The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Poster

A sci-fi wonder of its time, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" featured an alien man named Klaatu who came to Earth with a robot named Gort prophesizing its demise if its people didn’t change their belligerent ways. So, naturally, the inclination is to reinvent an old success because they’re all out of new ones. And since "War of the Worlds" raked in a mind-numbing profit of almost twice its production costs at $234 million domestic, why not go for another remake?

Except of course, this time Steven Spielberg won’t be at the helm; but I’m sure Scott Derrickson’s name (director of "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and writer of "Urban Legends: Final Cut") will draw just as much attention remaking "Earth," as he’s set to direct according to Hollywood North Report. Oh, and of course, "WOTW" had Tom Cruise, so now they’ll have to find just as big a star for "Earth" to make a hundredth of what "WOTW" made at the box office. All this being said, I really hope the studio is going for quality and not profit on this one, because this is going to be a hard sell unless it’s treated with due respect. And even that won’t quell the skeptics so easily.

The remake is set to film through next November in British Columbia. Last but not least, to further illustrate the "War of the Worlds" analogy, ComingSoon reports that Fox has already set a release date of May 9, 2008, so it sounds like someone is already trying to think summer blockbuster a la "WOTW."