The Daily Dish: August 7

-- Barbarella revisited The 1968 campy sci-fi romp that starred Jane Fonda as the titular space-age sex kitten is getting another lease on life, with a screenwriter and director attached to a re-imagining of the popular flick. Though originally conceived way back in 2007 by Robert Rodriguez as a vehicle for rumoured girlfriend Rose McGowan, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the film fell through when the studio and director couldn't reach an agreement on where to shoot the film. Fast-forward two years, and screenwriter Joe Gazzam and director Robert Luketic (Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, Monster-in-Law - oy) are now attached to the project that smartly plans to keep the lead character's sexuality intact while easing up on the wackier bits. The original followed our fearless female as she navigated through a futuristic universe, using her cunning smarts and see-through tops to defeat the bad guys. Original producer Dino De Laurentiis has also signed on for the update along with his wife, Martha De Laurentiis.

-- Mission: Impossible 4 gets screenwriters The fourth installation of the action-adventure franchise starring Tom Cruise as agent Ethan Hunt inches closer to production as two relative unknowns have been chosen to pen the script, according to Variety. Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec will tackle the film's next missions based on a collaboration with producer (and MI: III director) J.J. Abrams. The duo, in fact, were recruited from Abrams’ cache of talented co-conspirators having worked with the prolific producer-writer-director as co-ex producers on his hit TV show "Alias". Though Cruise and Abrams are returning as producers of MI: IV, sources claim the thesp will revisit his onscreen role, though how heavily he will be featured is still unclear. The film is slotted for a 2011 release.

-- Fraggle Rock movie? Yes please! Brian Henson, son of the late "Muppets" creator Jim Henson and current co-CEO of the Jim Henson Company, revealed to MTV Movies Blog that a film version of the adventures of the furry cave-dwelling Fraggles is "still in very active development." Going into more detail about the forthcoming movie, he added; "It'll have a strong musical component. It'll be expanded to an older audience. 'Fraggle Rock' [the TV show] was presented... for a pretty exclusively children's audience. The feature film does expand it to be more accessible to a wider audience." The hugely popular 1980s TV show followed the loveable singing, dancing Muppets who secretly lived underground, ate Doozer Sticks and slyly imparted life lessons. Henson also made mention of a sequel to Dark Crystal, the 1982 fantasy film where the sickly birdlike lizards the Skeksis ruled the planet with an iron fist while an orphan tired to restore balance, saying that it has "a very strong script". Henson ensured that both of the projects are "very close to pre-production" after finance and distribution issues are sorted. So, is this good news or is this good news?