Warner Brothers Studios 2008 Announced Films

Updated on January 3, 2008 By Ken Begg 19 Comments

Unlike 20th Century Fox, Warner’s has a number of films that legitimately have blockbuster written all over them. 

Jan 4
One Missed Call
The first of at least three Americanized remakes of Asian horror films due out in the next two months.  If you miss a phone call, you die, or something.  I don’t know, I saw The Ring already.

Jan 11th
The Bucket List 
Somebody had the bright idea of taking one of those “Things to Do Before You Die” books and making a screenplay out of it.  Here it’s two old men played by Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman.  Nicholson is rich (and white) and Morgan is poor (and black), so that’s subtle.  That’s an awful lot of star power for a movie being dumped released in January, so I have my suspicions.  Plus, it’s directed by Rob Reiner, in his first film since Rumor Has It (???) two years ago.  Remember when Reiner actually made fantastic movies you wanted to see?  Then he got one of the worst cases of Oscaritis on record, and it all went in the crapper.  Ah, well, we’ll always have Spinal Tap and Princess Bride.

Feb 8th
Fool’s Gold
Matthew McConaughey…OK, I’m going to stop right there.

March 7th
10,000 B.C.
I realize my line about ‘blockbusters’ is getting increasingly suspect, but we just need to get to the summer movies.  Meanwhile, and boy if *this* doesn’t sound awful:  “From director Roland Emmerich comes a sweeping odyssey into a mythical age of prophesies and gods, when spirits rule the land and mighty mammoths shake the earth. In a remote mountain tribe, the young hunter, D’Leh (Steven Strait), has found his heart’s passion – the beautiful Evolet (Camilla Belle). When a band of mysterious warlords raid his village and kidnap Evolet, D’Leh is forced to lead a small group of hunters to pursue the warlords to the end of the world to save her. Driven by destiny, the unlikely band of warriors must battle saber-tooth tigers and prehistoric predators and, at their heroic journey’s end, they uncover a Lost Civilization. Their ultimate fate lies in an empire beyond imagination, where great pyramids reach into the skies. Here they will take their stand against a powerful god who has brutally enslaved their people.”  Great, a hundred million dollars-plus remake of Yor, Hunter from the Future.

May 9th
Speed Racer
I was hoping for something amusing here, but the trailer looks pretty bad, and it is made by the Wachowski Brothers, who haven’t exactly been on a roll lately.  Plus I hear they dump the Mach 5 for a purportedly ‘cooler’ updated vehicle for the end of the movie—MY ASS!!  I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but without a lot of hope.

June 20th
Get Smart
Man, you’d sure like this to work.  Steve Carrell is as good a possible replacement for Don Adams as one could hope for.  Still, how can you cast Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and not make him Hymie the Robot?!!  What the hell?  Here’s hoping the script is there and the director knows what he’s about, because it would be depressing if this sucked.

July 18th
The Dark Knight
Here we go, the much anticipated Batman movie, number three on my ‘films I want to see this year’ list.  I have to say that I’m taken aback by the film’s reinvention of the Joker, but until I see it fail, I choose to trust that director Christopher Nolan knows what he’s going.

Aug 8th
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Obviously not aimed at me, but at least it doesn’t star any pop singers.

Sep 12th                                                                       
Nights in Rodanthe
Romantic drama with Richard Gere and Diana Lane, it sounds like The Bridges of Madison County reset in Italy.  Meh.  Scott Glenn’s in it, though.  I loves me the Right Stuff actors.

3rd Quarter
Whiteout
Suspense thriller set in Antarctica, adapted from a well-received graphic novel (or comic book, for us old-timers), and starring—uh oh—Kate Beckinsale.  This could be great, or it could be another iteration of Eye See You.

Oct 3rd
RocknRolla
Director Guy Ritchie…OK, I think you can take it from there.

Oct 10th
Untitled Ridley Scott
Political thriller with Leonardo Decaprio and Russell Crowe.  Sooner or later somebody has to make a film that address terrorism and is actually good, right?  Right?  (Although frankly I’m not sure Ridley Scott is that man.)

Nov 21st
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
OK, Warner’s has *two* automatic blockbusters this year.  Still, go look at Fox’s offerings again.  I suppose it’s possible somebody will eventually screw the pooch on this series, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Dec 19th
Yes Man
Jim Carrey doesn’t look to be having a good year, since I assume the animated Horton Hears a Who will suck, and this sounds like a very slight rewrite of Liar, Liar.  Here, instead of not being able to lie, he must say ‘yes’ to everything.  That’s why they make the huge money, folks.

