Fritz Lang's classic noir WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS to be remade

By Matt Holmes /

RoseBlood Entertainment. Yeah I get it, not really that funny guys. Especially when I hear that you hold the remake rights to CITIZEN KANE. Oh, what a brave executive you would have to be to greenlit a remake of what is usually considered the best film of all time, alongside THE GODFATHER. Last Summer when the weather was significantly warmer than it is today we heard the damning news that many of RKO's truly classic but rarely seen pictures such as ISLE OF THE DEAD, BEDLAM, CAT PEOPLE and THE BODY SNATCHER were to remade with small $10 million budgets and probably a cast of unknowns in a move that mirrored much of what Platinum Dunes are attempting to do today with 70's and 80's classic horror. Now because of last week's RKO interim deal with the strike, their new subsidiary RoseBlood Entertainment will be able to begin production on these movies straight away. Here's the list of new films added to their upcoming slate of remakes next to those we have previously talked about... LADY SCARFACE - A 1940's movie I've heard of but never seen. It sounds like a half serious-half comedy version of SCARFACE, just with a woman as the lead gangster. The new version will be co-written by ERASER co-writer Tony Puryear.

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WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (pic above) - I have seen this one. Fritz Lang's absolute classic film noir about the dangers of the Press in modern society in the form of a serial killer movie. This one will be written by Shin Shimosawa and Jim Morris, two writers who have worked together on The Dead Zone and Smallville. THE MONKEY'S PAW - Never heard of this one. Produced in 1933, it's a horror movie about a mother who wishes for the return of her dead son which is unusually granted by the paw of a dead monkey. Todd Farmer who came up with the stories for JASON X and THE MESSENGERS will be writing this one. THE SEVENTH VICTIM - Another cool movie about a woman in search of her missing sister abducted by a Satanic cult in New York. No writer attached to this one just yet. Barring the great Fritz Lang movie, these ones aren't nearly as well known as the movies that RKO are remaking in conjunction with Twisted Pictures, the makers of the SAW movies. We heard last year that the classic movies I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, BEDLAM, FIVE CAME BACK, BODY SNATCHER, ISLE OF THE DEAD and others were to be remade in their partnership, something that Variety confirms today. Here's the statement...
"We've got other projects at RKO, but we needed to get going on this. The most successful ROI in the movie business comes from scary movies that get wide release and cost under $10 million. We've studied it extensively for our stockholders and investors and we saw the opportunity to take the rich Val Lewton library of scary thrillers and create a unique company out of it."
A unique company that has to look back to the 1930's and 40's for their film ideas? Give me a break. The first film is said to be begin production in the fall, with all of the movies complete in no longer than 24 months. More depressing news in the state of the horror genre.