| David Cronenberg’s Videodrome has become the latest 80s cult classic to take a spin on the remake merry-go-round, with Universal today announcing plans for a new version to be written and produced by Ehren Kruger. Cronenberg’s 1983 original, featured a tour de force from James Woods (does he do any other kind of performance?) as a sleazy cable TV boss who gets mixed up with an insidious TV programme called Videodrome which begins to infuse his mind with shocking hallucinations, before apparently infecting his body with a series of gruesome mutations (one of Cronenberg’s favourite themes), including the now-infamous ‘videotape/vaginal’ slit in Woods’ stomach. It’s one of Cronenberg’s most effective, creepy and bizarre films – so naturally the remake is set to take the story into the big-budget sci-fi thriller realm, where there’s a good chance the offbeat vibe and intriguing themes will be swamped by special effects. On one level, that seems to be the plan – Kruger, the writer of Arlington Road and this summer’s Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, will update the film’s premise to accommodate nano-technology (what, no Blu-ray?), while the scale of the film will be considerably enlarged. However, there’s no need to throw any toys out of the pram just yet. Kruger is a writer who has shown, without writing anything particularly brilliant, that he understands and respects the sci-fi and horror genres, and we have a feeling that he’ll tread gently on Cronenberg’s territory. No director is yet attached to the project. Cronenberg seems to have a window in his schedule, what with his Tom Cruise/Denzel Washington thriller, The Matarese Circle, looking like filming will be pushed back to 2010. But it’s unlikely that he’d come back to revisit old ground, although it’s possible that he might take a production role, a la George Romero on The Crazies, or Wes Craven on Last House On The Left. Kruger, who is also writing and producing a remake of Michael Mann’s nutso horror, The Keep, will produce with his partner, Daniel Bobker.
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