According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kurt Wimmer, writer/director of sci-fi action films Equilibrium and Ultraviolet has been tapped by Columbia pictures to pen the upcoming remake of Total Recall.
Wimmer will be trying to write a “contemporized adaptation” of “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”, the Philip K. Dick story that inspired the original Total Recall, which was directed by Paul Verhoeven (The Surrogate) and starred “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In the future, a restless construction worker named Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger in the original) pays “Rekall Inc.”, a company specializing in implanted memories, to implant him with a fictional memory of an epic adventure he had on Mars as a secret agent. When the company attempts to implant the false memory, they inadvertently unlock memories in Quaid’s mind that are not his own. When Quaid arrives home from the treatment, his friends, co-workers, even his wife (Sharon Stone in the original) are suddenly trying to kill him, forcing Quaid to go on the run.
A visit from a mysterious stranger with a briefcase reveals to Quaid that he was once “Hauser,” right-hand man to the ruthless oxygen-hording dictator of Mars, until a rebel girl convinced Hauser to switch sides and fight for the good guys. When his evil cohorts learned of Hauser’s betrayal, they erased his memory and set him up in his fake life as Quaid. By way of a recorded message, Hauser tells Quaid to “Get your ass to Mars” in order to save the day.
The rest of Total Recall was a pretty much a sci-fi action-fest best remembered for scenes like Schwarzenegger’s head swelling to cartoonish proportions as he nearly suffocates on the surface of Mars; a rebel leader with a very unique hiding spot; and, of course, the three-breasted woman.
Total Recall is still a sci-fi classic for many children of the 80’s like myself, so this news of a remake has been hard to swallow – another bad example of Hollywood’s current addiction to remakes.
The news that Wimmer is handling the script has me split down the middle: Equilibrium was a very underrated sci-fi film (Christian Bale is great in it), but Ultraviolet…not so great. Wimmer also wrote the Angelina Jolie spy-thriller Salt, which is currently filming – although that’s not exactly a sure indicator of greatness (definitely not last year’s Street Kings, also written by Wimmer). In fact, the only indisputable gem on Wimmer’s resume to date, IMHO, is his script for the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.
So far I’m still thumbs down on a Total Recall remake. Wimmer’s involvement does little to change that opinion either way. How about you, do you feel like a Total Recall remake is in any way a good thing?
The Total Recall remake is currently aiming for a 2011 release.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter via Slash Film
Thanks to Abram Sauer Online for the hilarious animated pic!
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