It’s disheartening to be a film fan in this day and age. Every day brings news of favorites and classics being needlessly remade, making the film’s name synonymous with an empty lightshow and continuing the degradation of the genre. Unfortunately, today brings some of the saddest news in recent memory. Dimension Films has closed a deal to remake David Cronenberg’s classic Scanners, says Variety.
The remake will be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the guy responsible for Saw II and Saw III, and the written by David Goyer, of the Blade series. Don’t expect the remake to contain any of Cronenberg’s signature body vs. the mind subtext. What you can expect is a MTV-style, dizzying crapfest.
For those who aren’t familiar with Scanners, it’s the story of one man against the “scanners,” people who can kill others with telepathic abilities. It would be a good idea to check out Cronenberg’s original if you haven’t seen it, and if you have, it’s a good time to revisit it. Cronenberg is one of the few working directors who is worth watching. Hopefully the Scanners remake will be a dud, so the studios don’t start up remakes of Dead Ringers or, gulp, Videodrome.
