Chris Columbus Spills on Future Projects

Admit it, folks. Chris Columbus ain't chopped liver in Hollywood. He's directed Mrs. Doubtfire, the first two Harry Potter films, the upcoming Lightning Thief movies and wrote Goonies and the Gremlins. The following is an interview that was just taken with him:

Over the years, there's been lots of talk about doing remakes and/or sequels to some of Columbus' earlier work, the most recent one being a rumor that there were plans of doing a 3D remake of Gremlins. When ComingSoon.net spoke to Columbus at the junket for his new movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, he admitted that so far, neither he nor the original film's producer Steven Spielberg had been contacted about it.

"I spoke to Steven Spielberg a couple days ago and said, 'You know, I've been reading on the internet about this 'Gremlins 3D' and no one's approached him either, so I don't know if that's really true," Columbus told us.

That doesn't mean he's completely ruling out doing some sort of sequel or update. "It would be fun to go back and revisit (them). Something like 'Gremlins,' which is a movie I really like, I think it's impossible to recreate in a CGI environment. I think it will inevitably lose some of its charm. Those are edgy Muppets in a sense and you don't want to lose that sense of anarchy that those gremlins had, because behind the scenes are 25 puppeteers making them to come to life."

"'Goonies' would have to be the Goonies on their own as parents and their children doing something," he continued. "But as Steven said, 'How can you really be going underground finding another gigantic pirate ship filled with treasure? What can be the next adventure?'"

What about a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire, his hit cross-dressing comedy starring Robin Williams? "'Mrs. Doubtfire' is an interesting idea for a sequel because it's the one time in film history where you can revisit the character and they'll be the same age 15 years later. Because of the make-up, people can see Mrs. Doubtfire again and nothing has changed about her, which I think is kind of interesting."

Columbus also mentioned he's still in touch with Spielberg regularly and the two of them have been talking about producing a movie together, although it's not likely to be a sequel to one of the movies above.

Interesting. I don't know about a Mrs. Doubtfire 2, but I like a 3D puppets Gremlin movie.

SYS

Update on Tintin

It seems Tintin has just gotten it's 1st rendered images out. That's what I've just happened to stumble upon while maming my usual rounds. It seems Spielberg is pleased and there might be some re-shoots in March/April.

After seeing Avatar and A Christmas Carol, I'll be elated to see more Motion Capture now.

SYS

Avatar Makes A Billion,Holmes Drops 38.5%, Chipmunks A Hit, Complications Continue, Princess Increases, Up In The Air A Smash

Avatar made the biggest 3rd weekend ever, landing 68.3 million dropping a mere 10%. The film has made 352.1 million here, but has reached over 1 billion worldwide. The film has surpassed the juggernaut that was The Dark Knight worldwide and overseas. It'll soon surpass Pirates of The Caribbean 2 and beat The Return of The King. Avatar could even beat Titanic.

To add on to this, the film had the biggest 3rd weekend ever and is the biggest Non-Sequel since Steven Spielberg's E.T. Avatar is the 1st film in 12 years to outdo Titanic and become the biggest film of all-time.

Sherlock Holmes made 38.3 million and has reached 140.6 million thus far. The film could wind up with 225 million and become the next big franchise for Warner Bros.

Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 went down 25% with 36.6 million. It will make around 240 million, beating it's predecessor and guranteeing a third film.

It's Complicated did amazing, dropping the least out of all of last weekends new releases, dropping 15%. The film made 18.7 million and has made 59 million. Meryl Streep seems to have, like Sandra Bullock, hit her stride late in ehr life.

Speaking of Sandra Bullock, her film The Blind Side made 12.6 million this weekend. It's total now stands at 2009 million and could reach 250 million by the end of it's run.



Up in The Air made 11.3 million this weekend. The Best Picture possible film has made 45 million, handily doing it's 25 million budget back.

The Princess and The Frog increased this weekend by 10%. The masterpiece has made 86 million and will have a total similar to Bolt, Disney's 2008 CGI flick.

The Top 12 overall made 214.1 million estimated and up 62% from last year. This could bode well for 2010 overall.

The Birthday of a Legend

Steven Spielberg turns 63 today. Hard to believe he's only been alive for 63 years, yet he's changed cinema forever. Congrats.

SYS

Harvey Hops Away

Steven Spielberg has hopped away from his Harvey remake. Casting trouble an a bad screenplay probably kept him away. Not sure if it's completely dead, but I think it is.

Next up for this great man is Indiana Jones 5 and Lincoln. Can't wait to see both of them.

SYS

The Hobbit Has Begun

The Hobbit script has been completed. It seems that, acoording to Peter Jackson, that the Hobbit has it's first films script completed. They are working on the second film as well. The Hobbit will NOT be in 3D, despite Peter Jackson liking the format. Ian McKellen will be in The Hobbit as Gandalf, by the way, so good news all around for the film.

Also, Peter says Steven Spielberg's Tintin films are done filming and just need some animation to be completed and it'll be done. That film comes out on Christmas Day, 2011.

Very exciting sounding projects. Can't wait to see how these movies turn out.

SYS