For some of you reading this will be the first time you were made aware a remake of the science fiction masterpiece THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is coming to theaters 12/12/08. starring Keanu Reeves as the alien emissary Klaatu. For the rest of you who've already heard, here's your first look at the artwork for this highly uncalled for Hollywood remake.

Word has been spreading on the internet for quite awhile now that this film is more than likely going to be nothing short of abysmal. The script according to all who have read it (except for those actually involved with the production) is reportedly unfit to even line a birdcage.

The classic film was about a Christ-like alien from outer space who warns mankind that if Earth doesn't keep its wars and atomic weaponry on its own planet we will face annihilation. This version - let's just say Klaatu's robot might as well be named "Al Gort". Hollywood's half-baked attempt to contemporize the story is to give THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL the ON DEADLY GROUND treatment. Global warming, industrial pollution, and such lead to an extraterrestrial coming to Earth to give us a dire warning: stop destroying your planet or we'll destroy your planet!

If that logic doesn't make much sense to you then you now probably better understand why the general consensus from those who have read the screenplay has been that it is - in the immortal words of former NFL coach Jim Mora - diddly poo.

Oh, did I mention the script also includes a second alien who has been scouting our planet for decades and that Klaatu has a meeting with this other alien at a McDonalds?

Don't expect to ever hear the immortal words "Klaatu barada nikto" in this version either.

On the plus side, M. Night Shyamalan might be happy that there's a good possibility THE HAPPENING won't turn out to be the worst eco-thriller of 2008.

And just to add insult to injury, a comedic remake of another science fiction classic, THE INCREDBILE SHRINKING MAN, is also currently in the works to star Eddie Murphy. Given Murphy's thing for playing multiple characters, I wonder if he'll also try playing the cat and the spider?