Hollywood's latest trend

All grown up, Hansel and Gretel go into the woods to take revenge on his tormentors childhood. Snow White escapes and takes a wicked queen with a group of Shaolin monks. And after leaving Kansas, Carnival Barker Oscar Diggs remakes himself as a wizard in the Emerald City.

Childhood classics, as seen through a fun-house mirror? Well, yes. But the movie business, it is also something much more indirect: its future.

Movie studios take forever stories from authors such as the Brothers Grimm and L. Frank Baum and redefining them with modern, playful sensibility. And they use big stars to do it: Julia Roberts and Charlize Theron will get every add "Snow White" in their resumes - they will play the evil queen in two separate versions of bedtime story (other than the third version, with monks from the Walt Disney Company )

"What we have are stories that people have a general knowledge, but do not know the specifics," said veteran Hollywood producer Joe Roth, whose Oz movie, "the great and mighty" is played by James Franco and Mila Kunis wizard witch. "We believe we can retool and reload, to develop a new story, using the technology in our favor."

Roth helped push tales trend last year when he and Disney did "Alice in Wonderland." At first glance, the film seemed Gryphon size Gamble - Tim Burton picked a favorite book by Lewis Carroll, and turned it into a story about the struggle of computer monsters. But after a billion dollars in worldwide box office, studio executives say the mouth can be on something.

It's two retellings of Grimm hit theaters - "Little Red Riding Hood", reimagined with werewolves and older character in "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke, and "Beastly," essentially "Beauty and the Beast" set in a modern American high school with a teen star Vanessa Hudgens.

Both films were commercial and critical disappointment. But for the moment at least, it does not seem to slow down the bandwagon. Other forthcoming adaptation include Snow White Film (Kristen Stewart will play a major role in the version of Theron, entitled "Snow White and the Hunter, and Lily Collins Roberts, one titled" The Brothers Grimm: Snow White "). Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton will play a brother and sister adult in "Hansel and Gretel: The Witch Hunters," which is produced by Will Ferrell and, well, pretty much what the title says.

Next road Shaolin monks "Snow White", a new perspective on "Sleeping Beauty" with Hailee Steinfeld, some new take on "Sleeping Beauty" with Angelina Jolie, and the origin of Peter Pan story, Channing Tatum will produce.

After the limited world of animation, fantastic films are big budget, live-militants-list stars and expectations.

The trend, say Hollywood insiders comes in part to appeal to younger viewers (or at least the meaning of our younger self) and coveted Holy Grail in the industry "to the realization - that the film is better served if the audience is already familiar with the name. And what could be more familiar than the long history of childhood?

But academic experts say that the tale fascination is born more than knee need branding.

"Culture has always been a need for classical universes and adapt them to what we care about now," said Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson. "There's a lot of that brilliant on the Brothers Grimm, and feminism, none of them. This new version of" Little Red Riding Hood "and" Snow White "to fill that void.