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Prequels are kind of like sequels, but they take place before the events in the original movie. Spin-offs are also kind of like sequels, but they follow a smaller character and venture off into a new direction. More and more remakes are coming out today because people are unable to come up with new original movies.

Prequels

Exorcist: The Beginning
Release Date: August 20th, 2004
Cast: Stellan Skarsgaard (Father Merrin), James D'Arcy (Father William Francis), Isabella Scorupco (Rachel), Ilario Bisi-Pedro, Ralph Brown, Alan Ford, Andrew French, Antonie Kamerling, Alessandra Martines, Eddie Osei, Julian Wadham
Based Upon: This is the fourth in the series of horror films that started with The Exorcist in 1973, which was followed by The Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977, and The Exorcist III in 1990. Whereas those last two were sequels, this is a prequel to the first film. That film was based upon the novel by William Peter Blatty, but he didn't have anything to do with this film (indeed, he's been actively vocal against it).
Premise: This film will tell the tale of Father Merrin's (Skarsgaard) journey as a young missionary priest to post-WWII Africa, which led to his first encounter with demonic forces. (Mann plays a young priest who doesn't understand how Merrin could lose his faith in God...)

The Hobbit
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when production actually starts on this project.
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: (3/4/04) This film will be based upon the best-selling 1938 novel, "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien, which was so successful that its fans begged the professor to later write an even larger epic so large it had to be released as a trilogy... The Lord of the Rings. Since the trilogy was the sequel to that book, it is extremely inaccurate to refer to "The Hobbit" as a prequel. Prequels are sequels that are chronologically set before a story instead of after it. "The Hobbit" would more accurately be described as LOTR's predecessor and LOTR is most certainly a sequel to "The Hobbit." Tolkien's tale was previously adapted as a 1977 animated TV movie by Rankin/Bass.
Premise: In what becomes a most unlikely adventure across the untamed wilds of Middle Earth, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins sets forth, recruited by a wizard named Gandalf to join a band of dwarves intent upon reclaiming their mountain (and their gold) from a great, fiery red dragon named Smaug which is currently laying waste to a nearby town of humans. Along the way, Bilbo discovers that he is indeed very stealthy and sly indeed, as he makes his way through encounters with goblins, trolls and giant spiders, and even finds himself in the midst of the historic Battle of the Five Armies. Amidst all of these fantastic encounters, howevever, the most significant may just be the one with a strange creature, living in a dark, damp cave, whose name is the same as the sound his throat makes... Gollum, and who possesses a most mysterious and magical ring...

Red Rabbit
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when filming eventually gets started.
Cast:
Ben Affleck (in talks) (CIA Analyst Jack Ryan); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: (3/26/03) The 2002 novel, "Red Rabbit", by Tom Clancy, as part of his series focusing on the adventures of CIA analyst (and future U.S. president) Jack Ryan. The previous Jack Ryan films were:
The Hunt for Red October (1990, starring Alec Baldwin); Patriot Games (1992, Harrison Ford); Clear and Present Danger (1994, Harrison Ford); and The Sum of All Fears (2002, Ben Affleck). Both this film and The Sum of All Fears (which was a mid-size hit at $118 million, relative to budget and P&A) are essentially "prequels" to the movies starring Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. In the chronology of Clancy's novels, "Red Rabbit" is also a prequel to The Sum of All Fears. The premise of "Red Rabbit" is inspired by the true story of the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Mehmet Ali Agca. Entertainment Weekly called "Red Rabbit" the Worst Book of 2002.

Another Tom Clancy character that is the focus of a movie project in development,
Rainbow Six, is John Clark, who was played by Willem Dafoe in Clear and Present Danger and by Liev Schreiber in The Sum of All Fears.
Premise: Still green to his job as a C.I.A. analyst, Jack Ryan (Affleck) is brought in to help with the debriefing of a high level political prisoner, who reveals a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II. This sends Ryan on a mission to confirm the existence of the conspiracy, and do what he can to make sure it can't be carried out.

