Red Dawn Remake Re-vamped

Okay so I hear that the studio MGM is re-vamping it's film "Red Dawn" to have North Korean invaders instead of Chinese invaders.  First off MGM shot this way back in 2009 and shelved the film because of money issues with the company.  Now the studio is spending money to change Chinese insignias with Korean insignias, and replacing dialogue to fit the re-vamp.

First off I don't know why re-making a movie like "Red Dawn" was done, but since that ship has sailed I figured maybe its one more way to sell a so-so film to a more youthful market.  Then I heard that John Milus the man behind the original "Red Dawn" was co-writing a novel with New York Times bestselling author Raymond Benson called "Homefront".  This is to coincide with Core Games releasing a video game called "Home Front".

"Homefront represents a fascinating vision of the near future,” added John Milius. “After completing my work on the game, it became clear that there were many more stories to tell, and this book will offer a chilling look at this near-future world.”

So now that I hear that a studio is re-vamping its re-make of "Red Dawn" to have North Korean soldiers invading the United States you can see that maybe this is an example of "Transmedia" marketing.

Which brings me back to the conference I was just at about two weeks ago where such people as Ted Hope, Christine Vachon, Frank Rose, and Lance Weiler talked about independent filmmakers and storytellers using trans media to further its audience reach.

Now I'm not sure if MGM, and Core Games, along with some other studio will see an opportunity to market the film, the game, and the novel, but if this doesn't scream transmedia I don't know what does. 

I have not seen a frame of the film, and I am a fan of the original "Red Dawn" film.  it is one of my guilty pleasures, and the dialogue in the film is just so great.  Especially when Harry Dean Statton cries out to his boys: "avenge me, AVENGE ME!"  I mean really how fun is that.  I even still watch it when it's on cable.  Hey it has Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and even Jennifer Grey.  Personally my favorite actors in the film are Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Powers Boothe.  It's just a fun film to watch sometimes.  I used to watch it with my father-in-law and we had so much fun when it was on.  Dad would always get a kick out of me yelling the dialogue out.  Maybe its a guy thing that I like it so much or maybe its the fond memories of me and dad watching the film, but I'm getting way off point with this.  Needless to say its an interesting film.

So maybe someone somewhere who has juice can pull it off.  The marriage for the re-make of the film, and the release of the game seem almost too good to pass up.  Add the novelization, and you have a cross-platform release of a film that may or may not be good, but it would certainly be an interesting way to market a film that may have a built-in audience.

The LA Times has a more in-depth article about the re-vamping of the remake of "Red Dawn", and it's more about the financial aspects of the studio.  Still I think there is an opportunity here for a transmedia marketing event.  Only time will tell I guess.