With absolutely no new ideas coming out of the Hollywood Studios, it was only a matter of time until someone got around to remaking the 1966 Sci-Fi schlock classic, Fantastic Voyage.

Apparently James Cameron is picking up where Roland Emmerich left off with a failed attempt at remaking Fantastic Voyage.  Currently in development, Cameron doesn’t plan to direct the new take on the story of a group of scientists who are shrunk to microscopic size and then injected into a patient’s body to perform a sensitive surgery.  According to Deadline, Shawn Levy who just directed Real Steel will be taking on the directions chores for this reimagined version of the story that will see a doctor who is injected into his estranged wife’s body to save her life.  Yep … it’s a love story.

What disturbs me most about this news was the following passage from the source article:

Of course, with the massive advances in filmmaking technology in the 45 years since Richard Fleischer’s version, Fantastic Voyage is truly ripe for a reboot.

… Why?  Just because special effects have advanced that somehow justifies yet another reboot to a movie that simply doesn’t need to happen?  How about we get off of the reboot wagon and get back to making something, anything that is the least bit original?  I know, there I go with that radical thinking of mine again.  How dare I.

I’m just waiting for the truly atrocious reboots to start popping up.  Aren’t we due for a new version fo Back to the Future?

Apparently the movie going audience hasn’t yet tired of the “found footage” horror film genre as the third film in the Paranormal Activity series set records for an October opening.

Paranormal Activity 3 scared up $54 million in its opening weekend to set a record for the biggest opening ever for October and the largest premiere for the series.  However, not all was rosy as nearly 49% of that came in on Friday, but considering the film only cost $5 million to make, it’s highly doubtful anyone is going to be horribly upset about how the money came in.

Coming in second was Real Steel with a 30.5% decline to $11.3 million.  That brings its domestic total to $67.2 million, but with no data released yet on its budget it’s difficult to judge how it’s doing.

Third place saw Footloose slide a respectable 30.3% in its second weekend to bring in $10.85 million. It’s not exactly burning up the box office, but it is holding its own for sure.

Swasbuckling its way into a disappointing fourth place opening, the 318th version of The Three Musketeers brought in a disappointing $8.8 million. It’s doubtful this is the amount the studio was hoping for in its opening weekend.

The Ides of March fell to fifth place to bring in $4.9 million.

Opening next week will In Time, Puss in Boots, The Rum Diary and Anonymous.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $8,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.594 million off a $24 million budget. Here’s a funny moment for you, Captain America, which was released in July and comes out on home video this week, brought in another $165,000.

Dancing and aliens couldn’t knock down the boxing robots.

Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, kept its top spot at the box office, although just barely. Falling a respectable 40.3% to earn $16.3 million bringing its domestic box office total to $51.7 million.

Coming in second was the remake of Footloose with $16.1 million. There is a chance that once the final tallies come out later today that #1 and #2 could switch places, but it was definitely a close call.

The Thing shape shifted its way into a disappointing third place with a meager $8.7 million. Things aren’t looking too good for this remake … what a shock.

The Ides of March, the latest George Clooney vehicle, did a pretty good job of holding on, falling 28.4% to bring in $7.5 million, bringing its domestic total for two weeks to $22.1 million.

Wrapping up the top five was Dolphin Tale which slipped a further 30.2% to bring in $6.3 million.

This week’s other semi-high profile opening for The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson debuted in eighth place with an abysmal $3.3 million.  With a so-so advertising campaign that completely ignored the bird watching premise of the story, this isn’t a huge surprise, but still ranks as one of the worst openings for all three actors.

Next weekend has Johnny English Reborn, The Mighty Macs, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Three Musketeers. The only one with any real hope of doing well, in my opinion is the third entry in the Paranormal Activity series, and even that I have low hopes for.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $32,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.569 million off a $24 million budget. This just gets uglier with each passing weekend.

Apparently this weekend was a time for folks to head to the theater and watch robots fighting it out with one another.

Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, made it to the top of the box office over the weekend with an estimated $27.3 million.  A healthy showing for a fall debut, and exit polling was mostly positive, so it’ll probably have some life to it.  Who knew people were so anxious to see boxing robots?

Coming in a distant second was George Clooney’s political drama, The Ides of March.  The new film landed with $10.4 million which is squarely in the center of George Clooney movies as of late.  Not a huge disappointment, but there’s a reason these sorts of films usually hit in the fall.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good political thriller … at home.

Dolphin Tale slipped 34.2% to land in third, bringing in $9.16 million. A decent performance for any film in its third weekend, and brings its domestic total to $49 million off of a $37 million budget.

The Brad Pitt vehicle, Moneyball, came in fourth with $7.5 million inching its cumulative total to $49.5 million off of a $50 million budget, so it still has some ways to go for it to hit profitability.

Rounding out the top five was the cancer drama 50/50 with an estimated fall of 36.4% to $5.5 million. Considering the dark subject matter, this is a surprising hold for the film.

Next weekend is a mess with the remake of Footloose, the prequel to The Thing and The Big Year.

And from the “movie disasters” department, the Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle, I Don’t Know How She Does It lost 505 theaters and took a 76.8% fall to a paltry $93,000. This brings the total to $9.48 million off of a $24 million budget. I don’t picture Ms. Parker getting a whole lot of work any time soon.

It took a dolphin to knock the lion out of the top box office spot.

Dolphin Tale took the top spot at the box office this weekend, leading a pack of non-new releases from cracking into the top three. The movie based on a real life “tail” (ha! See what I did there?!?) dropped 25.6% from last weekend, but scored a healthy $14.25 million. The percentage drop was far better than expected, and took many by surprise.

Holding on to second place was the Brad Pitt vehicle, Moneyball. It dipped 35.9% which was a bit steeper than some expected, but wasn’t horrible by any stretch of the imagination and it brought in $12.5 million.

The 3D re-release of The Lion King took a 49.6% fall to bring in $11 million.  Considering it comes out on home video on Tuesday, the $79.7 million the re-release has brought in over three weekends is nothing to sneeze at and brings the lifetime earnings of the film to $408.2 million.

Fourth place was the best showing for any new release this week and saw the cancer-themed 50/50 bring in $8.85 million over the three days. Considering the subject matter, it wasn’t a horrible showing.

Rounding out the top five was Courageous with $8.8 million which was an impressive showing for only 1,161 locations.

Following up some recent disasters at the box office, the Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle, I Don’t Know How She Does It took a massive 80% hit from last weekend and brought in a paltry $400,000 brining its three weekend run to $9.2 million off of a $24 million budget. Meanwhile, Killer Elite starring Jason Statham fell 48.1% to $4.85 million bringing its two week total to $17.4 million off of a $70 million budget.  In short, things are not going well in several different genres of films at the moment, but that certainly won’t stop Hollywood from continuing to over spend.

Next week sees the debuts of The Ides of March and Real Steel.