Tag Archives: Remake

Total Recall TV spot

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A new TV spot for Len Wiseman’s remake of Paul Verhoeven‘s (Robocop) sci-fi action Total Recall (based on Philip K. Dick’s short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale) has found its way online. The 30 second spot has no new footage with the exception of Farrell’s line at the end and is, in fact, just a splicing of the trailer which was released. Wiseman’s take on the 90’s classic (it’s part of my childhood) seems more action packed than the original and his vision of the future far cleaner, in a sense, than the one perceived by Verhoeven. Check out the second TV spot and the official trailer below.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/wvONjj7i5zc%5D

 

[youtube:http://youtu.be/sWMhADqlPYg%5D

 

It seems the remake will not be visiting Mars but instead focus on the conflict between EuroAmerica and New Shanghai. The choice is not exactly self evident as all the action in the original happened on Mars but keep in mind that this is an “action thriller about reality and memory” so geography (or is that astronomy?), in my opinion, doesn’t matter. It’s all about who you are and who you can trust and in a post-Inception world we expect the answering of these questions to blow our minds.

Here’s the synopsis:

“Total Recall is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he’s got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life – real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police – controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world – Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.”

If you’re still hankering for a bit more Kate Beckinsale showed off a short clip of her kicking Collin Farrell’s ass when she visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It’s about 5 minutes 39 seconds in.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/oR7kVD2C6f4%5D

 

And here’s the trailer of the original (where they did go to Mars):

[youtube:http://youtu.be/WFMLGEHdIjE%5D

 

Incidentally, a remake of Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop is currently in development at MGM. Gary Oldman has signed on as the scientist that creates Robocop with Joel Kinnaman of TV’s The Killing inheriting the title role from Peter Weller.

Total Recall opens August 3.

Ryan Reynolds, The Highlander?

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It seems Ryan Reynolds is being courted by Lionsgate and Summit for their remake of Highlander. Variety broke the news last week. It’s unclear whether an offer has been made but sources tell Variety that both sides are still in talks.

The basic premise of Highlander is that immortals, that can only be killed by decapitation, fight each other, with swords (duh), till in the end only one is left (tagline: “There can be only one”). A basic last man standing game plan. There are rules however 1) only two people per fight 2) there is no fighting on holy ground. Of coure the movies don’t make it clear who enforces these rules or if there are any consequences to breaking them. Of course with a bunch of sword wielding immortal decapitators I trust they’re not following an honour system.

Highlander (film)

Highlander (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For those who haven’t seen the original, of which I trust there are only a few, the story follows the immortal Conner MacLeod, the Highlander, as he battles the Kurgan to the death to claim the prize (if we were to go by the first movie the prize would be the ability to father children, grow old and knowledge). Not sure if the remake will follow the same plot but all I ask is that they keep Queen’s original soundtrack.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/RnrXiaPVeHY”%5D

 

The movie starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, Clancy Brown as the Kurgan and Sean Connery as Ramirez.

The franchise has gone a little down hill of late with Highlander: Endgame and the striaght to DVD Highlander: The Source (the first movie to not feature Conner MacLeod). But I suppose if we were to get technical it would be possible to say the franchise went down hill from the first sequel (Highlander II suggested the immortals were aliens a fact later retconned like so much bad history) and never really recovered. Altough the 90’s TV series did keep it from sinking any further for a while (it predated the aforementioned Endgame and The Source).

While Reynolds’ involvement is only speculative at the moment he has not signed on to any new projects yet and has not dismissed the rumours of his involvment either. It is possible he may view this as the franchise that The Green Lantern failed to become. All the raw materials are there the question is can he make something of it. Of course the same could have been said of The Green Lantern.

It has previoulsy been reported that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) will be directing the remake – taking over from Justin Lin who left to do another Fast and Furious movie but will remain as executive producer – based on a script by Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Melissa Rosenberg (Breaking Dawn part 1), and Art Marcum (Iron Man).

[youtube:http://youtu.be/kq4SqgxIKM0%5D

 

Ryan Reynolds will next appear opposite Jeff Bridges in R.I.P.D on June 28, 2013.