The closest John Carpenter ever came to the Academy Awards was for his 1984 sci-fi road trip drama, Starman. The following year, a young Jeff Bridges nabbed a Best Actor nomination for his role as the titular extraterrestrial, who brings a deer back to life and hooks up with Indiana Jones’ girlfriend, Karen Allen. Well, despite a recent spiritual nod by Jeff Nichols (see: this week’s Midnight Special), original producer Michael Douglas is apparently foaming at the mouth for a remake.
Feel free to grab the closest newspaper, throw it on the ground, and scream, “Gimme a fucking break!”
Yep, Sony Pictures has commissioned an update on the totally fine, no-need-to-tinker original. They’ve tapped Night at the Museum and Reel Steel director Shawn Levy to direct and co-produce, and given the green light to Grace of Monaco screenwriter Arash Amel to go ahead and scribble over the original script. Hey, maybe he’ll swap out the rustic Wisconsin setting for something edgy like Silver Lake? Or drop in some explosions and chase scenes! We’ll have to see.
In the meantime, let’s keep our fingers crossed that Hollywood goes after Steven Spielberg’s Always next.
