The decision-making process of The Weinstein Company within the past year has been exciting enough to watch with an oversize popcorn tub (with free refills!). After announcing they’d be cannibalizing their own library for remakes and sequels, they’re now announcing a new version of Akira Kurosawa’s iconic Seven Samurai. Sacrilege? Not exactly. The Magnificent Seven was a hell of a movie, and A Bug’s Life was probably the best possible way to adapt the story for children of all ages, so remaking a high concept tale of honor and protection isn’t all that terrifying even if touching the legacy of Kurosawa might seem that way. According to Cinema Blend, Scott Mann will be directing the movie. Here’s where the speculation comes in. Mann is a strong short film maker who has the awards to prove it, and his first feature film The Tournament is all action, all the time (with some Scott Adkins thrown in for good measure), so it’s unclear whether they’ll even attempt to bring nuance and calm character development to the story. Perhaps, the modernization of the setting will lend itself to non-stop beat downs. That would really be a shame. It would mean an In Name Only remake. This news isn’t really all that moving one way or another. Maybe that’s the cynicism of the movie world we live in now (especially the world of Weinstein) or maybe it’s the optimism that we might get a great movie out of it (or still have the original [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

After the strange claims from Bob Weinstein that the events of Apollo 18 were real, the movie got pushed back to the graveyard of January 2012. Speculation leans toward the movie being double plus bad because of the move, but in truth, we’ll never know why the decision was made. However, it doesn’t matter now, because according to Bloody Disgusting, the movie has been pushed up to the slightly more encouraging August 26th, 2011 release date it holds today. So that explains why the trailer played in front of Scream 4. They weren’t just playing the 10-month-ahead-of-time hype game.

Despite being totally real, not at all fake, absolutely true found footage of a moon mission that ended in tragedy (or at least contained a lot of it), apparently Apollo 18 just isn’t marketable enough for The Weinstein Company. The movie was supposed to hit theaters later this month, but it’s been warp whistled to January of next year. Apparently there won’t be a big Oscar push. In other news, they’ve also moved Piranha 3DD 2: The Sequel from mid-September to Thanksgiving week, which is perfect, because I know how much grandma wants to check that one out.

The Weinstein Company has sent out a memo warning people that on April 1st, The King’s Speech will be replaced in theaters by The King’s Speech Lite, which might still taste great but will be less fulfilling. They’ve gotten the PG-13 rating they wanted by making the necessary changes and bleeping out the right words, but that’s the only version that will see screens starting April 1st, so if you still haven’t seen it and still want to be treated like an adult, March is your last chance until the rental shelf. On the flip side, if you’re a 15-year-old kid who’s been scratching your braces out to catch this Masterpiece Theater-style period piece, tear your Lady Gaga poster off the wall and replace it with a calendar featuring a giant red circle around the first day of April because that day is your V-Day.

We reported earlier in the day that Miramax was partnering with The Weinstein Company to create a slew of sequels from the movies that it already owns. It beats original ideas, that’s for sure. Now, director Kevin Smith has commented on the development with a level head: “If someone was going to exploit the library for sequels, remakes, TV, I’d rather it be the devil I know. Nice to know there’s a home for Clerks III if I ever wanted to make it, but hope it doesn’t become a home for a Clerks-anything if I’m not involved. Either way, I doubt my shit is even something they wanna re-do/remake. [Miramax owns] Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jersey Girl and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. But then it’s further complicated by the Jay & Silent Bob of it all. They don’t own Jay & Silent Bob; I do. They own Strike Back, but they can’t make any flick that’d include Jay & Silent Bob (even a Strike Back sequel) without my permission/license.” He then went on to give the best possible synopsis for a Jersey Girl sequel that could ever exist:

It was sort of heartbreaking earlier in the year when The Weinstein Company failed to purchase Miramax back. It would have been a homecoming of sorts for both companies, and it promised a return to form for Miramax after struggling through the latter part of the 2000s with fewer titles (and far less edge). The two companies have announced the next best thing – a long-term partnership. Unfortunately, that partnership is built upon producing and releasing a blight on the cinematic community. The two companies plan on releasing sequels to long-forgotten titles. Unnecessary sequels are planned for Bad Santa, Rounders, and Shakespeare in Love. There’s something harmless about seeing Billy Bob Thornton back in the Santa suit, but do they expect to nab Matt Damon and Ed Norton back? Do they plan on getting Gwyneth Paltrow back into drag? Those aren’t necessary components, but without those main actor ties, the sequels – coming a decade late – would be In Name Only sequels. The worst case scenario is Miramax becoming the National Lampoon of indie companies.

Once again, the Harvey and Bob show is messing with their release schedule, moving around Oscar hopefuls and highly anticipated fall releases for reasons unknown — or mostly unknown.

Fanboys finally came out last week, right? No really, it is now playing. We have video evidence that it had its official premiere, courtesy of the lovely folks at Gen Art.

If there is one thing that makes me sad it is a good filmmaker — in this case John Hillcoat, director of The Proposition — who has a great piece of material that they’ve turned into a potentially great film — in this case Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” — and it just sits on the shelf, collecting dust.

There is no need to adjust your monitor, wonder if you swallowed too many of Grandpa’s happy pills, or even be afraid that you have somehow entered into a Finnegan’s Wake-like world where up is down, left is right, and James Joyce is actually relevant. That’s right-Kyle Newman’s Fanboys has actually seen the light of limited release.

The Weinstein Co. has just optioned one of her better biographies, “Get Happy – The Life of Judy Garland” by Gerald Clarke. The book is a pretty detailed look at the singer and actress’ life and loves, chronicling her early years up to her dying day in 1969.

Today brings more snarky goodness from the marketing campaign for Kevin Smith’s latest film Zack and Miri Make a Porno, with a brand new poster filled with sunshine and cutesy animals.

I am beginning to get the feeling that most people have lost interest in the movement to save Fanboys. That said, here’s a new trailer. Enjoy.

A week after Dreamworks made a deal that would finally separate them from Paramount’s power-teat, it looks like another pair of Hollywood studios are going the way of the break up.

The Weinstein’s love for the Asians is well documented… they love to buy, abuse, shelve, and then dump onto DVD as many great Asian films as they can. Well apparently that fetish has grown tiresome as now they’re turning their predatory eyes elsewhere. Towards the children!

Alright, maybe we shouldn’t go that far with it… But we can all admit that it hasn’t been an amazing year for ole’ Harvey and Bob. Plus, this animated inventor movie doesn’t show a whole lot of promise.

Let’s see how far they will go to screw up the marketing on this one…

Director Todd Haynes certainly has a vision with his new film I’m Not There but that vision doesn’t translate well onto the screen.

I haven’t seen the right kind of review for I’m Not There yet. While critics struggle to shove the title into the review template that made up years ago, readers and movie-goers alike are finding out that it just doesn’t fit.

Todd Haynes’ supposition on the life and music of Bob Dylan, “I’m Not There,” is unlike a film experience you’ll have this year.