Robert Wise’s sci-fi classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still, is next to be pushed headfirst into the big Hollywood remake blender. The 1951 tale of first contact is up for a contemporary retelling using the wonders of Technicolor and CGI, and who better to take on extra terrestrial duties than Keanu Reeves, star of one of the most successful science fiction franchises of all time?

Taking over from Michael Rennie, Reeves is to star as Klaatu, the alien envoy who foolishly emerges from his spaceship to talk to the assembled American military without first deploying some clever alien shield. Predictably, one of Uncle Sam’s finest responds by putting a bullet in him (a mere fleshwound, but still) and ticking off Gort, the all-powerful robot enforcer who can melt tanks with a nod of his domed head.

It might seem like a rather odd bit of casting (surely someone like David Strathairn would be way cooler), but then remaking the film in the first place is rather curious from the get-go. Throwing unwarranted CGI at a film like this seems like the recipe for an Independence Day clone - which is good or bad depending on your point of view and/or age. Either way, Scott Derrickson, all eyes are now upon you.