Movies
Universal to Chew Bubblegum and Kick Ass in ‘They Live’ Remake
Some remake announcements I just shrug off, some I get excited for, and then some just plain get under my skin. While I am a remake enthusiast, there are some films I consider untouchable, and if a studio is going to remake a film all I ask is that it’s different. Universal did throw us a pretty damn good remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD, so maybe a remake of John Carpenter’s They Live won’t be all that bad? Besides, Zack Snyder’s Strike Entertainment is getting involved, which can only mean good things (right?). The story also confirms that Strike is also still planning on remaking THE THING (1982), which is a remake of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951). Read on for the story and chime in on your thoughts below.
“They Live” is finding life again.
John Carpenter’s cult 1988 film is getting the remake treatment from Universal and studio-based Strike Entertainment, which are in negotiations to acquire the film rights with rights holder Les Mougins.
Strike’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce, while Shep Gordon of Les Mougins and Carpenter will serve as executive producers.
The original film, part sci-fi thriller and part social satire, told the story of a down-on-his-luck construction worker (Roddy Piper) who discovers glasses that let him see aliens walking among us and controlling humanity. The man races against the clock to find a way to stop them.
The movie is known for a fight scene that lasts 51⁄22 minutes (watch it below) and for the line, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass … and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
No writer is on board.
Gordon, an entrepreneur and music impresario who worked with Alice Cooper and Blondie, holds the rights, having financed the film as part of a multipicture deal with Carpenter that also included “Prince of Darkness” and “Village of the Damned.” Universal distributed the film as part of an output deal Gordon constructed.
Strike, whose credits include “Bring It On” and “Children of Men,” had success in the remake arena with 2004’s update of “Dawn of the Dead.” Strike is also working on a remake of Carpenter’s “The Thing.”
Check out the infamous THEY LIVE fight scene!
It’s no secret that Marvel has struggled immensely to launch a new Blade movie, but recent comments from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and Blade actor Mahershala Ali indicate they’ve thrown in the towel on this reboot for good.
Ali was attached to Blade from the start, when it was initially announced in 2019. Mia Goth’s attachment was initially announced three years ago, and both remained on board even as the project faced a series of setbacks that included lining up Bassam Tariq, and later Yann Demange, to helm the film.
Ali and Tariq teamed up recently on a new feature set to arrive this fall, in the wake of Blade‘s constant stalls. And it’s a film the actor wouldn’t have been able to do if Blade was still happening.
“When I look at this and ‘Blade,’ I couldn’t have done both, and the reason this even exists is because that project fell apart and Bassam had the time, space, energy, and focus to go and write this and then re-approach me,” Ali told GQ. “And I was able to use those skills that I had been working on for over a year training for ‘Blade.’ In that way, I feel creatively redeemed on some level, just in my own journey between me, myself, and I.”
The comment is in partial response to Feige, who last week told the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, “I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala. We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique. It fell into the time when we started pulling back and saying, ‘Only accept insanely great.’ And it wasn’t ‘insanely great’ at the time. We didn’t feel like, as we often do, you can have a good script and make it a great script through production. We didn’t feel confident that we could do that on ‘Blade,’ and we didn’t want to do that to Mahershala and didn’t want to do that to us.”
So where does that leave Blade?
Feige’s comments certainly indicate that Marvel has thrown in the towel, but if they do make another attempt at Blade, it won’t be with Ali. The actor has officially walked away from the role.
“When I look at what is for me, is it was either this or that — and I’ll take this. No offense to them. I’ve been doing this professionally for pushing 30 years now, and one thing I’ve learned is that what is for you is for you and what is not is not. For whatever reason, that project is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on, and I have moved on,” he told GQ. “Again, you had me under contract, they have billions of dollars, if they wanted to do the movie, we would’ve done the movie. So we’re not doing the movie.”
That certainly puts the final stake in the project.