20 Remakes of '80s Movies Currently in the Works

Did you notice that three of this week's major releases — "RoboCop," "Endless Love" and "About Last Night" — are remakes of '80s movies?

The Hollywood remake machine shows no signs of slowing down, with the '80s emerging as the most popular targeted decade from which to draw the re-imagining, re-booting and/or re-gurgitating of various cinematic entities.

Below you'll find no less than 20 1980s movies that are set for an upgrade — some arriving as early as later this year, some that are still a ways off and others that may end up just being stuck in limbo until the 2080s.

1. "An American Werewolf in London" (1981)

The rights to perhaps the greatest werewolf movie of all time (with "Ginger Snaps" probably a close second) were bought from director John Landis by The Weinstein Company back in June 2009, with "The Number 23" writer Fernley Phillips hired to give the classic tale a "modern spin." This endeavor was probably brought on by a case of "Twilight" fever, which has since cooled down — which means there's a good chance this will never see the light of day (or, rather, of the moon).

2. "Annie" (1982)

The last big-screen incarnation of the Little Orphan starred Aileen Quinn in the title role, with Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks, Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, Ann Reinking as Grace, Tim Curry as Rooster and Bernadette Peters as Lily. The latest version will see "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie, with Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan (awesome) and Jamie Foxx as Daddy Warbucks, renamed as Benjamin Stacks, because that's just what happens sometimes. The new "Annie" will come out tomorrow ... er, Dec. 19.

3. "Dirty Dancing" (1987)

The last time we heard anything about the remake of the beloved classic romance starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey was back in June 2012, when it was reported that Lionsgate was pushing it "at least until 2014." Well, it's 2014, and as far as we know, director Kenny Ortega (who was the choreographer on the original film) hasn't started any new dancing yet.

4. "Escape From New York" (1981)

John Carpenter's B-movie mini-classic followed the adventures of professional anti-hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) as he infiltrated the maximum security prison that is future NYC (well, if you count 1997 as the 'future') to rescue the President of the United States. Hollywood's been trying to get this remake off the ground and over the wall for years, with everyone from Gerard Butler to Tom Hardy to Jason Statham rumored for the role of Plissken ("Call me Snake ...").

5. "Fletch" (1985)

Kevin Smith was supposed to make a new "Fletch" with frequent collaborator Jason Lee in the role of the crack reporter/master of disguise originally incarnated by Chevy Chase. Now, the remake has been in development at Warner Bros. since Feb. 2011, with no one currently attached to the part. Uh ... how about Jason Lee?

6. "Highlander" (1986)

"Who wants to live forever?" asked Queen in the theme song of the totally awesome fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown. Well, the remake doesn't seem to want to live at all, as it's gone through no less than three directors (Cedric Nicolas-Troyan is currently attached after both Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Justin Lin dropped out) and is currently without a star after Ryan Reynolds exited the project back in July 2013.

[Related: The Untouchables: 20 Classic Movies Hollywood Can't Remake or Revisit]

7. "The Monster Squad" (1987)

"xXx" director Rob Cohen is attached to the remake of the horror comedy in which a group of kids battles classic Universal horror monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man, but as of Oct. 2012 the project is stuck in development hell at Paramount.

8. "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" (1988)

It's going to be hard to fill the shoes of the amazing Leslie Nielsen in his role as bumbling detective Lt. Frank Drebin but "The Hangover" star Ed Helms is going to give it a try in the reboot, which was announced in Dec. 2013. The script is being written by Thomas Lennon and R. Ben Garant, who are probably best known for their work on the "Night at the Museum" and "Reno 911" series.

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