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.

Last week, the upcoming thriller Law Abiding Citizen was embroiled in a bit of drama when its director, Frank Darabont, unexpectedly dropped out seemingly just after it had managed to cast Jamie Foxx. Rumors still abound that the split wasn't a friendly one -- and given that there's been a storyline switch-a-roo, we're not even sure what we'll see onscreen.

Well, happily for Citizen, they landed themselves a new director. Variety reports that F. Gary Gray has signed for the enviable job of directing Foxx and Gerard Butler (who is also producing). And while the story still focuses on a vigilante hounding a city and its assistant D.A., the roles have now switched. Foxx is now playing the assistant D.A., and Butler the vigilante, with the film set to shoot in December.

And for a movie about a vigilante, it's leaving an appropriate amount of bodies in its wake. Thanks to the shift in directors, now Eric Bana has been left job less. Gray was all set to direct Armored, the heist thriller that had chased Bana around Star Trek before finally landing him. Oddly, Armored doesn't even get the luxury of a replacement director -- Millenium Films is reporting that Gray's departure has left it dead in the water, a mere week after it had appeared in the trades.

I have an idea! Cast Bana in Law Abiding Citizen as the serial killer who controls the city and Butler's vigilante, combining both script ideas into one film of crazy, blood-splattered fun questioning the nature of justice ... or at least just ending violently in an abandoned warehouse. (By the way, if they need someone to die violently at the hands of justice-dealing Butler, I'm available. Call me!)

Just three days ago, when we told you that Jamie Foxx was joining Gerard Butler for vigilante thriller Law Abiding Citizen, we were all still under the impression that Frank Darabont remained in the director's seat for the project. Unfortunately, AICN has confirmed word that Darabont has indeed stepped away from the film, for reasons unknown, and I for one share the sentiment that this is a distinctly less exciting prospect now.

What's curious is how descriptions of the film's plot have varied. Our post on Darabont's hiring and the film's IMDb page (at the moment) both shared a synopsis that involved an elaborate scheme by an incarcerated criminal mastermind to control the city. Last week's Hollywood Reporter piece on Foxx coming aboard took it back to an reportedly original, comparably simpler tale of injustice and revenge, which screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Street Kings) may still be able to spin into something special.

Just not, y'know, Darabont special. (Maybe he could return to Stephen King country and finally bring "The Long Walk" to the screen; one can hope...).

Remember how we told you about six weeks ago that it looked like Tom Cruise's next project would be an espionage thriller called Edwin A. Salt? In fact, the news was that Cruise was going to do Edwin instead of the political thriller The 28th Amendment. Well, now it looks like he's not doing either one. He's changed his mind on Edwin, and now the star of the film is going to be ... Angelina Jolie.

I'm not sure I would have considered Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie interchangeable, but that's Hollywood for you. According to Variety, Cruise was the latest in a long line of actors who have expressed interest in the project over the years, and after he backed out, Jolie threw her hat in the ring. The deal is pretty much set, and it was thrown together very quickly. I guess when Angelina Jolie says she wants to headline your spy thriller, you bring some people in over the weekend to hammer out the details.

The screenwriter, Kurt Wimmer, will make adjustments in the script to accommodate the protagonist's new gender, and obviously the title will have to change slightly. (Edwin A. Salt = Edwina Salt?) But considering Jolie has already played an action hero successfully in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and this summer's Wanted (pictured), I suspect all that'll really be necessary is a find-and-replace search of the character's name. It's not like Wimmer will need to incoporate a scene where the spy gets her nails done or goes shoe shopping.

So now the question is: After next year's Valkyrie, what will Cruise's next project be? I think Edwin would have been a great fit for him. Of course, f I were the one making Cruise's career decisions, a lot of other things would be different, too, so never mind what I think.

I want you to think all the way back to February of '07 when Sony first announced that they would be making a feature film out of the best-selling game, Metal Gear Solid. Everything seemed on track, then the writer's strike happened and it seemed Solid was going to fade away to obscurity ... or then again, maybe not. Coming Soon recently got the chance to speak with producer Michael De Luca during a press event for 21, when they scored a little tidbit about the future of the big-screen Metal Gear. According to De Luca, the project is not only back on, but they are already on the lookout for someone to write the script – namely, Kurt Wimmer.

Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game released by Konami back in 1998. The story, or what little there was in the beginning, focused on a genetically enhanced soldier named Snake taking down the evil FOXHOUND. As the franchise continued, more attention was paid to the story in the game. By the third installment there was a much richer mythology surrounding political conspiracies and state of the art warfare included in the game.

When it comes to the feature film, Wimmer's involvement is far from a done deal. According to De Luca, Columbia Pictures will be meeting with Wimmer over the next few weeks to see if he is interested in taking on the script. Wimmer was the writer and director behind Equilibrium and Ultraviolet, both of which might as well have been video games, so he seems like a good fit. CS also hinted that Wimmer could be taking over directing duties for MGS as well, so stay tuned to Cinematical for any news that comes our way.

Considering how hard it is to get people to go see a Tom Cruise movie these days, it wouldn't be surprising if it was also hard to get a director who'll work with the guy. Of course, Cruise's waning bankability isn't the reason that his spy movie, the weakly titled Edwin A. Salt, has already lost Terry George and Michael Mann as potential directors. I'm not sure why they aren't doing the film (Mann apparently picked Public Enemies instead), but it can't be fears of a potentially low gross. No matter; they are out and Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is in, according to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider Blog. Well, he's not quite in yet; Columbia Pictures is only reportedly wooing the guy, though in the end it's supposedly up to Cruise's approval whether or not he gets the gig. Interestingly enough, Berg can almost be viewed as a Mann protégé, since he produced The Kingdom and Berg's follow-up, next summer's Will Smith vehicle, Hancock (the trailer of which hit the net this week). However, it doesn't appear that Mann will have any involvement with Edwin A. Salt.

I won't admit to being the biggest fan of Berg's work (who could, really?), but I will admit that The Kingdom was one of my top ten movies of 2007. Though it's mainly on my list because all critics have to have that one obligatory mainstream Hollywood pick, I do think it was directed quite well, with a tone that perfectly suited what it was really about (American dreams of an '80s action-movie-type response to 9/11). Also, his Friday Night Lights (the film; I haven't seen the TV pilot he did) was better than most high school football movies. So, I'm excited to see what he can do with Cruise, a script from Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) and the beginning-to-get-tired world of spies.

So maybe the relative success of The Good Shepherd has inspired other studios to look for their own spy vehicles for the upcoming year. Earlier, Monika had the news that Johnny Depp was looking into producing a film about the mysterious death of KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko for Warner Bros. Now, Variety reports that Columbia Pictures has hired Michael Mann for a competing Litvinenko flick. They didn't stop there though, and have also picked up another spy property, although this one seems a little less political and a little more action packed.

The Hollywood Reporter had the announcement that Columbia Pictures had bought the rights to Kurt Wimmer's new spy-thriller Edwin A. Salt. Wimmer has a few credits to his name, including writing The Thomas Crown Affair remake, but the bad news is that he also wrote The Recruit and Ultraviolet -- which might not be the best example of his talents considering I thought both of those movies were pretty much duds. Edwin A. Salt will be the story of an American CIA officer who is falsely accused of being for a Russian sleeper agent. While eluding capture for a supposed plot to assassinate the President, Salt has to find the real spy to clear his name. Since Columbia has only just purchased a spec for the script, it will be most likely be some time before we see a director or cast attached.

[via Dark Horizons]

 

Ultraviolet is the latest entry in the Revisionist Vampire genre, where evil bloodsuckers are recast as a fashionable but oppressed minority in a world gone mad. Or as repressed supermodels. Instead of stalking innocent damsels in their bedrooms, they now stalk the runways of Paris and Milan, picking up aviator sunglasses and other accessories that match the exclusive-club nature of their blood type. The unfortunate need to inject a little blood now and then - so bourgeois - is handled with the discretion of a coke habit. The pointy canine teeth are retained by some of these new vampires for retro kitsch value, such as the character of Garth in this film, who is a model for a sort of English-Humanities Professor Vampire. As he paces the floor, fulminating on the existential problems of vampirism, the teeth make a nice contrast to his furrowed brow and unkempt hair. Not to get your hopes up. Ultraviolet is an ultra-careless action-vampire mash-up that will satisfy neither action fans or those who enjoy the typical Wikipedia-culled hodgepodge of vampire lore. It rarely even makes sense. After the movie informs us that vampirism was recently created by a viral mutation, for example, we see the vampires brandishing swords with ancient glyph writing burned onto the blades. Looks like they've been around for a while.