Red Dawn is an upcoming American action war film directed by Dan Bradley and written by Jeremy Passmore and Carl Ellsworth based on the 1984 film of the same name. The remake stars Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck as brothers Jed and Matt Eckert. The film was scheduled to be released on November 24, 2010, but was shelved due to MGM's financial troubles, and is now set for a 2012 release. Instead of depicting a Soviet invasion of the United States as in the 1984 film, the 2012 version's storyline was originally filmed with a Chinese invasion. This was later edited to depict a North Korean invasion in post-production due to concerns from distributors.

In May 2008, at the Festival de Cannes, Harry Sloan and Mary Parent from MGM announced that a remake of Red Dawn was in the early stages of pre-production, with the remake due to be directed by Dan Bradley, who had previously worked as a second unit director and stunt coordinator on films such as The Bourne Ultimatum, Spider-Man 3, Independence Day, and Quantum of Solace. MGM subsequently announced that Red Dawn would be remade "keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in". Later the same month, MGM announced that Dan Bradley had been confirmed as the director with Carl Ellsworth, screenwriter of Red Eye and Disturbia, writing the updated screenplay. Ellsworth would be working from a story written by Jeremy Passmore. Vincent Newman (A Man Apart) was announced as the producer. Australian Chris Hemsworth was cast in a lead role: other cast members include Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas, Edwin Hodge, and Connor Cruise.

Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey. It was the first film to be released with the MPAA rating of PG-13.

The film is set in an alternate 1980s in which the United States is invaded by the Soviet Union and its Cuban and Nicaraguan allies. However, the onset of World War III is in the background and not fully elaborated. The story follows a group of American high school students who resist the occupation with guerrilla warfare, calling themselves Wolverines, after their high school mascot.

An introductory text explains how the USA gradually became strategically isolated when several European nations, save for the United Kingdom, withdrew their membership in NATO. At the same time, the Warsaw Pact nations are aggressively expanding their sphere of influence. In addition, the Ukrainian wheat harvest fails and a communist coup occurs in Mexico.

Chris Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor best known for portraying Thor in the Marvel Studios films Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012), and Curt Vaughan in The Cabin in the Woods (2012). Hemsworth is set to continue his role as Thor in the upcoming film Thor 2 in 2013. He also starred as Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He is the older brother of Liam Hemsworth and the younger brother of Luke Hemsworth, both actors.

Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, the son of Leonie, an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. He was raised both there and in the Northern Territory, in a little Aboriginal community in the Outback, called Bulman. He has stated, "My earliest memories were on the cattle stations up in the Outback, and then we moved back to Melbourne and then back out there and then back again. Certainly most of my childhood was in Melbourne but probably my most vivid memories were up there in Bulman with crocodiles and buffalo. Very different walks of life." He attended primary school at Southwood Primary school and high school at Heathmont College, before his family again returned to the Northern Territory, and then moved a few years later, to Phillip Island.

Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles. He gained wider exposure with major roles in the 2005 films Little Manhattan and Zathura, the 2006 comedy RV, the 2007 family adventure film Firehouse Dog, and the film adaptations of Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. On March 30, 2008, Hutcherson won a Young Artist Award (for Leading Young Actor). Hutcherson was also featured on a Celebrity Teens edition of the hit show MTV Cribs, and portrayed Peeta Mellark in the 2012 film The Hunger Games. He will appear in the Red Dawn remake.

Josh Hutcherson was born in Union, Kentucky. His mother, Michelle, is a former Delta Air Lines employee who now assists Josh, and his father, Chris Hutcherson, is an analyst for the EPA. He has a younger brother, Connor, as well as many pets, including two dogs, Diesel and Nixon (a boxer). He has wanted to be an actor since he was four years old, but had only begun auditioning for roles in 2002, at the age of 9. He moved from Union to California, due to limited acting opportunities.

Isabel Lucas (born 29 January 1985) is an Australian actress. Perhaps best known for her role as Tasha Andrews on the Australian television soap opera Home and Away (2003–2006). Lucas moved to Los Angeles in early 2008 and has since been featured in film and television projects including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Immortals, The Pacific and Daybreakers.

Lucas was born in Melbourne. As a child, Lucas lived in Cairns, Queensland. She also lived in Switzerland and Kakadu, in the Northern Territory. She has a Swiss mother and an Australian father and speaks German and French in addition to her native English. Lucas went to St. Monica's College in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Lucas was involved in drama during her school years and attended courses at Victorian College of Arts and Queensland University of Technology. But Lucas had never pursued commercial roles until Sharron Meissner, a Sydney talent agent, 'discovered' Lucas while she was vacationing in Port Douglas. She auditioned for the role of Kit Hunter in Home and Away (now played by Amy Mizzi); although the producer of the show, Julie McGauran, felt that role was not right for Isabel, she was sufficiently impressed to have a new character, Tasha Andrews, created for her. Lucas won a Logie Award (for new popular talent) for her performance on the program. Playing Tasha Andrews on Home and Away was Lucas' first television role. She appeared in an American television commercial for Crest toothpaste.