Len Wiseman to Direct Contemporary Remake of Total Recall« FirstShowing.net

It's been over a year sincewe heardscreenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium,Street Kings) was hired to pen the remake ofTotal Recall, or rather, a new adaptation of Philip K. Dick's storyWe Can Remember It for You Wholesale. But today comes the first real development on that project in a very long time as Columbia Pictures has officially announced via press release (read here) thatLen Wiseman(Live Free or Die Hard,Underworld) will direct this new, contemporary adaptation. For those of you who were already lamenting the fact thatTotal Recallwas being remade, I can't really see this news changing anybody's mind right now.

Here's some fluffy PR quotes to try and put your mind at ease. Producer Neal H. Moritz says:"I have been trying for years to work with Len and fortunately we finally found a great project that helovesas much as we do. Len is terrifically talented and we know he is the right director to re-imagineTotal Recallfor a new generation of fans.” Well he's not going to say he hated the fourthDie Hard, so obviously they think he's the right guy for the job. Columbia president Matt Tolmach added this bit of puffery:"Len has an incredible love of the genre and agreat gift for action. He'll bring a contemporary feel to the film while taking care with everything we love about Philip K. Dick's original story."Anyone sold by all this crazy mumbo jumbo?

Meanwhile, Wiseman himself says,"I've always been fascinated with Philip K. Dick's short story, and I'm excited at that prospect of diving even deeper into the type of world it evokes and the questions it asks. I love that the most crucial mystery our character is trying to solve is the one of his own soul.” That's a little less bullshit, and a little more interesting, but Wiseman has an uphill battle to convince people (including me) this is something they need to see. Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoeven made a damn good sci-fi film back in the day, and that will be hard to live up to. We can see what Wiseman's recent work looks like when the remake of the classic series"Hawaii Five-0"hits CBS this fall (Wiseman directed the pilot).Thoughts?

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