It was only a matter of time -- in our reboot, remake and recycle culture -- when Hollywood reached the Corey Haim and Corey Feldman comedies as fodder for reimagined movies aimed at a new generation. And because we only need simple tweaks made to original films for them to warrant a new version, audiences are going to get a License to Drive remake, only with two female leads in place of the two Coreys.
Deadline has the news, reporting that producer John Davis is setting up this project at 20th Century Fox. In the report, this new License of Drive being described as "the female version of Superbad," and right away, I have to say, "Nope." Did John Davis even SEE the original License to Drive? It's not raunchy like Superbad, nor is it edgy. It's borderline sweet, with an obvious (and harmless) PG-13 sheen to it. This new one sounds like it wants to strip away the innocence of the Corey Feldman and Corey Haim movie, which lightly capitalized on the chemistry between the oft-paired cinematic duo. We'll see what is to become of the remake.
What the hell is License to Drive, you ask? I'll fill you in. During the 1980s, teen-pop sensations Corey Haim and Corey Feldman (good friends on the screen and off) teamed up for a series of movies, with varying degrees of popularity. It started with The Lost Boys in 1987, shifted to License to Drive in 1988, and took a darker right turn with the mystical Dream a Little Dream in 1989. They'd collaborate on projects off and on over the years, but that span was peak Corey/Corey action, and License was their goofy teen comedy, where Haim plays a SoCal kid who fails his driving test, but ignores the law so he can keep a date with a beautiful classmate (played by a young Heather Graham). Her name was Mercedes Lane. Subtlety didn't exist in 1988.
Check out this slice of 80s heaven:
The biggest hook of a License to Drive remake will be the casting. Audiences back in 1988 loved the chemistry between Corey Haim and Corey Feldman (this is a real thing that happened). Producers on the remake will have to find two girls that we will enjoy playing off of each other, and it's not like either Corey had a type to play. They just meshed well together, and made a flat, silly, clichéd concept like License bounce along. We'll continue to track how this movie comes together. Do you have any suggestions as to who they should recruit for this one to work?
