Update 10/27/09

[Kilo11]

Just found this on Wikipedia

On October 27, 2009, it was announced that Steve Carr will direct the remake and the film's plot will involve a boy from a broken family befriending the Number 5 robot.

Steve Carr has directed these movies:

* Iron Fist (announced/delayed)
* Short Circuit
* Paul Blart: Mall Cop
* Racing the Monsoon (in pre-production)
* Switching Nazis
* Are We Done Yet?
* Rebound
* Daddy Day Care
* Dr. Dolittle 2
* Next Friday

I hope this turn out to be a crappy B movie....

[Johnny5fangirl555]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't like that plot! Get a different director!!!!!!!

I WANT THE ORIGINAL PLOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:-( HOLLYWOOD IS JUST SO MEAN, CHANGING THE PLOTS OF MOVIES LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY SHOULD BE SUED FOR THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChrisEsperProduction]

As much as I love the SC movies. I have to agree that this is a horrible idea. I mean he director resume isn't exactly the best. Plus, people who arn't fans of the film see SC as an E.T. rip-off. if this plot is used, then it WILL be E.T.

[Josee Millette]

Whoah. I hadn’t seen that. Thanks for letting us know.

I have to comment as well on this new plot. What a bad idea. In most movies of the genre, it’s a young boy befriending the alien/robot/whatever. I always thought SC was refreshing for portraying a girl befriending and helping the robot. Maybe they felt a kid was needed in order to direct the movie more towards kids. We’ll see. It might be a good story. Who knows.

As for Steve Carr as director, I don’t know him and his movies well enough to judge. I’m much more worried about Dan Milano writing the script. I don’t think there are any “bad” directors; it all depends on the script they have to work with. The IMDb page has been updated to include Steve Carr as director and the plot summary now reads:

Updating/re-imagining of the classic John Badham film where Number 5, one of a group of experimental military robots, undergoes a sudden transformation after being struck by lightning. He develops self-awareness, consciousness, and a fear of the reprogramming that awaits him back at the factory. With the help of a troubled young boy, Number 5 tries to evade capture and convince his creator that he has truly become alive.

I still hope this movie will be good and that it will do well at the box office so that sequels are made. I know I will support this movie no matter what. I’ll go see it as many times as I can. Even if it’s crappy.

I’m happy to know that the film now has a director. It means the project is moving forward. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but just reading about it gives me the chills (or a short-circuit, if you prefer). I can’t get it in my head that they’re remaking Short Circuit! I just can’t!! That’s so unbelievable, isn’t it?

Here’s the article in Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801 ... id=13&cs=1

[SynjoDeonecros]

Ugh, I'm in agreement with everyone here: this news is horrible. Next, we'll be told that J5's design WILL, in fact, be changed, to market off of the success of Wall-E.

Seriously, when they announced that the writer from "Robot Chicken" was going to do the screenplay instead of the original writer, and that it would have a "subversive edge" to it, I knew the remake was going to turn out awful. This just solidifies my standing on that; the director is not of good quality, and the remade plot point about who befriends J5 is stupid beyond words. Obviously, they were pressured into making the movie more "kid-friendly", likely to play off the success of "Wall-E", or possibly to mimic the success of the Transformers movies, what with its Bumblebee/Sam pairing. Either way, I really doubt the movie will be any good.

[Julian Wilbury]

Also gotta agree on the redone plot. Uhm, wow, can you say overdone? The whole "fractured family" part is the cherry on top that makes it the uber-cliche, now all we need is for the kid to have to be made fun of at school/have no friends, etc. Granted, there have been movies that pulled off similar concepts with flying colours (two of my favourite movies, The Iron Giant and Lilo and Stitch spring to mind) but there were great writers and directors behind those movies-- this one clearly doesn't.

Also, there's the fact that I find the whole idea of adding the "subversive humour" of "Robot Chicken" highly inappropriate for the subject matter. I know a few of us, including me, were hoping that the remake could be done in a way to make the story even more touching and heartwarming than it already is, but this writer is probably pulling it in the exact opposite direction.

And as an above poster noted, this doesn't help fix the "E.T. ripoff" perception that many people have of the original movie already. :\

If it continues like this and actually gets made, I would only see the movie out of morbid curiosity and probably regret it-- or maybe just wait till it gets RiffTraxed so I can at least have the assistance of the former MST3k cast to get me through it.

[Josee Millette]

When they announced that Dan Milano had been hired to write the script, I was concerned about that "subversive edge" and possible juvenile humor ala Transformers. Now, they announce a new plot featuring a kid I'm kinda confused. It doesn't seem to go well together And by the looks of it, the kid will be pretty young, otherwise they wouldn't mention his "fractured family".

[SAINT4]

Ohhhhhh dear. This looks like it's going to be one of those kiddy movies aimed specifically at the smallest of children with memory spans akin to the common goldfish

Urrrgh... I'm rather tired of the sheer overwhelming number of Hollywood (re RipOff) flicks saturating the theatres these days. Case in point: Land of the Lost. What a moronic crock of Sh@t. Boring, unbelievable and a Tyrannosaurus Rex that lets William Farrell ride on its back like it's a big scaly puppy after he gets pooped out of its Cloaca. Yeah... Right. Well, this is what's going to happen to Short Circuit

Eeeee yikes. Short Circuit's gonna be ripped to shreds by the movie critics, and WTF... I thought the original screen writers were doing the script for this remake? Perhaps not... I don't like the sound of this movie director either, some of those movies of his were just reprehensible.

[Nessa]

No love for Dan Milano? I guess I get him all to myself

Why doesn't 'A Christmas Carol' get flack for all its remakes?

[Julian Wilbury]

No love for Dan Milano? I guess I get him all to myself

Why doesn't 'A Christmas Carol' get flack for all its remakes?

That's like asking "WHY DO ALL THESE PEOPLE WRITE STORIES BASED OFF ROMEO AND JULIET?!?!" Those type of stories are not only public domain literally, but seem to be in a way that everyone wants to take a shot at it and nobody really cares just because "EETS CLASSIC!!"

(Gah, now I'm trying to imagine people 100 or 200 years later remaking SC... That would be weird. Actually, the idea that hundreds of years from now stories like Star Wars and Harry Potter may be considered "classic" weirds me out. o.O )

Double standard? Yeah, pretty much. Entertainment's weird like that.