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Spin-Offs

Beauty Shop
Release Date: November 24th, 2004
Cast: Queen Latifah (Gina), Ice Cube (Calvin Palmer), Little J.J. (Willie); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: (2/4/04) This movie is a spin-off to the Barbershop series (starring Ice Cube), with Queen Latifah's character being introduced in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, just 9 months before the release of this movie. MGM is hoping that this will be the launch of a new franchise for Queen Latifah like Barbershop is for Ice Cube.
Premise: Just as the Barbershop series details the wacky insights and misadventures of the staff of a local barbershop in the south side of Chicago, this movie details the wacky insights and misadventures of the staff of a local *beauty* shop, including the saucy and opinionated Gina (Queen Latifah), but this time around, it's a new shop in Atlanta, where Gina has recently moved so her daughter can attend a famous music school. Gina starts off in Atlanta working as a stylist at a shop, but when her boss takes credit for her work, she starts her own salon in direct competition with her old boss, as her new "uptown" customers clash with those from "downtown" (whatever all that means... I suspect there's some sort of jive/hip-hop slang going on here...? :).

Spin-offs/Remakes of TV Shows

The A-Team
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when it gets a greenlight to start filming
Cast: None announced yet.
Original Cast: Mr. T (Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus), Dwight Schultz (Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock), Dirk Benedict (Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck), George Peppard (1928-1994) (Col. John "Hannibal" Smith)
Based Upon: The NBC TV series (1983-1987) starring Mr. T, George Peppard, Dwight Schultz, and Dirk Benedict about four falsely convicted Vietnam vets who escape from prison, on the run, working as mercenaries.
Premise: (11/24/00) No details are known about this film's plot yet, except that it will bring the concept into the present day, ostensibly with a new team of military men on the run (and not the original four cast members), probably veterans of the Persian Gulf War. (2/16/04) Mr. Cannell recently confirmed that they will indeed by Gulf War vets (though it's unknown whether he means Gulf War I or Gulf War II).

The Dukes of Hazzard
Release Date: TBA 2005
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: (9/16/03) This project is the feature film adaptation of the popular action/comedy TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard, which aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985, and has enjoyed a healthy life in cable reruns and syndication ever since.
Premise: Nothing specific is known about the storyline of this TV show adaptation, except that it will most likely focus on the adventures of redneck cousins Bo and Luke Duke, who enjoy racing around the fictional Georgia county of Hazzard in an orange 1969 Charger with a Confederate flag painted on the top called the General Lee. They are also archery enthusiasts who enjoy attaching explosives to their arrows. The lives of the Duke cousins would be sublime, if it were not for the dastardly manipulations of Boss Hogg, an overweight business and political baron who rules Hazzard County with a pudgy iron thumb, aided by the incompetent and equally corrupt Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (and his deputies Enos and Cletus). The Duke boys are aided in their efforts against Boss Hogg by their elderly Uncle Jesse, sexy cousin Daisy Duke (who wears/wore short shorts so often and provacatively that they were named after her) and friendly car repair man, Cooter.

Magnum P.I.
Release Date: TBA 2005/2006 (estimated)
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: (3/17/04) This movie is of course based upon the long-running (1980-1988) CBS TV show about a Vietnam veteran (a Navy SEAL, and later, a Naval intelligence officer) named Thomas Magnum (played by Tom Selleck) who works as a private investigator while living on the estate of a mysterious benefactor named Robin Masters, much to the chagrin of the uptight British caretaker, Higgins, and aided by two of his war buddies, helicopter pilot Thedodore "T.C." Calvin and beach bar owner Orville "Rick" Wright. The setting is expected to be contemporary, rather than set in the 1980s, with the three friends now being Persian Gulf War veterans (the first one) instead of Vietnam.
Premise: (3/17/04) The exact details of this revived retelling of the Thomas Magnum story aren't yet known, but some things are sure to be constant, and others updated. The constants will be that it will revolve around a Navy intelligence officer-turned-private investigator, Thomas Magnum, who lives on the luxurious Hawaii state of a mysterious author named Robin Masters. The three main supporting characters will be Jonathan Quayle Higgins, the uptight caretaker of the estate, and Magnum's war buddies, helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin and beach bar owner Orville "Rick" Wright. Beloved series icons that are likely to make the transition are "the lads" (Higgins' dobermans named Zeus and Apollo), the beautiful scenery of Hawaii and the Ferrari that Magnum "borrows" from Robin Masters, although the Ferrari in question is likely to be a 21st century model (probably the $800,000 Ferrari Enzo). The three war buddies are also now going to be Persian Gulf War veterans instead of Vietnam veterans.

