With the success of “The Amazing Spider-Man” this summer, Hollywood looks to continue rebooting certain movie franchises which just might work with some new blood. In the past few years, several movie series have been rebooted or restarted with varying degrees of success. James Bond found a new lease on life when Daniel Craig took over the role in “Casino Royale,” Christopher Nolan’s reboot of the “Batman” franchise proved to be a huge success both critically and commercially, and “The Incredible Hulk” briefly gave that angry green character a new lease on life after the negative reaction to Ang Lee’s “Hulk.”
Warner Brothers is looking to reboot the “Batman” movie series again in a few years, but until then you can look forward to these ones which will hopefully give certain franchises a fresh dose of creativity.
“Alex Cross”
The noted detective and psychologist created by novelist James Patterson was first brought to the screen by actor Morgan Freeman in “Kiss The Girls” and “Along Came A Spider.” This October, Tyler Perry of all people will be taking over the role in “Alex Cross.” In it, Dr. Cross is chasing after “Picasso” (Matthew Fox), a hitman responsible for several sadistic and brutal murders. The movie is said to be loosely based on the “Cross” novel by Patterson, and it is being directed by Rob Cohen who made “The Fast and The Furious.”
Idris Elba was originally cast as Dr. Cross, but he ended up dropping out of the project. “Alex Cross” marks Perry’s first lead role in a movie he didn’t write, produce, or direct.
“Man Of Steel”
Audiences finally got their first peek at footage from this “Superman” reboot when the teaser trailer for it was shown with “The Dark Knight Rises.” This one looks to be an origin movie like Richard Donner’s film, and Henry Cavill looks to be a very rugged Superman/Clark Kent. Christopher Nolan is producing it and worked on the movie’s story with screenwriter David S. Goyer, and it is being directed by Zack Snyder who gave us “300” and “Watchmen.”
“Superman Returns” was Warner Brothers first attempt at rebooting this franchise, but despite it doing well at the box office, many felt that Bryan Singer’s film was too much of an homage to Donner’s movie and invited a lot of comparison which took away from it overall. From what we have seen though, this looks to take the lone survivor from the planet Krypton in a different and more earthbound direction.
“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”
At this point, Angelina Jolie doesn’t need to portray this video game character for a third movie. “The Departed” producer Graham King has acquired the reboot rights for “Tomb Raider” and is looking to make a darker and more serious version of this character compared to what we’ve seen before. Not much has been said about who will be playing Lara Croft this time around, but rumors abound that Olivia Wilde and (YIKES!) Kim Kardashian have been considered. It’s safe to say that Wilde will have slightly better odds.
Other franchises that studios are looking to reboot are “Halloween,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “Hellraiser.” Of the three, “Hellraiser” seems to be the one making any progress towards the silver screen. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
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