'Fame' Trailer Goes for the 'Harry Potter' Crowd

In race car driving, they call this sort of thing drafting, where one car follows behind another one in the gap created in the air by the front car. That way, the second car doesn't face as much resistance and is able to go farther or faster without using as much fuel. In essence, you're using another car's hard work for you gain.

The movie version of it looks like this: For longer than it should, this video looks like it's another ad for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but as it happens, it's promoting another school and not Hogwarts. Yep, it's a promo for Fame. The remake of the movie and later the TV series will be in theaters on September 25th, and features a pretty good cast for a retread. Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Megan Mullally, Debbie Allen (naturally), Charles S. Dutton, and Naturi Naughton, who played Lil Kim in Notorious this year, lead the cast. So watch the swerve Fame throws down on an unsuspecting Harry Potter trailer:

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Kelsey Grammer Wants to Live Forever, Learn How to Fly

It didn't dawn on me while watching his recent Dr. Pepper commercial, but after this bit of new I have to wonder: Did Kelsey Grammer not take care of his money? I mean, playing Frasier Crane on Cheers made him a wealthy man, but playing that character for another dozen years or whatever it was on Frasier made him obscenely rich. So why in the name of David Hyde-Pierce is he joining the cast of the Fame remake?

Grammer will join Megan Mullally, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth, and Debbie Allen in the cast, and of course, Neuwirth spent 20 years popping up as Frasier's bitter half, Lilith. They'll all play teachers and school administrators in the remake, which has already begun filming and will be released on September 25th, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Said MGM's Mary Parent in carefully chosen words that were likely first strung together by someone in the studio's marketing department, "This picture is a celebration, a testament to people pursuing their dreams, so we set out to find talented actors who could both convincingly instruct onscreen and also inspire audiences."

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They're remaking Fame next year, because, I believe, more people want to learn how to fly. If you read The Big Picture from time to time, you've no doubt heard us categorize remakes in three categories - good move, bad move, and who cares.I think remaking Fame is a good move, even though I couldn't care less about the movie now and am not sure I ever saw the original. But it's a good move from the standpoint that the 1980 version is nobody's idea of a high watermark in motion picture history, it's not a story that's any more relevant or irrelevant now than it was then, and people love watching dancing movies. Why would you not remake this movie 30 years later?On the downside, though, is the film's September 25, 2009 release date. Seriously? You targeted late September? Better than late August, but still...doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. The remake stars Thomas Dekker of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Debbie Allen is rumored to make an appearance, too. There are some new production photos for Fame at Rope of Silicon if you're interested in checking them out. The logo - featured above - is also new, a slight variation of the original. Here's one of the new pics, and I'm surprised as all get out to see that it features people dancing.