Warner Bros. Discovery Is Reimagining Classics Like Rebel Without A Cause For Their 100th Anniversary
To celebrate its century-long run as one of Hollywood's biggest movie studios, Warner Bros. is releasing 20-minute-long remakes of six of its most classic films. The company, which is now called Warner Bros. Discovery after a merger with Discovery, Inc., plans on developing the short film series through its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team and stated that the series will reimagine these stories through "representative casting, storytelling, and narrative."
The six films on the slate are the recently remade "A Star is Born," the swashbuckling "The Adventures of Robin Hood," the Western "Calamity Jane," the Abbott and Costello comedy "Jack and the Beanstalk," the much-adapted "The Prince and the Pauper," and the James Dean drama "Rebel Without a Cause." Production is slated to begin this summer, with Ali Afshar ("American Wrestler: The Wizard" and a whole slew of Christmas-related material) serving as consulting producer. "We can't think of a better way to celebrate this Studio's 100-year legacy than investing in the next generation of great storytellers, and we look forward to seeing these iconic movies through their eyes," said Co-Chairs & CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy in an official PR statement.
Who's working on these films?
Warner Bros.' DEI team, headed by Karen Horne, has hand-selected the filmmakers in collaboration with arts non-profit groups and film festival bodies Visual Communications, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Urban World, Sundance Indigenous Lab, Outfest and ReelAbilities Film Fest. The list of filmmakers are Robin Cloud for "Calamity Jane," Regan Linton for "Jack and the Beanstalk," B. Monét for "A Star is Born," Monica Moore-Suriyage for "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz for "Rebel Without A Cause," and Taietsarón:sere 'Tai' Leclaire for "The Prince and the Pauper."
In addition, a group of consulting industry filmmakers will provide mentoring, which consist of Greg Berlanti ("Arrow," The Flash), Angel Manuel Soto ("Blue Beetle"), Blitz Bazawale ("Black is King"), Jon M. Chu ("Crazy Rich Asians," "In the Heights") Danis Goulet ("Night Raiders") and James Lebrecht ("Crip Camp"). According to Chief DEI Officer Asif Sadiq, the project is meant to bridge the gap between the studio's classic cinema and the rising crop of diverse talent, "to empower these talented filmmakers to create a modern and diverse reimagining of these iconic productions as both a tribute to the original work and as a mechanism to remind us of the power we have to tell stories and depict people in an inclusive and fulsome manner." The short films will premiere on Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service Max, the upcoming HBO Max and Discovery+ hybrid service.