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  • Ericb

    “Great, a hundred million dollars-plus remake of Yor, Hunter from the Future”

    It’s sounds more like a remake of Clan of the Cavebear that falls off of a cliff and lands into Yor, Hunter from the Future.

  • Wait … when you say Dwayne “The Rock” Nelson, do you mean Dwayne Johnson or is there really a Dwayne Nelson and you’re just making a rib?

  • That’s the problem with trying to type these up during my work breaks. Thanks for the correction. Johnson it is.

  • fish eye no miko

    Wow a lot to cover…

    Ok:
    One Missed Call:
    Actually, you hear your death over your phone, is what happens. I’ve seen the original… Meh. Maybe on video.
    BTW, the original OMC was done by the (in)famous Takashi Miike, best known for his violent and twisted gangster and horror films (Ichi the Killer and Audition being two examples of his usual work). OMC was tame compared to what he usually does (I’m guessing, I only know his work by reputation).

    Speed Racer “but the trailer looks pretty bad”
    Really? I think it looks great! But if what you say about the Mach 5 is true.. Dammit… d-: At least it’s at the end of the film.
    BTW, there’s some other CGI anime movie coming out in the future was well: Astro Boy and Gatchaman (the anime that was brought to America as Battle of the Planets, G-Force and Eagle Riders).

    The Dark Knight
    “I have to say that I’m taken aback by the film’s reinvention of the Joker”
    Ditto. But, like you, I’ll give it a chance.

    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    “I suppose it’s possible somebody will eventually screw the pooch on this series, but it hasn’t happened yet”
    Well, this installment is done by the same guy who directed OtP (David Yates), and there’s only one film after this, so… maybe not?
    I’m looking forward to this one; the ending will no doubt shock many people who’ve not read the books. My biggest problem is that Draco Malfoy plays a MAJOR role in book 6, and yet they’ve been REDUCING his part in the movie over the years, so it’s going to be a bit jarring. I hope Tom Felton is up to doing more than just sneer and talk tough; Draco really goes through the wringer in this one.

  • Karl Allen

    Maybe I’m a cheap date, but the trailers for 10,000 BC look awesome. Great visuals – the first civilization, mammoths as both hunters’ game and work animals, sabre tooth tigers stalking humans – there’s a lot of fresh stuff. I realize the story may completely suck, and the name Roland Emmerich doesn’t exactly fill me with hope, but this is one movie I’m really looking forward to.

    Of course I felt that way about Starship Troopers after seeing the trailers, and look how that turned out.

  • Dan Coyle

    What’s amusing about Whiteout is that in the original comic the main character was actually kind of squat looking, muscular, and not traditionally attractive, and actually looked like someone who had been living in Antarctica for a while, instead of… Kate Beckinsale.

    Reese Witherspoon was originally attached to the project.

    Wait, Emmerich named his character D’Leh and didn’t stop to think people might confuse that with D’oh? I suppose here’s where I snark about Day After Tomorrow’s supposed environmental advocacy…

  • Rumor has it that the Wachowski’s are One Trick Ponies, and will never reclaim the blockbuster status they once had with the first Matrix movie.

    Speed Racer is a waste of money. I won’t be watching it in a theatre. I’ll wait for the Utorrent.

  • Dave Goddard

    “Great, a hundred million dollars-plus remake of Yor, Hunter from the Future”

    “It’s sounds more like a remake of Clan of the Cavebear that falls off of a cliff and lands into Yor, Hunter from the Future.”

    Perhaps it passed Battlefield Earth on the way down?

  • Pilgrim

    “…and, at their heroic journey’s end, they uncover a Lost Civilization.”

    How long ago did it become lost? Like, a day? We’re already at the dawn of civilization…

  • Ericb

    I think the title “10,000 BC” is dumb. Why give a sword and sorcery movie a real historical date? Isn’t whole point of the of the genre is that it takes place in a quasi-historical mythic past? “10,000 BC; Thrill to the excitement and drama of clan politics in Mesolithic fishing villages!”

  • mpollack

    I recently saw the trailer for “Fools Gold,” and it actually looks promising as a “Romancing the Stone” type film. Even Matthew McConaughey looks like he knows what he’s doing.

    As for Get Smart, the trade rumors are flying that there’s trouble on the set. That’s never a good sign.

  • The Rev. D.D.

    No Mach 5?!? #@%! that. No sale.

    All those cute little “Name…ok I can stop right there” jokes and you didn’t do one for Roland Emmerich?
    Of course, then we couldn’t have found out it was a remake of Yor (I was thinking Beastmaster at first, but you’re right, it’s totally Yor.)