Aeon Flux
Release Date: TBA 2005
Cast: Charlize Theron (Aeon Flux); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: (3/10/04) This movie is based upon the popular animated spy TV show of the same title, created by Peter Chung, which aired on MTV in the early 1990s.
Premise: In the 25th century, a rampaging virus has forced the remnants of humanity into the seclusion of a final city surrounded by a disease-proof bubble. There is great political conflict within, however, and this is the story of an acrobatic assassin, Aeon Flux (Theron), whose latest target is the government's top leader.

Fat Albert
Release Date: December 25th, 2004
Cast: Kenan Thompson (Fat Albert), Aaron Frazier (Weird Harold), Omari Grandberry (AKA Omarion) (Reggie), Jeremy Suarez (voice of Russell), Raven Symone (voice of Danielle), Jermaine Williams (Mush Mouth); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This movie will be a live-action adaptation of the popular animated CBS TV series, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-1979) and The New Fat Albert Show (1979-1982), created, hosted, and voiced by comedian Bill Cosby. Specifically, this film will also be directly based upon Cosby's stand-up routines about growing up in Philadelphia that were the original basis for the characters. Fox and Cosby are hoping that this will be the first of a series of Fat Albert movies.
Premise: (4/23/01) This is the story of the misadventures of a group of adolescent boys growing up today (ie, not in the 1970's) in a Philadelphia neighborhood, focusing on an obese boy named Albert (his stomach touched his knees!), and his friends, Rudy, Mushmouth, Bill, Dumb Donald, Russell, and Weird Harold. (1/29/02) More specifically, FilmJerk.com reports that the Gang finds themselves in the "real world", turned into live people rather than cartoons (similar to what happened to characters in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle). Soon, Fat Albert befriends two girls, one of whom he falls for...

The Three Stooges
Release Date: Summer, 2005
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: Although this is inspired by the Three Stooges, this film is not based upon any particular Stooges film, or upon their lives. Like Charlie's Angels, it will simply feature a new trio of Stooges, set in modern times, with a new story. Although there were several Stooges in the "Three Stooges" troupe, this film will concentrate on the three most famous characters created by Larry Fine, Moe Howard, and Jerome "Curly" Howard. The other three Stooges were, in order, Samuel "Shemp" Howard (actually one of the original three), Joe Besser, and "Curly-Joe" DeRita. The Three Stooges concept is one that comedians have tried to revive for over 20 years, going all the way back to Mel Brooks, who made Silent Movie instead. Joe DeRita was the last Stooge in more than one way, joining the other five Stooges in the great slapstick beyond in 1993.
Premise: (7/2/01) There are no details about the premise of this new Stooges installment yet, except that it's set in modern Los Angeles, and will feature three of today's comedians playing Larry, Moe, and Curly.

