Movies
Next Up On The Remake Train: ‘Total Recall’
Because it is so completely necessary, Hollywood Reporter… er, reports that Neil Moritz (producer of such classics as Stealth and Prom Night) is looking to put together a remake of Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, which starred our governor, Michael Ironside, and a lady with three boobs. If this actually goes forward, I THINK this will be the first remake (not counting foreign to American translations like Let The Right One In) of a movie I saw during its initial run in theaters. Am I old or is the “It’s time for a remake!” window just growing smaller? Read on for a few more details, and look for a remake of Paul Blart: Mall Cop to get announced any minute.
Per Hollywood Reporter:
Neal H. Moritz and his Original Films banner are in final negotiations to develop and produce for Columbia a contemporary version of “Total Recall,” the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie directed by Paul Verhoeven.
The original, based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.
The movie explores one of Dick’s favorite topics, reality vs. delusion, as audiences never knew whether or not the story was a dream. Either way, the movie grossed a very real $261 million worldwide.
Carolco was behind the original movie, which was distributed by TriStar. Dimension picked up the rights for a reported $3.15 million with the aim of developing a sequel. Columbia secured the rights from Miramax, which retained them when Harvey and Bob Weinstein left to start their own company.
Calling Dick’s story “prescient,” Moritz said he hoped the advancements in technology and state-of-the-art visual effects can help tell the “Recall” story in a fresh way.
How about he’s not sure if what he’s experiencing is a remake or not? That would be meta-cool.
Fangoria Studios and Panick Studios are turning horror comic Black Diamond into a film, and Variety reports that Ernest Dickerson (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight) will direct.
Black Diamond comic book creator Brendan Columbus will write the screenplay.
Black Diamond follows Owen and Victoria Welch on a family ski trip that spirals into a nightmare. When their son is abducted by a mysterious cult, the couple is pushed to the brink and faced with a soul-crushing ultimatum: sacrifice another child or lose their own forever.
The comic book series from Panick Entertainment is described as a “chilling folk horror thriller blending Hitchcockian psychological tension with the dread of The Wicker Man.”
“Black Diamond was my attempt to put everything I love about thrillers on the page,” Columbus tells Variety. “I want to make sure it feels like you physically can’t leave the theater or else you’ll miss the next twist or turn. With his masterful cinematic eye and his great story sense, Ernest is going to scare the hell out of everyone with this one.”
“Black Diamond immediately grabbed me because its horror is rooted in impossible human choices,” says Dickerson. “It taps into parental fear, morality, isolation, and survival in a way that is so unsettling and emotionally real. That combination will make for a very suspenseful and exciting cinematic experience.”
Ernest Dickerson is directing and executive producing the feature film. Black Diamond will notably be Ernest Dickerson’s first feature film as director since Double Play in 2017, though he has in more recent years been directing for an impressive string of television shows including “The Man in the High Castle,” “The Purge,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Bosch,” and “DMZ.”
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