About six months ago, we reported on Jason Statham being cast in the remake of the 1972 action crime-thriller, The Mechanic, about a hitman who takes on an apprentice. At the time there was word that the remake would be a remake in name only, and the story would be changed to a modern-day spy thriller. However, with the latest casting news, it appears the story will be pretty similar if not the same as the original.

Promising news, I say.

Variety is reporting that Donald Sutherland and Ben Foster (Pandorum, X-Men: The Last Stand) are set to co-star with Statham in The Mechanic remake, which is set to be directed by Simon West (Con Air – one of my favorites, FYI ) from a screenplay by Karl Gajdusek. Foster is set to play Statham’s hitman apprentice, Steve McKenna (the original role was played by Jan-Michael Vincent), and Sutherland will play Foster’s father who’s also Statham’s handler.

Happy Friday everyone! For our first Friday of October 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for The Princess and the Frog, Caprica, The Crazies, The Mechanic, Stone, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Saw VI, The Twilight Saga’s New Moon and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

In addition to that we have two bonus posters from two major upcoming films that you need to check out! Also, there’s some very creative road sign parody posters of classic films, as well as some older and strange looking posters from Ghana.

Let’s get to it.

I don’t think it will be too much longer until we can look at the back catalog of every movie ever made and check the box next to every one that says “Remade?” It seems that a single day can’t go by without news of a remake being announced, this time it is the 1972 action/crime-thriller The Mechanic which starred The Coolest Actor Of All Time (fact, not opinion…) Charles Bronson.

Bronson himself sadly passed away back in 2003, so needless to say it’ll have to be a fresh face who portrays the character of Arthur Bishop. So which modern day tough guy is it going to be?

Well none other than the Transporter and the (apparently) immortal Chev Chelios (from Crank) himself, Mr Jason Statham.

The project hasn’t been in the works for that long so not many details have been released yet, other than the fact that Statham will play the lead, and Simon West (Con Air -which frickin’ rules, btw- and the first Tomb Raider movie) will direct.

The original Mechanic is a relatively old film now, and not that much of an ultra-popular or even much-viewed one, so to help you out here is the synopsis:

Bronson played Arthur Bishop, a mob hit man who operates in a world of his own, an uncompromising world where conventional rules of morality don’t apply and where one wrong move could cost him his life. He’s always worked alone but, as age catches up with him, Bishop takes on a competent and ruthless apprentice (Jan-Michael Vincent) and teaches him everything he knows. Together they become an unmatchable team of globetrotting killers until the pupil’s ruthlessness puts him on a collision course with his teacher.

I have to admit I’ve never seen the original Bronson Mechanic (which I need to do since I am a big fan of his), but rather came across it while looking through his filmography. It sounds like a great idea for a film, one that puts a cool spin on the hitman genre – it actually reminds me of when Jean Reno trained Natalie Portman in The Professional.

However, it looks like they most likely won’t go with that story – according to some early info from IMDB, this remake will only really be a remake in name only, and the story given above will be swapped for a more modernized spy-thriller story.

Well that’s kind of disappointing…

Jason Statham will take up the “tool box” of the legendary Bronson.

As far as Statham playing the lead role, I think he’d be a great choice, an apt choice. He is kind of like a “talky” version of Bronson. If you watch stuff like Once Upon A Time In The West and Death Wish, Bronson is more of the “silent but deadly type,” whereas Statham both kicks serious ass and talks the talk, as they say. I just wonder if they’re going to have him less talkative for this role and just have him get on with the action at hand.

The role of a hitman should have been Statham’s a couple of years ago when they did the video game adaptation of Hitman, but for some bewildering reason they gave it to Timothy Olyphant, who looked ridiculous with a bald head, trying to do that intense, gruff thing that only a select few can pull off convincingly (Statham included).

Go on, Jason, show ‘em how it’s done!…

Screen Rant will keep you up-to-date with The Mechanic remake as more news gets released.

So are there any fans of the original film out there? Do you think Statham is right for the remake?

Source: ComingSoon.net