Also Bewitched with Will Ferrell

Thunderbirds
Release Date: July 30th, 2004
Cast: Bill Paxton (Jeff Tracy), Ben Kingsley (Aristotle Spode, AKA The Hood), Brady Corbet (Alan Tracy), Anthony Edwards (Brains), Sophia Myles (Lady Penelope), Dominic Colenso (Virgil Tracy), Ron Cook (Parker), Naomie Harris, Lex Shrapnel (John Tracy), Ben Torgeson (Gordon Tracy), Philip Winchester (Scott Tracy); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: The British 1964-1966 TV series, "Thunderbirds", that used a process called Supermarionation that combined marionettes, models and special effects to create the illusion of live-action actors (and a much larger budget than they actually had). The series is currently (11/5/02) aired in the U.S. on the Tech TV cable channel. The TV show, which only ran for 32 episodes, was previously adapted as a feature film as 'Thunderbirds are Go!' in 1966 and 'Thunderbird 6' in 1968, but that film was also "supermarionation", not live-action like this movie. If this film is successful, it's quite possible that this could become the first of a franchise of 'Thunderbirds' movies. (1/14/03) The Guardian confirms that the producers hope this will be the first in a long series of films, in the British tradition of Harry Potter and James Bond.
Premise: Set in the year 2065, this is the story of ex-astronaut and USAF Colonel Jeff Tracy (Paxton) and his five sons who form a rescue team called International Rescue (nicknamed "The Thunderbirds") that uses a fleet of vehicles, from rockets to boats, to race into action whenever their unique services are required. Helping the Tracys are Brains (Edwards), a technological genius who invented the amazing rockets used by International Rescue; Jeff's assistant Kyrano and his daughter Tin-Tin; the lovely Lady Penelope (Dahl), and her driver, Parker. In this adventure, Tracy Island is attacked by an evil mastermind, Aristotle Spode, AKA The Hood (Kingsley), who wants to use the International Rescue vehicles to commit acts of crime. The emphasis of the story will be on Alan (14-year-old Corbet), the youngest of the clan at 12, who will have to rescue his father and brothers from Spode's villainous clutches, with the help of two of his friends.

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Remakes

The Manchurian Candidate
Release Date: July 30th, 2004 (wide)
Cast:
Denzel Washington (Bennett Marco), Liev Schreiber (Raymond Shaw), Meryl Streep (Raymond's mother), Kimberly Elise, Miguel Ferrer, Ted Levine, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1962 film,
The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury, which was about a Korean War veteran who was brainwashed by the Chinese as part of a Communist plot to assassinate the president. The legend about this film is that Sinatra was so traumatized by the assassination of J.F.K. a year after the film's release (and the similarities one could potentially see between the two) that he kept the film relatively unseen for over 20 years. Before his death, Frank did reportedly approve the production of a remake, through his daughter Nancy "These Boots are Made for Walking" Sinatra. The original movie was itself based upon the novel "The Manchurian Candidate" by Richard Condon, who also wrote the novel that inspired Prizzi's Honor.
Premise: Captain Bennett Marco (Washington) and Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Schreiber) served together during the Persian Gulf War (the first one), and were part of a platoon of U.S. soldiers who were kidnapped by the enemy (Al Qaeda? Iraq?), and brainwashed to become pawns once they return home, with Shaw's password phrase being "Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?". Now, ten years later, Raymond Shaw is climbing the political ladder, as his mother's (Streep) new husband is a powerful senator helping a presidential candidate. Marco, however, is not dealing with the adjustment after the war as well, and eventually remembers being brainwashed. Knowing that it's just a matter of time before Shaw is called to service by his handler (who is actually his own mother!), Marco contacts Shaw to try to get through to him before something terrible happens... (note: this is, at least, a simplified synopsis of what the first film was about, except modernized; it's possible there will be other changes made as well) (Ferrer plays the Army major who interrogates the soldiers; Voight plays a liberal senator.)

Shall We Dance?
Release Date: August 6th, 2004 (wide)
Cast:
Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Canavale, Nick Cannon, Richard Jenkins, Mya, Lisa Ann Walter (Bobbie), Deborah Yates; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is an English-language remake of the 1996 Japanese film,
Shall We Dance?, which has the record for top U.S. box office gross ($9.5 million) for a Japanese-language film. If you include Japanese-language films that were dubbed into English for the U.S., the record is held by Godzilla 2000 by a hair ($10.0 milion).
Premise: An overworked Chicago accountant (Gere), tired of the boring routine that his life has become, sees a beautiful dance teacher (Lopez) through a window and decides to start taking lessons from her in order to get to know her better, and as the joy of dancing enters his life, he discovers that it might just be the secret to saving his troubled marriage. As the accountant's skill as a dancer improves, he eventually signs up for the Chicago Crystal Ball Dance Competition. Will he win?

