Summit Hires Jon and Erich Hoeber to Write "Red" Sequel

While I don’t think everyone quite realized it, probably due to some little vampire movie put out by the studio, Summit Entertainment had a pretty nice hit last year with its action film "Red." The film grossed over $150 million worldwide, and now it looks as it that was enough to warrant a sequel.

According to Collider, Summit has hired Jon and Erich Hoeber, who adapted the first film from the comic book, to write the sequel.

The first film, which was based in Warren Ellis' comic, had a stellar cast, with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren starring as former CIA agents who are deemed "Red," as in retired, extremely dangerous. While none of the stars are yet confirmed for the sequel, chances are at least one or two of them will be returning.

Also, while the studio hasn't officially green lighted the film yet, things are starting to move in that direction considering the hiring of the duo, who also penned the upcoming Peter Berg film "Battleship."

The Hoeber's did a pretty good job on the first film, but I'm actually more intrigued to see what they did for Berg's "Battleship." That film has the potential to be one of the coolest movies ever or a huge bomb, considering its massive budget. While I think the film will do well these things can never be certain when it comes to box office success.

"Red" pleasantly surprised me and it think a sequel to the film could be even more successful than the original. If the studio digs the script, the project should get the official green light soon after.

"Red Dawn" On Indefinite Hold?

MGM's financial woes may have claimed another victim - the "Red Dawn" remake.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Dan Bradley-directed $75 million remake of the '80s John Milius cult classic had been scheduled for a November 24 release this year, but with MGM's spiraling debts, the company has withdrawn the project from release as it simply doesn't have the funds to market and distribute films of this size.

Bradley’s film focuses on a group of teenagers looking to save their town from an invasion of Chinese and Russian soldiers.

When Disney dropped the Miramax label a few months ago, several completed (or nearly completed) projects became essentially stuck in limbo and still may not see the light of day. Now, it seems through quite different circumstances, the same thing will happen with MGM's upcoming slate.

Two high-profile projects in development – the new Bond film, and "The Hobbit" - are currently both going nowhere until the financial issues are resolved.

Sony picked up the Kevin James comedy "The Zookeeper" from the studio and will release that, and a similar arrangement could be worked out for "Dawn," but right now, there's apparently nothing in the works on that front.

I’m hoping that changes, because I was really looking forward to this film. The original was great, and I thought that Bradley’s film could have been made as a straight remake, but I also thought it would be good having Russia and China as the villain as well. There’s been some backlash on that front, and I wonder if the filmmakers would have been better served keeping the original Russian and Cuban villains instead.

Hopefully, something will happen, because with a cast of talent like Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the film has a shot to be pretty good.