Variety announced this morning that esteemed actor Keanu Reeves has just signed on for the role of Klaatu, in the upcoming remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL for 20th Century Fox. That’s right, it’s another remake, baby!
Reeves is set to play the man who comes to Earth with his trusty robot Gort and warns the planet to stop fighting themselves and live in peace, or prepare for annihilation from those watching from above. The 1951 classic is set to be remade due to the advances in special effects, and will likely be one of the bigger movies to come out in 2008.
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE director Scott Derrickson is also on board the project, directing from a script by David Scarpa (THE LAST CASTLE). While I dug EMILY ROSE, I’m not sure how I feel about Derrickson helming this one… I don’t know, but this has ‘event film’ written all over it… is he really up for the job? Then again, he’ll probably do the film justice and make it good vs entertaining trash… so I guess he is the right guy for the job!
If you haven’t seen THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, you will likely already be a fan of one of it’s most famous lines, “Klaatu, Barada, Nikto” – or as Ash in ARMY OF DARKNESS once put it, “Clatto Verata Nicto”. The line to command Gort the robot in EARTH was the same line uttered by Ash to claim the Book of the Dead. It should be interesting to see how the line comes off in the remake, and to see how many out there will say ‘Hey, isn’t that from ARMY OF DARKNESS?????’
Filming is set to begin early 2008, and could be releases as early as next winter. Oscar contendor for 2009 Academy Awards? With Keanu rocking the scene, not bloody likely… but it’ll probably make more than enough in bank to make up for it.
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