Wicker Park
Release Date: September 3rd, 2004 (wide)
Cast:
Josh Hartnett (Matthew), Matthew Lillard (Luke), Rose Byrne (Alex), Diane Kruger (Lisa), Jessica Pare (Rebecca), Christopher Cousins; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is an English-language remake of the 1996 French thriller, L'Appartement, which won Best Foreign film awards from both the British Academy Awards and the British Independent Film Awards.
Premise: After he has his heart broken, a young Chicago investment banker, Matthew (Hartnett), returns from two years away from the city as he tried to recover from the experience, settling again in the Wicker Park neighborhood; he's even engaged to a different woman now. Matthew's world gets thrown for a loop, however, when he becomes obsessed with a woman he sees in a cafe, believing her to be his long-lost love, to the extent that he puts his engagement on hold, as his search for the girl soon sends him down a dangerous path...

Taxi
Release Date: October 8th, 2004 (wide)
Cast: Queen Latifah (Belle), Jimmy Fallon (Detective Washburn), Ann-Margret (Mrs. Washburn), Jennifer Esposito, Gisele Bundchen, Ana Cristina de Oliceira, Christian Kane, Henry Simmons; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is an English-language remake of the 1998 French film directed by Gerard Pires and written by Luc Besson that was such a hit there that it inspired two sequels (Taxi 2 in 2000 and Taxi 3 due in 2002), and could very well have more.
Premise: This is the story of a single mother and pizza deliverer, Belle (Latifah), who decides to use her record for making the speedy deliveries to another use, becoming a cabbie. As she quickly becomes famous for racing through the city at speeds upwards of 135 mph (including school zones), a young eager cop (Fallon) who lacks Belle's driving abilities convinces her to help him catch a gang of beautiful female bank robbers (led by a Brazilian diva played by Bundchen) using her amazing driving abilities. (Henry Simmons plays Latifah's boyfriend; Ann-Margret plays Fallon's mother.)

The Flight of the Phoenix
Release Date: October 22nd, 2004
Cast:
Dennis Quaid (Captain Frank Towns), Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto, Giovanni Ribisi (Elliott), Scott Michael Campbell, Tony Curran, Hugh Laure, Jared Padalecki, Jacob Vargas; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1965 film, The Flight of the Phoenix, starring James Stewart and an ensemble cast that included Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Peter Finch, Richard Attenborough, Hardy Kruger (earning him a Golden Globe nomination), and Ian Bannen (earning him both Golden Globe and Oscar nominations). That film was itself based upon the novel by Elleston Trevor.
Premise: When a C-119 cargo plane full of oil workers crashes in Mongolia's Gobi Desert during a sandstorm, the survivors attempt to build a new plane from the parts they find in the wreckage to escape. The plane was piloted by Captain Frank Towns, an employee of oil company Geodel, whose job it is to go to remote oil rigs and shut them down when their productivity has decreased. Having accomplished his job with one such rig, his plane crashes with all of the employees aboard on the way back to Beijing. Can they survive the heat, the sand, and each other long enough to get it airborne?

Howard Stern Presents: Porky's
Release Date: TBA 2004 (tentative)
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: (3/5/03) This is a remake of the 1981 surprise blockbuster comedy hit, Porky's (making $105 million on a budget of just $4 million), which pushed the limits and definitions of racy teen sex comedies (nearly creating the genre, actually), and spawned dozens of similar movies which followed it throughout the 1980s, which included Porky's II: The Next Day in 1983 and Porky's Revenge in 1985. Heck, there was even a "Porky's" game for the Atari 2600. If this remake is a success, it's very likely that the sequels will be remade with the new cast and the "Howard Stern Presents" logo as well.
Premise: These are the collective sexual misadventures of a group of five horny teenagers growing up in rural Florida (note: the setting may be changed for this remake) who will do anything to catch a glimpse, a grope, a feel, a... "whatever" of one of their female peers and their most forbidden areas. The boys are not without enemies however, as the mean gym teacher Beulah Balbricker is constantly on the watch, and when the boys try to sneak into a local bar called Porky's, they also meet up with the obese bar owner's gang of thugs (who bounce them out for being underage). Will our boys get their revenge on those who get in the way of their goal of going all the way?

