Yesterday brought word that work on the remake of one of Paul Verhoeven’s beloved ‘80s action classics, **RoboCop, had stalled at MGM. But now there’s fresh intel on another of the director’s American films that has been mooted as a remake target for years: Die Hard 4.0’s Len Wiseman is now in negotiations to retool Total Recall.
The Heat Vision blog reports that Wiseman is talking to Sony Columbia about an updated version of the 1990 pic, which saw Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid (or is it Hauser?), a construction worker who decides to take a virtual vacation to Mars via the technology of the Rekall company, which can implant fake memories in peoples’ noggins. But then he starts recalling that he’s actually a secret agent whose cover has been blown.
Cue a trip to the real Red Planet to start discovering the truth and a battle to help the locals overthrow a despotic ruler bent on controlling the air production. Delusion and reality blend. Three-boobed hookers abound. Well, one of them.
Based on Philip K Dick’s story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Total Recall has been a likely subject for a remake (and before that, a sequel) and the source material for two short-lived TV shows.
This time out, Equilibrium writer/director (and Salt scribe) Kurt Wimmer is tackling the script, and it’s not yet known whether he’ll stick to the same plot as the original or take it off in new directions.
Wiseman, meanwhile, worked on the pilot for another reboot, this time TV’s Hawaii Five-0 and is also in the running to possibly return to shoot another John McClane outing.