Universal Pictures has found its director for its planned reboot of The Little Rascals, handing the reins to Alex Zamm. Now, be honest. Raise your hand if you knew that Universal had designs on an Our Gang reboot. And keep them raised if you’ve ever heard of Zamm.
Not too many of you out there, it seems. Zamm’s directorial credits include – are you ready for this? – Carrot Top’s Chairman of the Board from 1998, as well as the straight-to-DVD sequels Inspector Gadget 2, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 and Tooth Fairy 2 with Larry the Cable Guy. Moviehole, which breaks the news of Zamm’s hiring, says that the Rascals movie will begin filming in Los Angeles next month, once casting has been completed. The new Rascals movie will be based both on the old Our Gang television show from the late 1930s and ‘40s, as well as the 1994 feature that tried to update the storyline for a modern audience.
That film banked $67.3 million worldwide, suggesting that there is an audience out there for the further adventures of Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and the Our Gang gang. Yet it should give Universal pause that a similar comedic project from earlier this year -- The Three Stooges -- only squeezed $46.1M from nostalgic audiences worldwide, so there might be diminished returns in the “from the vaults” method of filmmaking. Also, did you read Zamm’s resume? I don’t think this new Little Rascals is going to challenge either Citizen Kane or Vertigo for the top slot on the Sight & Sound list. We’ll keep you posted on the state of the Rascals production, but it sounds like the movie is off and running … such as it is.