  • The Rev. D.D.

    “OMC was tame compared to what he usually does (I’m guessing, I only know his work by reputation).”

    Hell, Hostel was tame compared to Ichi the Killer. Weird, uberviolent, gross, and and ending that made me go, “Ermmm…wait, what?” I find this happening a lot lately with Japanese movies I watch (Dumplings and Tomie also did that to me.)

  • fish eye no miko

    The Rev. D.D. said: “No Mach 5?!? #@%! that. No sale.”

    The Mach 5 is there. From what Ken says, it seems like they get rid of it at the end, but it’s definitely in the film (and looks exactly like you’d expect; they didn’t “update” it ala the Batmobile). The trailer features it heavily.

  • 10,000 BC is in ENGLISH. As in SPOKEN ENGLISH. Arrgh.

    Where is Takashi Miike’s US theatrical debut? He just made a movie while I’m writing about him now; you’d think he could fit it in.

    Kate Beckinsale is hot, when they aren’t making her do an American accent.

    Mach 5 does get trashed and replaced with the “Mach 6,” I believe they call it.

    I sense they may need a Draco recast but that would be quite jarring. I imagine they’ll do as they’ve done and just cut down the story. Hopefully they also think to change the ending in the final movie as Harry and Voldemort’s final battle is gonna look pretty stupid if they don’t.

  • fish eye no miko

    TheBigGSN5 said: “Where is Takashi Miike’s US theatrical debut”

    Yike. O_O

    “I sense they may need a Draco recast but that would be quite jarring.”

    Movie 6 is in the process of being made, and I’ve not heard of any re-castings. And, if anyone cares, the actors playing the Trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) are signed for Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

    “I imagine they’ll do as they’ve done and just cut down the story.”

    Yes, but Malfoy’s part is too important to cut too much. I mean, they could cut a lot of scenes with him, but when it comes down to it, there’s some stuff they just have to have with Malfoy.

    “Hopefully they also think to change the ending in the final movie

    Oooh… I don’t see them doing that.

    “as Harry and Voldemort’s final battle is gonna look pretty stupid if they don’t.”

    True, but I’m not sure how to jazz it up without… well, without altering certain important story aspects. Not that that’s ever stopped the filmmakers, but…

  • The Rev. D.D.

    They replace the Mach 5? Feh. That’s like saying we’ll replace Godzilla with a newer, flashier model, and we all know how that turned out.
    I may end finding out otherwise, but this whole project just sets my crapometer off.

  • Huntress

    i>One Missed Call
    Personally, I thought the original version was extremely creepy. Many people have complained about it being derivative of other Japanese horror movies, and it is, but only in the sense that it succeeds in capturing the elements that made those movies work. The remake looks craptastic just from the trailer, though.

    The Bucket List
    I may or may not see this one, but I’d surprised if it doesn’t do at least moderately well at the BO. The audience I saw the trailer with seemed fairly excited about it.

    10,000 BC
    I’m actually looking forward to this. The trailer looked awesome and if you ask me, a movie like this doesn’t really need much of a story. I’ll probably see it even if the reviews are dreadful.

    Get Smart
    The teaser trailer was frickin’ hilarious. I laughed till my sides hurt during the “telephone-throwing” gag. Still, that was only a brief teaser. Keep your fingers crossed.

    The Dark Knight
    I don’t mind admitting I was blown away by the trailer. And I seem to be one of the few people with no reservations about the new Joker make-up. He looks kinda like a homeless person who escaped from an insane asylum, which, let’s face it, is exactly what he is. But he’s still scary.

    Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
    I don’t think anyone likely to visit this site is going to be in this movie’s demographic, so moving on…

    Nights in Rodanthe
    Didn’t Diane Lane already make this movie with “Under the Tuscan Sun”?

    Untitled Ridley Scott
    I’ve liked DiCaprio since he past his “teen idol” phase and Crowe since he got past his “enfant terrible” phase. And I like Ridley, so I may see this one. In the meantime, I decent terrorism movie is “The Kingdom”. The ending really strains to draw parallels between two groups of characters, but otherwise…

    Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince
    I, too, am wondering how they intend to bring Draco back into the thick of things. And I can’t wait to see the looks on the faces of unsuspecting parents who thought they were bringing their kids to a “nice Harry Potter movie”, when they get a load of the ending.

    Yes Man
    I’m just interested enough to see it, but unless it gets good reviews, I think I’ll wait for it to hit second-run theaters. (I’m blessed with two in my area.)

  • Huntress

    Sorry about the number of typos in my last post. It was long and I was in a hurry to get it done.