Total Recall to be remade

If only...

From filmstalker, Yes everyone is screaming about the remake of Total Recall, but it doesn't stop us having a voice too, and boy do I have an opinion on this one. Still I suspect it will be similar to everyone else's – what the hell are Hollywood doing? Are they just going to remake absolutely everything they get their hands on?

Total Recall was made in 1990 by Paul Verhoeven and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger alongside Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox. Adapted from a Philip K. Dick story. Looks like it's up for another adaptation.

Total Recall was rather successful and although slightly dated in the effects department it still holds its own I'd say. Not so say Hollywood, and a film only ten years old is not beyond the remake machine. Mind you, I've reported a few times on the remake of Death at a Funeral was made only two years ago and is getting a Hollywood remake already. No film is safe.

Of course it might not happen, although Neal H. Moritz and his rather amusingly named production company Original Films are in final negotiations to remake the film – yes The Hollywood Reporter call it “a contemporary version” if you want, it's a remake.

The Philip K. Dick story, and the original film, tell the story of a man who begins to have a recurring dream of going to Mars so he heads off to Rekall Inc. and buys a dream vacation which implants memories of a holiday into his mind while he sits in a chair going nowhere. However the memories seem to break something free in his mind and he believes that he has released hidden memories of a past where he was a secret agent and must head back to Mars in order to complete his mission.

What's Moritz's plan? Well it's simple, he says that the technological advancements and state of the art visual effects will “help” the Total Recall story to be told in a fresh way.

Wrong. Effects will make it look prettier and smoother, but if you're just rewriting the same story and dropping in newer, younger actors then you're not on a guaranteed track to make the film better than it was.

I can see this going a bad route, young twenty-something actors that are the trendy thing with the young audience and plenty of dazzling effects. Oh yes, that's going to make the rich tapestry of a Philip K. Dick novel look wonderful on screen.

Moritz has a fair long track record, and some strong films in there too, Vantage Point is not a remake, I Am Legend (Filmstalker review) is but worked well, but he's leapt on the remake wagon with a few films in production such as Flash Gordon, 21 Jump Street (oh yes) and The Green Hornet. Original Films indeed.

Can anyone defend this decision though?

You know the question, and you have your opinions, but if we don't start voicing them back and showing them in the ticket buying then Hollywood will keep going - supply and demand. If we buy the tickets for a remake, we'll get another remake. Simple.