With recent news that MGM is on the chopping block and the current debate on what the company will head/who it will turn to in the near, dire future, the overall change that seems to be going on in Hollywood (and in the world of film entertainment altogether) shines more and more apparent – that is, what it means (and costs) to make movies these days.

Whether it’s Tom Cruise buying United Artists the same year a Tom Cruise-headlined movie did NOT make $100 million domestic or Paranormal Activity grossing over $100 million domestic with a budget of 15 grand and an ad campaign costing not much more, the tides have seemed to turn over. Big studios continue to go big ($200 million tentpoles) but no longer rely on domestic B.O. numbers. Sure, the $65 million take Sony’s 2012 took in in the States was nice, but it was the $160 million from other countries it was always counting on. Moviegoers overseas are less-jaded with the spectacle of cinema, and the people behind the big desks in Los Angeles know this. Read the full story

And the Red Dawn remake just got interesting.

Latino Review is reporting that screenwriter and director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, the Bourne series) is rewriting MGM/UA’s Red Dawn remake. The film is scheduled to begin filming in September under the direction of Dan Bradley, the Second Unit director on the Bourne films.

The remake was drafted by Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore, based on the original 1984 film. The film follows a group of teenagers after their hometown is invaded by Chinese and Russian troops. You can watch the folks at Latino Review giving their take on the earlier draft here.

Red Dawn stars Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki. It’s scheduled for release September 24, 2010.

How does Tony Gilroy penning the script change your perception of the remake? Is Red Dawn a film that can have any resonance today?

With the release of the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise, Terminator Salvation upon us, news is emerging that the films distributors may be having a change.  A story in Variety reports that distributor MGM may take the opportunity to snatch up the rights for the Terminator franchise from  the fourth films distributor Warner Brothers.

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