Peter Dinklage teases that the upcoming reboot of The Toxic Avenger is going to be as crazy and over-the-top as the original. Dinklage has become a household name for his work on HBO's Game of Thrones and just recently received a Golden Globe nomination for the new musical, Cyrano, based on the classic play, Cyrano de Bergerac. The new Toxic Avenger is directed by Macon Blair, director of the cult hit, I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
The original Toxic Avenger was a 1984 black comedy splatter film, notably for combining its campy tone with gruesome violence, and was a hit at midnight movies, later becoming a cult classic. The story follows a meek janitor who's pushed into a drum of toxic waste which turns him into the titular hero, giving him superhuman size and strength and a less than appealing appearance. The new Toxic Avenger has wrapped filming and is currently in post-production for a 2022 release.
In an interview with Empire, Dinklage talks about working on the new film and how it's crazy and over-the-top. He goes on to express his love for B-movies of that era and the style of guerilla filmmaking needed to compensate for low budgets. He also talked about The Toxic Avenger and Cyrano being so different from what he's made before, and the challenges both films set for him as a performer. Read Dinklage's full quote below:
“It’s a lot of fun...I just wanted to do something that I’ve never done before. So why not be a monster in an over-the-top, crazy movie, and why not sing in another one?"
The original Toxic Avenger went on to spawn three sequels and an off-broadway musical, starring the late Nick Cordero. Alongside Dinklage, the new Toxic Avenger will feature Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, and Kevin Bacon as the villain. The remake has been in development hell since 2010, with Guillermo del Toro and Arnold Schwarzenegger formerly attached to the project.
The Toxic Avenger represented a peculiar time in film history, where more readily available technology allowed for auteurs to make more passion-driven projects with lower budgets, free of studio interference. These films, characterized by their unbridled use of sex and violence, allowed for audiences to experience them through midnight films and drive-ins, giving them cult status. Nowadays, cheaper films are now regulated to streaming services, making it harder for them to find a passionate audience willing to go to a theater at midnight to experience it with like-minded fans. The Toxic Avenger was a defining feature in the Troma universe of that time, and hopefully, Dinklage and Blair can make The Toxic Avenger for a new audience with all the campy fun audiences crave.
Source: Empire