Sometimes it just makes sense to update a Hollywood classic. The clothes, the haircuts, the pop culture references, the camera techniques, lighting styles, and film stocks can all seem outdated after several decades. Polishing the surfaces and bringing in some new actors to relive a beloved old legend from the vaults and expose it to a whole new audience, that’s what storytelling is all about.
Or maybe somebody just wants to see Johnny Utah chasing a bank robber wearing a George W. Bush mask.
In any case, responding to Warner Brothers announcing a remake of 1991’s Point Break, starring Keanu Reeves and the late Patrick Swayze, as the HitFlix Website snarks, “Nothing like remaking a film that’s barely 20 years old:”
Though the 1991 surfing/action film “Point Break” was only a modest hit theatrically, its pop-culture cache has grown over the years, thanks lately to both the hugely-popular touring reality-play “Point Break Live!” and its status as a running joke in Edgar Wright’s 2007 cult favorite “Hot Fuzz”.
Now the Kathryn Bigelow-helmed original is being remade by Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment, with producers looking to begin the search for a director in the very near future based on a script by “Salt” screenwriter Kurt Wimmer. Alcon co-founders Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove reportedly secured rights to the original movie on the 20th anniversary of its release.
Kosove and Johnson are producing along with Michael De Luca, John Baldecchi, Chris Taylor and Wimmer.
Hollywood’s lackluster summer was widely blamed on sequel-itis and remake-mania; glad to see that they’re finally learning their lesson and avoiding repeating the same mistakes yet again.
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