If you know anything about Hollywood, you know that remakes have become one of the most common (read as "easy") forms of filmmaking these days. Simply take an old, beloved property and dust it off with a new cast and better special effects. Sometimes these work, and sometimes they don't; it really depends on who's behind the camera. We've just learned that John Carpenter's Starman will soon receive a remake of its very own, and the man chose to step behind the camera most certainly has the filmmaking resume to pull off such an project.
A new report from Comingsoon.net confirms that John Carpenter's Starman will indeed receive a modern remake, and director Shawn Levy has been chosen by Sony to helm the update. A filmmaker with a proven knack for both sci-fi and sentimentality, Levy has worked on numerous projects over the years, from Real Steel to Date Night to The Spectacular Now.
Those of you who know Starman will recognize that it's simply one of those quintessentially 1980s sci-fi/fantasy romps. The film stars Jeff Bridges in the role of the titular alien as he races against the American government to a vessel belonging to his race in Arizona. Along the way he takes the form of a cloned deceased man and slowly begins to forge a connection with his host's widow.
The Comingsoon.net report also indicated that Shawn Levy and Sony have a shortlist of actors to fill Jeff Bridge's shoes in the update, but that they won't reveal those names just yet. Check out a trailer for the original Starman below to get a better sense of the film's overall narrative:
The fact that Shawn Levy will soon take the reigns on a remake of John Carpenter's Starman should come as a shock to basically nobody. Over the last few years Carpenter has become one of the go-to Hollywood icons whose work gets used in modern retellings of classic films. From Halloween to Assault on Precinct 13 to The Thing (itself a remake of a 1951 horror film), John Carpenter's work has continually been taken apart and reassembled in a variety of different ways. Sometimes these remakes have worked, but other times they have not. Shawn Levy has generally made a name for himself with a laundry list of criminally underrated movies, so all eyes are on him to craft something that genuinely honors John Carpenter's previous endeavors.
We will keep you up to date regarding all of the latest and greatest Starman details as they become available to us. For now, let us know in the comments below what you think about the movie being remade and who you might like to see in it.
