And Here Comes the 'Total Recall' Remake
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Remakes and Sequels
Go ahead and get that "AARGHHH!!!!" out of your system now. You'll feel better. (I have done so as well.) The remake that our own Eugene Novikov refused to believe a few short months ago is now moving forward. Total Recall will receive a "contemporized adaptation," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Kurt Wimmer has been hired to write the script, which may or may not be based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," the Philip K. Dick story that inspired the original.
THR notes Wimmer's recent scripts for the upcoming thrillers Law Abiding Citizen and Salt, but the more pertinent credits are the ones he earned as writer / director of Equilibrium and Ultraviolet, which provided action thrills in science-fictional settings. If you harbor any hopes for this project, you can only dream that Wimmer can come up with something more closely resembling Equilibrium, a trashy yet entirely entertaining little surprise, rather than the flat, anemic, entirely incoherent Ultraviolet.
Beyond the "weird and scary and totally singular" elements that Eugene rhapsodized about previously, don't forget the juicy cast (Ah-nuld, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin). Then there's the whole go-for-broke / super-violent / cheesy-but-we-don't-care / 70s B-picture vibe that was infused by director Paul Verhoeven. In today's environment, that wouldn't fly. I shudder to think of of a rote, toothless, PG-13 action pic that has state-of-the-art special effects but abuses Dick's clever concept and ignores Verhoeven's funky / chic artistic aesthetic. However, to paraphrase Smokey the Bear, "only YOU can prevent remakes" by not going to see them.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-03-2009 @ 10:20AM
Riley Freeman said...
u know i think now im going to have to just start using pics to describe my emotion here. if only u guys implemented html in ur comments.
but uhh
http://www.livedispatch.org/facepalm.jpg
http://www.fallen-legion.eu/news/data/upimages/DoubleFacePalm.jpg
take ur pick
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6-03-2009 @ 10:36AM
Jack Burton said...
I officially hate Hollywood!
There is nothing that they can ever do to make this movie any better than it is.
Is it really that hard to come up with new ideas? Seriously...they have to go around raping and killing the classic movies of my generation?
It might be a decent movie as long as they don't call it Total Recall. It most certainly won't be rated R and it will pander to the mainstream, shallow audience of teens who will cough up any amount of money that their parents give them just to spend 90 minutes in a theater texting, shouting and acting like ass monkeys with their friends.
I beg all of you parents out there to stop giving your teenage half whits the cash to go see this rubbish so that we can force the studios to reverse their downward spiral and start making quality movies again. It's bad enough that we have to pay $10 a pop for a shitty movie AND be forced to sit kids who won't appreciate it anyway.
Sorry for the rant...but there is only so much a person can take.
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6-03-2009 @ 10:39AM
Scott K. said...
If the 'remake' is an adaptation of the original short story, then I'd be for it. I would be interested in how they would deal with that.
But a contemporary remake of the movie is not needed or wanted.
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6-03-2009 @ 12:12PM
Bubbameister33 said...
No three breasted mutant chick = HELL NO!!!
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6-03-2009 @ 12:25PM
Batzarro said...
Too Soon!
I mean, Robocop is a franchise, so that makes more sense. I would have been young enought to see that on theaters! Where does it end!?
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6-03-2009 @ 12:57PM
Dan said...
This is such bullshit. I'm NOT going to see this, or any of these other proposed re-makes of movies that don't need to be re-made. For Christ's sake...
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6-04-2009 @ 9:33AM
Petter said...
You all know what this means: three digital boobs in HD.
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6-05-2009 @ 9:10AM
Guzzz said...
So it will be better written, better directed , better shot, wont have Arnie or midget hookers in it. I'm sold!
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6-05-2009 @ 2:54PM
zimka said...
Guzzz - yes. basically it means that it will have NONE of its original charm or qualities, no matter how questionable those might seem.
6-14-2009 @ 12:47AM
Jeff DeWitt said...
Why a remake of a perfectly fine, delightfully cheesy move?
How about something we really do need and something that hasn't been done, a good move version of HG Wells "War of the Worlds"?
The 1953 movie is very good, but it's more of a updated movie version of the radio show.
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