There have been a lot of small, brilliant pieces of movie news lately. Cool ideas and interesting people attached to projects with potential. That’s why it’s particularly bitter to hear news that feels a lot like gargling acid. This specific swallow comes from Deadline Fredericksburg who report that Universal is back to mining their own library to come up with Midnight Run 2. Maybe a sequel would be a good idea. Who knows. Martin Brest had his own sins as a director, but Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run were his best. It’s tough that he ended his career on Gigli, but it might be even tougher that Universal is working with Brett Ratner to direct a sequel to the Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin-starring flick about an accountant trying his best to keep breathing while the FBI, some bounty hunters and the mob are on his tail. What’ even better than his aggressive mediocrity is that they’ve got David Elliot and Paul Lovett (Four Brothers and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) to write the script.

Almost exactly a year ago, we reported that Disney was interested in creating a movie based on stone statues that came to life even if it wasn’t based on the cartoon show Gargoyles. According to Variety, that idea is now being solidified as a script by David Elliot and Paul Lovett (who wrote G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra). The pair came to The Mouse with an original concept that has nothing to do with the television cartoon series but shares the exact same high concept conceit. There’s very little information beyond “stone becoming flesh,” so it’s tough to gauge, but it seems like a fair assumption that it will be an action adventure film aimed at children and at Burger King tie-ins. If that really is the case, Elliot and Lovett are good choices to build a project that can also sell toys.