver was then asked if she'd do another sequel to Alien regardless of James Cameron and what she see's as a possible angles for a sequel. Weaver told Movie Hole, ''You know, nothing would surprise me in this business. I think it would be very hard to resurrect, because I think the character of the alien has been too exposed in those Alien Versus Predator movies, which I never saw. So, you wouldn't be able to use that. You'd have to reinvent some of that.''

The Alien franchise should be put to rest! Alien and Aliens are the only films of the entire franchise including Alien vs. Predator that are even remotely worth watching. Alien is a masterpiece and a quint-essential film in the horror/scifi genre and, Aliens is just a kick-ass mash em up ride, that enthralls every viewing. Unless you can bring back the eerie nature to the first or the awesome gunplay of the second, leave it alone Ripley! There is no reason to re-hash or stir-up another crappy sequel. I'm sure sooner than later some dumb studio, will be remaking anyhow.

Smokin Aces: BlowbackUnfortunately for fans of Smokin Aces, Joe Carnahan will not direct his sequel/prequel to Smokin Aces. Instead, a direct-to-dvd director by the name of P.J. Pesce will be destroying the series. His other terrible direct-to-dvd sequel efforts have been; Lost Boys 2: The Tribe and From Dusk Till Dawn 3. Joe made the announcement through his blog revealing P.J. Pesce as his replacement. Joe calls the guy his "new best friend" and says that he will do a better job than he could. The film is heading for Vancouver this weekend.

I was excited for this prequel eventhough it is greatly disappointing that it will be a direct-to-dvd sequel. Now that Carnahan isn't directing, who gives a shit! Seriously, has anyone seen Lost Boys: The Tribe? That was the worst sequel, to a timeless film! Pure shit! Now P.J. is going to muck up Smokin' Aces? Interest is pretty much gone! The only saving grace for Blowback will be once shooting is finished and we see our first trailer, if it looks remotely good or not. Until then, Smokin Aces: Blowback is in the bargain bin at Walmart!

H2In a little bit better news, Variety confirmed today that Rob Zombie will in fact return to direct the sequel to his Halloween. The sequel will be titled H2 and is targeted for a Halloween release next year. Zombie talked a bit about the process of coming to terms with returning to his series and moving forward. He told Variety, "I was so burned out. (But) I took a long break, made a record and I got excited again. Now, we'll be hauling ass, and that's the problem making a movie called 'Halloween': If you come out Nov. 1 or after, nobody cares. If it was called anything else, I'd be fine." Zombie assured fans that the film will not follow the original sequels storyline, which mainly took place in a hospital that Laurie was taken to after the events that transpired in the first film. He does include that the film, like the original sequel, will directly follow the events from his first Halloween.

While Rob Zombie's Halloween wasn't terrible, it wasn't very good. He took one of the greatest living films of all time and took all the scare out of it, leaving us wondering just what was his intensions. I can't say I am all that excited for a second Zombie Halloween but, its definately better than someone else doing it. I would hate to see someone else take over Rob Zombie's invisioning of Michael Myers. Zombie's work on House of A 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects was brilliant, so there is no doubt he can do wonders with the horror genre, but with such a short schedule ahead of him he definately has a challenge in front of him.

T5The highly anticipated Terminator Salvation is yet to release, but that didn't stop Halcyon Co from announcing that they are developing the fifth film in the Terminator franchise. Variety reports that Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek alongside McG are devloping the next film. McG is also planning on returning to direct the next film. The company has set a tenative release date of 2011 and gave no word if Warner Brothers and Sony would be apart of the T5 release, as they are with Terminator Salvation. The duo told Variety that because of positive fan reaction they decided to move ahead quickly in developing the next film. "We feel the time is now to start shaping the next part of this," Kubicek.

With the release of Terminator Salvation still nearly 5 months away the announcement may feel a bit premature, but realistically doesn't everyone remember that Christian Bale had previously signed on for a trilogy? The anticipation level of Salvation is very high and it is not surprising that the studio has already announced the fifth film. What is questionable is the return of McG. This guy has sucked it up in his past with Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and he has yet to prove his talents. Granted the trailers and imagery of Terminator Salvation really thrills the senses, but 2 minutes of thrill is alot different than 2 hours. As long as Terminator Salvation doesn't suck royal ass, consider me amped for T5! Even if Salvation does suck donkey balls, Christian Bale will be in it and he has put my butt in the theater seat since Newsies!

TR2NIn the best sequel news of the post comes the announcement that Disney intends to release the sequel to Tron, titled "TR2N" for 2011. The sequel to the legendary 1982 film will as previously reported star Jeff Bridges in the same role of Kevin Flynn and be directed by Joseph Kosinski. Adding to the TR2N news two actresses have been cast in the sequel. Olivia Wilde (Turistas and Alpha Dog) will play the female lead in the cult classic sequel. THR reports that Wilde will play a virtual world worker who is aiding in the fight against the evil Master Control Program from the original film. The second female cast is Beau Garrett (Turistas and Made of Honor), who will play a siren in the virtual world. The film is considered to be the "Next Chapter" of Tron and has yet to cast any stars outside of Bridges, however the studio is currently screen-testing actors for the eye-popping sequel!

Being one of the lucky ones who got to see the 2 minute sneek peak of TR2N at Comic-Con this year and let me just say, this film is gonna kick-ass, at least visually! What was shown and the sneek of Bridges as Clu once again, created a buzz that would be hard to match. Tron and ET probably had the biggest impact on me as a kid (when it came to cinema)and still remain two of my all-time favorite films. So the anticipation for TR2N, really isn't fathomable. 2011 now feels like a life time away and TR2N easily trumps the release of Marvel's The Avengers in the same year.

Any of these sequels jump out at you? Does Rob Zombie returning to Halloween sound like a good idea? McG returning for T5 before Salvation even releases a little premature? Would you watch a The Phantom sequel? Have you even seen the original? McFarlane directing a sequel Spawn, could it work? Strikeback...