A Reboot, A Sequel and an Original: Tomb Raider, The Expendables, and Stoker

I’m glad that I was able to mix in something promising with two seemingly bad ideas, but I will save that for the end. Let’s start off with the stuff that we can complain about:

GK Films Acquires Rights to Tomb Raider and Plans Reboot

The Tomb Raider films had a lot of potential.

Pictured: Potential

But, the films fell short critically by focusing more on Angelina Jolie’s assets rather than a coherent story or anything of actual value. Now, GK Films (The Town, Rango, The Tourist) have acquired the rights to the franchise and are planning a reboot. Graham King, a representative of GK Films, said this in a statement:

“We are very excited to be rebooting what is already a hugely successful film franchise and continuing the Tomb Raider phenomenon.”

I’m not sure I would really call it a phenomenon, a mediocre cash cow at best. I do think that the films could be improved, but I’m not sure that it is worth all the effort. Unfortunately, that is only my opinion, and to Hollywood it is merely a matter of dollars and cents. I do think GK Films has a decent track record, so this might be a film worth checking out. I guess it really hinges on who they can get to play Lara Croft.

Sylvester Stallone Will Not Be Directing The Expendables 2

Again, not entirely bad news. Sylvester Stallone’s directing ability is much like Charlie Sheen‘s ramblings about his lifestyle, so bad that you can’t look away. I promise that will be the only Sheen reference in this article, and for the blog as a whole.

Anyway, the L.A. Times blog 24 Frames is saying that Stallone will not be returning to write or direct the sequel last summer’s tribute to the golden age of cliché action films. The new film will be written by Kevin Kaufman and David Agosto (Space Cowboys) and the director is TBD. This could be good for the franchise to use the same characters, but hopefully with better dialogue. Stallone is known for simplistic dialogue, which worked for him for a while, but perhaps it is time to bring a little bit more intelligence to his films.

If grunting counts as dialogue, Stallone is a master.

 However, I might not be the best person to comment on that. Perhaps the fans of the first film would be, and it could be that they aren’t looking for anything more than a brainless romp through a wonderland of explosions.

Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman to Star in Wentworth Miller‘s Stoker

While this isn’t jump up and down, highly anticipated news, it is still something that is worth mentioning only because it sounds like a new take on the ever-increasing emo tendencies of the vampire film, and it has a great cast to boot. Wentworth Miller, star of Fox’s Prison Break, penned the script for a tale that he described to Yahoo! as a story that’s “got a lot of elements of the Dracula mythology in its story….it’s not a vampire story. It’s not about vampires at least with teeth and the desire to suck your blood, but it is a thriller and it is about an individual who preys on the innocent.”

Herbert heard that description and showed up to audition.

Colin Firth, confirmed in a March 6th article in The Daily Mail, is attached to play a vampire in the project, who visits Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska after the death of Kidman’s husband. I am interested to see how this dynamic plays out, especially after Miller’s vague description of the themes in the film. The name of the family that Firth visits has the name Stoker, in tribute to the famed writer of Dracula, Bram Stoker.

Another bonus that the film has is that 24 Frames released that South Korean director Chan Wook-Park (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) could be directing the film. That is definitely great news if the film were to return some actual horror to the word “vampire”, instead of having it associated with sparkling people frolicking in the fields in the daytime.

What are your thoughts on these tidbits? Are these projects worth pursuing? Do you think Miller’s script will bring anything new to the vampire film?