RED DAWN remake finally gets release date thanks to FilmDistrict

It has been a tough battle for the Red Dawn remake to make it to the big screen. According to the LA Times, the invasion film has had it's villains "digitally modified from Chinese to North Korean" and will make it to theaters with the help of FilmDistrict. The studio, which recently released Drive, is finalizing a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio that produced the movie in 2009.

I am a big fan of the original film about "a group of teenagers in a Washington town battle invading Soviet forces. The remake originally had the villains as the Chinese, but that cause a lot of trouble for the film. Not only was it put on hold becuause of MGM's bankruptcy, but the studio decided not to release the film after returning to business in 2009. MGM and other studios did not want to pick up the film to avoid offending the government of China, a hugely important market in the increasingly global film business.

Producers were forced to make drastic changes or else the film would continue to collect dust in storage. They used digital technology and creative editing to alter all villains to North Koreans. This took almost a full-year to find a distributor willing to take the risk. The deal is still in the works so the remake will not arrive in theaters until 2012.

Dan Bradley directed the remake, which cost $60 milling. Chris Hemsworth stars in the role originally played by Patrick Swayze. I am glad that this film will finally make it to the screen. Bradly was second unit director of the last two Bourne films and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. What are your thoughts on this news?