Sleepwalker
Release Date: TBA 2004/2005
Cast: None announced yet.

Based Upon: This is an English-language remake of the 2000 Swedish/Norwegian thriller, Sleepwalker, directed by Johannes Runeborg. There was another recent film by that title (in Spanish), La Sonambula, a thriller from Argentina, but that's not what this is based upon. Sleepwalker won the "New Blood" award at the
2000 Cognac Film Festival in France.
Premise: An architect (Gere) prone to sleepwalking finds his noctural expeditions may have led to the mysterious disappearance of his wife and children. Strapping a video camera to his shoulder to find out what happens during his journeys out of bed, the architect discovers that this approach only complicates the mystery...

The Devil and Daniel Webster
Release Date: TBA 2004
Cast: Sir Anthony Hopkins (Daniel Webster), Alec Baldwin (Jabez Stone), Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Devil), Dan Aykroyd (Julius Jenson), Kim Cattrall (Constance Hurry), Darrell Hammond, Jonathon Gentry (Marlon), Terrence Mann, Barry Miller (Mike Weiss), Kevin Olson (Tommy Anderson), Amy Poehler
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1941 film of the same title starring Walter Huston and Edward Arnold, which was itself based upon the novel by Stephen Vincent Benet (which also became a famous play).
Remake Note: Besides making the Devil a woman in this remake (which also makes it the second film in recent memory, along with Bedazzled, with a sexy female Devil), the occupation of the central character, Jabez Stone, has been changed from a farmer to a writer. Like many remakes, there may be other changes.
Premise: Jabez Stone is a writer (Baldwin) who sells his soul to the Devil (Hewitt) in exchange for seven years of success and fame. However, when the Devil comes to claim her end of the bargain, Stone does what any modern person would do: sue. Representing him in court is Daniel Webster (Hopkins)...

10 Again
Release Date: TBA 2004/2005
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the Oscar-nominated 1979 comedy hit, 10, also written and directed by Blake Edwards, which starred the late Dudley Moore and a very young Bo Derek, and popularized both Ravel's "Bolero" as a makeout tune (indeed, the song became such a phenomenon that Bo starred in a racy movie called Bolero five years later) and the idea of ranking beautiful women from 1 to the ideal, 10.
Premise: A middle-aged British songwriter sees a beautiful young girl on the beach while on vacation and becomes fascinated with her to the point of obsession. When he finally manages to enter her life, however, he discovers that she has problems of her own...

Here's how MDP Worldwide puts it:

"At 34, George Webber seems to have it all: he's rich, famous, talented, and has a loving girlfriend -- the beautiful dancer Sam (29). But George has just one problem that is only getting worse: he's 34, and not getting any younger. George catches sight of a girl -- the most beautiful girl in the world it seems, a real '10' -- and becomes completely smitten and obsessed with her. George follows the perfect '10' to her honeymoon - finally succeeds in seducing her - only to realize his heart belongs to someone else."

The Bellboy
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when (if) filming actually does get started
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1960 comedy of the same title starring Jerry Lewis.
Premise: When a young man traveling to London for a job interview ends up in Las Vegas instead, losing all of his money in the process, he ends up taking a job as a bellboy at the MGM Grand...

Topper
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when filming eventually gets started
Cast:
Steve Martin; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1937 film, Topper starring Cary Grant, which was itself based upon the novel, "Topper", by Thorne Smith. That film was followed by two sequels (which Cary Grant did not star in): Topper Takes a Trip (1939) and Topper Returns (1941). The concept has also been developed for television twice, as a 1953-1956 series and a 1979 made-for-TV-movie.
Premise: When free-wheeling couple George and Marion Kerby die in a car accident, they find themselves in limbo because during their lives they did neither a disproportinate number of "good" or "evil" deeds. Deciding to try for a good deed to get themselves into heaven, the Kirby's return to Earth as ghosts to try to help a tightly-wound bank president, Cosmo Topper, change his life for the better. Can the easily irritated Topper handle having two wild-and-crazy ghosts interfering with his carefully-planned life?

