Beaks here...
For the fucking love of Brian O'Blivion.
David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME was released theatrically on February 4, 1983. It was outgrossed in the U.S. by Peter Greenaway's THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT. The film has since acquired a cult following, but it remains virtually unknown by mainstream moviegoers. When I wear my "Civic TV" t-shirt in public, hardcore cinephiles don't always catch the reference. VIDEODROME is many things: brilliant, prescient, one of Cronenberg's best films. It is not a brand.
But Universal, the studio that thought it would be a fine idea to make a prequel to one of the biggest bombs of 1982 (John Carpenter's THE THING), is once again going to the flop well because they're petrified by original ideas. And they've hired an unproven commercial director (which worked so well for them on THE 47 RONIN) and a guy who once accidentally wrote an above-average screenplay to update it.
According to Deadline's Michael Fleming, Ehren Kruger (who will write the film) and producer Daniel Bobker plan to "modernize" Cronenberg's film by addressing nano-technology. They also want to turn it into a "large-scale sci-fi action thriller". Um, Universal? Have you looked at the box office for the TOTAL RECALL remake? That was actually a hit in its original incarnation.
Look, I think anything is open to reinterpretation provided you've got a great, relevant idea, but I seriously doubt that the paycheck-cashing hack who last dazzled us with TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON has much to say about... anything really. And Universal is going to sink somewhere north of $60 million into this film because Ron Meyer is evidently giddy to run a once-proud studio into the ground. This is a waste of money. Stop it. You just bled out on BATTLESHIP and made a killing on TED. Learn from your mistakes.
The director of this proposed remake, Adam Berg, does appear to be talented. Take a look at this commercial. Give this guy a worthwhile project.
