Telika: Possibly. I'm skeptical about Scrimm being able to "be" the Tall Man nowadays. I'd also be skeptical about another actor taking this role. I don't care that much about the other characters, to be honest, but the tall man presence is really what made a lot of the film's impact.
I'd be surprised if they really managed to still get the tense surreal horror of the first film. Just the idea of an aged tall man feels weird (like an aged terminator, or an aged freddy kruger, or whatever). But we'll see,.
I don't look at it from a "let them toy once more with their roles" angle, but from a "can we actually get (or expect to get) an new phantasm movie". For instance, I know we can't get a new indiana jones one...
Scrimm's portrayal of the Tall Man actually improved with each new film in the series. Not necessarily because he grew older, but it didn't do any harm, either. As someone else said, it's not like he ever did much -- you really can't compare the character to the Terminator or most other movie villains and creatures. The Tall Man is at his best when he's being subtle and mysterious, not when he's running around or physically attacking people. There was far too much of that in the first film, and it took them a while to develop the character ( and possibly Scrimm's acting capabilities improved over the years, as well ). He basically went from a fairly generic slasher film villain, to some ominous, almost god-like alien presence you cannot defeat or run from.
As for the new film, I suspect it's entirely fan-service. No more, no less. I doubt anyone expects this to be a huge commercial success. Even the fourth film is primarily aimed towards longtime fans of Phantasm. I do expect that it will be decent, though. I don't think Coscarelli, Scrimm and the rest of the crew would even have bothered, if they hadn't been convinced of being able to deliver one more worthy addition to the series.
CharlesGrey: Last thing I heard, I thought it was already ( mostly done )... ? I'm a big fan of his work, especially his Phantasm series, so I hope it will come out soon.
astropup: Me too, me too. :)
Although, I haven't even heard of it 'till now. Last time I checked, the new movie was still very unlikely. Or at least they wanted us to believe that. :)
I think I first heard of it in 2014 ( or was it 2013? ) or so, and supposedly it was close to release back then. I'm actually surprised it's still not out. Let's hope for the best.
By the way Coscarelli's "John Dies At The End" is great too, if you haven't seen it.
