The architecture of Metropolis, called Raygun Gothic, has influenced the looks of everything from Frankenstein to Blade Runner to The Matrix, and the design for the robotic version of Maria in the film is evident in C3P0 from Star Wars. But will it be sacrilege to mess with this movie? While it would be great to expose it to more audiences, the possibility runs high that this might end up as a disaster.

We'll keep our fingers crossed, but make sure you check out the original film which was restored and put on DVD back in 2002.

'Metropolis' Finds New Life [Variety]

Sammon's remarks, which came during a recent interview about his updated book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner are sure to cause involuntary shudders and waves of nausea amongst fans of the original. Although the film is based on Philip K. Dick's classic Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, author K.W. Jeter has written three novels as sequels to the movie. These novels have generally been panned by critics, and only enjoyed by rabid Blade Runner megafans who long for a return to this dystopian vision of the future, while the rest of us would like to see this film remain untouched, sequel-wise.

Ridley Scott hasn't made a sequel to any of his films, and would rather move on to new territory than revisit somewhere he's been before. Let's hope Sammon's words are just wishful thinking.

Blade Runner II? {SciFi Scanner]

Apparently star Andre Braugher isn't a big fan of the novel, "Crichton's book doesn't hold up to the test of time and so not much happens. When you go back to 1968 and read that book it's anti-climactic, period, so this is a re-telling of the story with the same premise." Let's hope fans of the novel aren't rankled too much by that. As long as he's nitpicking, he might as well say that the 1971 film based on the same novel doesn't hold up that well either. What's going to make their version so much better?

He's very stingy with the details, and basically only tells us that he's playing the military man who is brought in to deal with the situation, while Benjamin Bratt plays the "hot-headed scientist" who is trying to track down the virus. Does Benjamin Bratt have any roles where he isn't hot-headed? According to Braugher, the film will have some elements of Sphere in it (please dear god, let him mean the novel and not the awful movie version), and promises that the virus won't be benign as it is in the novel, but will be "malignant and on the loose."

Hear that folks? It's another "rampant virus on the loose" sci fi tale. Steel yourselves, and think about investing in a hazmat suit.

Braugher on Strain [Bloody Disgusting]

Directors ranging from Skip Wood to Bryan Singer have worked on a remake in various stages of pre-production since the mid 1990s, but it never gained enough traction to stay on the rails. Although it now seems like producer Joel Silver has found his team: director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Timothy Sexton (Children of Men).

While the hiring of Sexton is a shot in the arm, since Children of Men did such a great job with a post-apocalyptic future, Kosinski is a first-time feature film director, which could fall on the good or the bad side of the fence. Although if it couldn't get going with a name like Bryan Singer attached, then maybe this newcomer will breathe some much needed fresh air into the project. Although since the novel is part of a trilogy (with a fourth being a novelette, and another sequel in the works), you think they might hand these reins to someone with some experience.

However, if it means getting Logan's Run to the big screen all the sooner, we say hand a camera to just about anyone and let's get things rolling ... er, running. Although we wouldn't mind not having a repeat of the dreaded Logan's Run TV series from the 1970s. Yes, it really happened.

Logan's Run getting a remake thanks to Warner Bros. [Quiet Earth]

He claims that George Bush and the day and age of the Patriot Act have made this novel more important today than the day it was published, more than 50 years ago, and he's going to set it "50 years from today — whenever today is." Which means it could be 1950, 2000, or 2050. As long as he doesn't turn it into some sort of futuristic utopia in trouble, a la Minority Report or AI, we're all for it.

Of course that means we'll have to forgive leading man Tom Hanks for The DaVinci Code. We're fairly open minded, but that haircut ... ouch.

'Fahrenheit 451' Director Insists Book Is 'More Relevant Today,' Hopes To Shoot Adaptation In 2008 [MTV]