David Cronenberg is high on my list of a filmmaker whose movies I need to familiarize myself with more. I love Scanners and The Fly, but I’ve been told I need to catch some of his movies that are more cult-appreciated, like Videodrome. It looks like I better hurry up and catch the originals, because the Hollywood machine is ready to grind them up for remaking.
Variety reports that Universal Pictures is targeting Videodrome for remake. The original movie starred James Caan as a network executive who began airing a television series that garnered viewers through torture and murder. Imagine how far that envelope could be pushed in today’s world, where we watch people starve and suffer as weekly reality entertainment. Heck, it’s probably only a matter of time before Cronenberg’s original vision becomes something close to reality. As far as the movie remake, expect more of a sci-fi piece, utilizing nano-technology (why?).
Unfortunately, it sounds like the remake is moving forward without any involvement from the writer/director who made the first one such an iconic horror picture. Cronenberg is tied up with another movie in production, while Ehren Kruger (Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen) will handle scripting duties for the new movie. A director for the remake has not yet been announced.
