Keanu Reeves will star in the planned remake of the 1951 Robert Wise-directed sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still.
In the Twentieth Century Fox reimaging — slated for a late fall or early 2008 production start — Reeves will play the role of Klaatu, a peaceful humanoid alien who comes to Earth to warn the people of their impending annihilation.
In the original black and white film, Klaatu comes to Earth during the height of the Cold War. The alien, played by Michael Rennie, lands his flying-saucer-style spaceship in the middle of Washington, D.C and tells authorities that the people of Earth have been under observation. He warns that if the Earth’s leaders do not cease their violent warmongering, the Earth will be destroyed. Klaatu is accompanied by an armed and powerful robot named Gort and is helped throughout the film by the young widow Helen and her son Bobby.
Erwin Stoff will produce and Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose will direct the remake. The script by David Scarpa will update the Cold War premise and the film will use advances in visual effects.
The original film is best known for the line “Klaatu barada nikto,” which is the message Helen must give to Gort to prevent the robot from destroying the Earth. There’s been many pop culture references to the phrase, but it was popularized in the third Evil Dead movie, Army of Darkness — it’s what Bruce Campbell’s character Ash must utter correctly in order to retrieve the Necronomicon.
Another popular reference to the film: the opening words of “Science Fiction/Double Feature” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show — “Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still …”
[Variety]
I’m looking forward to this one!
Currently, I’m working my way through the early history of the Horror/Sci-fi genre; something which I recommend to every Horror fan. Especially Karloff and Lugosi are always very enjoyable!
Right now I’ve worked my way till “The Body Snatcher” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037549/) and I’m still enjoying every minute.
And I’ll be sure to watch the original “Earth” before I watch the remake. :)
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Nooooooo!!!!
Please, God, don’t let this remake happen!!
Is this a typo? Didn’t they really mean that they cast Keanu in the role of Gort the robot? Please, by christ’s salty balls, please let this be a typo!
Dear Hollywood,
The law of averages says that with so many starving script writers, some of their ideas are both good and commercially viable, while this current strategy of cannibalizing the good movies you managed to put out is not. People like me will hate you for it and think you’re a bunch of no-talent hacks.
I’m sure this is a stretch, but think of your own egos for a second. Is the legacy of your generation of studio filmmakers to be that you fucked up the Hollywood canon because you couldn’t come up with ideas of your own, despite the unprecedented and almost unnecessary amount of sophisticated technology available?
Get a life. And if you expect us to keep paying to go to the movies, logic states that you give us something worth watching. An unnecessary remake of a great movie, particularly with suck vortex/awesomeness mitigator Keanu Reeves, does not fit that bill. If you wanted to make money off an old property, why didn’t you do a theatrical re-release? I’d gladly pay to see it on a big screen with a bunch of other fans. Instead, once again, you’ve pissed us all off instead. Please remove your heads from your asses.
kthxbai
I love the original, but a new version for our times is very interesting.