It Started with Eve
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when (if) filming actually does get started.
Cast:
Hugh Grant (in talks); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1941 romantic comedy, It Started with Eve, starring Charles Laughton, Deanna Durbin, and Robert Cummings.
Premise: A man (Grant; in talks) asks a woman to pose as his fiancee for a day to please his dying father. His rouse backfires, however, when his father's health recovers, and he finds he can't tell the truth, especially considering how much he loves his future daughter-in-law...

Seconds
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when/production eventually does get started.
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: This movie is based upon the 1964 novel, 'Seconds,' by David Ely, which was previously adapted as a 1966 movie starring Rock Hudson.
Premise: This is the story of a man who is given the chance at rebirth by a mysterious group called the Seconds Company. For a price, they can surgically alter you to resemble anyone on the planet, and insert you into that person's life. You can be anything... a movie star, sports star, politician... you name it. What happens, however, if you start to regret your decision...?

The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Release Date: Unknown; when Mike Judge was brought aboard, a tentative target of Summer, 2002 was mentioned, but with no word of any production since then, it appears this is still in development; a 2002 release is still possible, but not guaranteed
Animation Note: This movie will feature a combination of CGI animation and live-action.
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1964 family film of the same title starring Don Knotts.
Premise: A man who loves fish becomes one. Eventually, he helps the Navy find enemy submarines.... (That's at least more or less what the first film was about; it's very possible the remake will be modernized. The Navy/submarine subplot could be replaced by something else)

Rashomon: Where Truth Lies
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when/if filming ever gets scheduled.
Cast: None announced yet. There are only four major roles (the wife, the husband, the bandit and the witness), and the producers hope to cast major talents in all four parts.
Based Upon: This is an English-language remake of Rashomon, the classic 1950 film directed by Akira Kurosawa. The other English-language feature remake of Rashomon was 1964's The Outrage, starring Paul Newman. There was also a 1960 telefilm directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Ricardo Montalban. There was also a Broadway play version that starred Rod Steiger. Rashomon is ultimately based upon two short stories by Ryunosoke Akutogawa. The influence of Rashomon has been felt in many films since that tell a single story from different perspectives (Pulp Fiction and Go, for example).
Premise: The details of this remake aren't yet known, except that it's a "contemporary thriller." The original film was set in 9th century Japan and tells the story of an incident in which a noblewoman is raped by a bandit, and her husband dies, told four different times, through the eyes of the three central characters, and a woodsman who witnessed the incident. That general concept will probably be modernized, but more or less kept the same.

Suspicion
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when production actually gets started.
Cast: None announced yet.

Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1941 thriller, Suspicion, starring Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which was itself based upon the novel, Before the Fact, by Francis Iles.
Premise: A young woman from a wealthy San Francisco family, who gets married after being swept off her feet in romance, soon begins to suspect that her new husband was just after her for the money, and he's now trying to kill her to get it...

Macabre
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when/if filming eventually gets started.
Cast: None announced yet.

Based Upon: The 1958 film directed by William Castle, which was itself based upon a novel by Theo Durrant (a pseudonym of William Anthony Parker White).
Premise: A doctor is given just five hours to find his daughter who has been... buried alive.

Sparkle
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when/if filming eventually does get started.
Cast: Raven Symone (Sparkle); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is a remake of the 1976 film, Sparkle, starring Irene Cara, about a 1960's pop trio (similar to the Supremes). This new version will update the story, setting it in the world of today's pop music business.
Premise: This is the story of the rise and fall of the pop group (called Sister and the Sisters in the original film) of three sisters. As they become famous, one of them struggles with drugs, while another (Raven) emerges from the shadow of her sisters to become a star in her own right...

Untitled See No Evil Remake
Release Date: Unknown
Cast: None announced yet.
Based Upon: The 1971 thriller, See No Evil, starring Mia Farrow.
Premise: A young woman moves in with her aunt and uncle after she was recently blinded. A killer murders the whole family, and targets her as the next victim, but she's unaware that anything has happened...

Prequels, Spin-offs and Remakes