One would think Speedy Gonzales is a Looney Tunes cartoon character that Warner Brothers would be than happy to push under the rug in these far-more-politically-correct times. We all thought wrong. New Line/Warner Bros. is revamping the cartoon into a live-action/CGI/potential race relations disaster feature! 

But WAIT...the film's producers are taking steps to ensure that the film isn't the racist cartoon of the 1950s by casting a George Lopez (host of Lopez Tonight) as the voice of Speedy Gonzales, stamping the project with Lopez's "Latino seal of approval." Oh, okay. We're all good then, right?

I can't wait to see who they get to voice Speedy's cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez. Because, if a '50s characterization of a "lazy Mexican" is voiced by a Latino, it's not racist, right? The train wreck does not have a release date yet, so hopefully New Line execs will take the time to get off this track--and fast--¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!" Oh God.

--Jessica Hixson

Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black and Mel Gibson are teaming back up for a thriller about a Cold War-era spy who helps a young up and comer track a terrorist. The film is titled Cold Warrior and would mark Black's second directorial effort after Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

The two were in discussions to team back up for quite some time, but nothing ever came from it, no Lethal Weapon 5...;( However this seems to be putting Gibson back in his place, and I look forward to anything these two can do. What do you guys think?

--Greg MacLennan

As if Sam Worthington didn't try his hand at enough genre flicks--machines! sci-fi! Gods vs. humans!--he is now allegedly gearing up to take on the most famous vampire of them all: Dracula.

Word is that Worthington is in talks to star in Dracula Year Zero, a period vampire epic Alex Proyas, director of I, Robot. The flickexplores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. It seeks to depict Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war. In not so many words--it wants to be the new Batman Begins.

You know what? Before Twilight and before True Blood, I always loved the Dracula movies--well, minus the one with Vitamin C in it. It is a good ol', classic story from hundreds of years ago that stems from a real person, and I think it's intriguing and all the scarier. So I can totally get on board with an origin story about the infamous Dracula, especially with newest IT boy, Worthington, taking a stab at it.

What do you guys think?

--Darcie Duttweiler

Eighties kitsch aficionados rejoice! America’s favorite psychotic little beasties could be coming back in a very big way.  MarketSaw is reporting that Gizmo, Stripe and their many furry friends are (once again) rumored to be returning to the big screen in a 3-D addition to the successful franchise. It has yet to be determined if this potential extension of the Gremlins saga will be a remake of the original, or a sequel to Joe Dante’s first two films starring the hilarious yet terrifying mogwai.    

Personally, I’m apprehensive about this news. Whether it be a continuation or reboot, the ongoing appeal of Gremlins and Gremlins 2:  The New Batch relies heavily on the films’ camp factor—and the abilities of college students everywhere to score decent bud. So I will proudly join the purist masses in hoping that whomever signs onto the project refuses an only CGI approach to its critter cast, instead utilizing puppetry and maybe even theme park ride techniques from 3-D film days of yore (Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, anyone?).I’d love to see a movie theater tie-in where the audience gets sprayed with water every time some dumb kid in the movie—and you know there’s going to be a dumb kid—doesn’t follow the very simple tenets of mogwai care and gets one wet!  Nothing will snap this “wired” generation out of their technological bubble like a dousing of good old-fashioned water in the face when they least expect it!   

Dear potential producers of a film we’re not sure will even be made, I implore you to avoid the glossed-over-full-throttle-CGI-3-D-turbo-extreme experience with our beloved Gremlins and take a nobler, more nostalgic approach that advocates of low production value films will surely appreciate. There are some films out there that don’t need a complete upgrade to appeal to a new generation of moviegoers. The lure of Gremlins is in the quirk—not some slick, computer editing.  

Please don’t worry about not appealing to kids these days—they’ll always have G-Force.  

--Jessica Hixson

Marc Webb was rumored and now he's confirmed to pick up the reigns of the Sony reboot of Spider-man after Sam Raimi and Co. walked away. Raimi was adamant about one villain; the studio another. The studio also wanted a 3D picture and on the same deadline, and Raimi was set to shoot in one month and had no one on his crew who knew 3D. So Raimi walked, and the studio was fine with it as they were developing two concurrent projects for Spider-man: Raimi's film and a supposed 3D reboot that would be released a year later based on the script by James Vanderbilt.

Well, now we have our director in Webb whose previous credit include the spectacular (500) Days of Summer and many commercials and music videos. But is Spider-man too big for him? Maybe--but look at what commercial director Neill Blomkamp did with District 9. Now how do we go about talking Webb into casting Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role of Peter Parker?

--Greg MacLennan