Sony Pictures is casting up its Total Recall remake, which Len Wiseman will direct with Colin Farrell starring in the role originated by Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are two major female roles in the film, and several top actresses are vying for them. First, there is the role of Lori, who started out the 1990 Paul Verhoeven-directed original as the happy homemaker wife of Douglas Quaid, only to transform into the bride from hell. That’s the role that really launched the star of Sharon Stone (who would star in Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct) and I’m told that Kate Bosworth and Inglourious Basterds‘ Diane Kruger [UPDATE: Kruger’s reps said she opted out of the reading] are reading this week for that role. Those readings began yesterday.
There is also the role of Melina, which was originated by Rachel Ticotin, playing the woman who helps the protagonist get to the bottom of the futuristic scandal on Mars. I’m told that Eva Mendes and Paula Patton are reading for that role. Studio insiders warn me that list is not inclusive, and I’ve heard that Jessica Biel could be in contention for Melina, Eva Green too, and that Mendes is also being considered for the Lori role. Neal Moritz is producing.
Who will play the woman with three breasts?
Two weeks! TWO WEEKS!!!!
The late Priscilla Allen was totally memorable in this small role.
It’s a remake, she’ll probably have four breasts this time.
Like.
It doesn’t matter. If Die Hard 4 was any indication, Len Wiseman will find a way to make it look like S**T.
Get ready for a mouthful of PG-13 mediocrity…
RedBox, anyone?
Give it to Kruger. Bosworth is way too soft…more of a 7th Heaven actress. Mendez & Patton look like they’re over 40. Go younger.
They do not look like they’re over 40. R u insane? Paula Patton is hot and her time needs to come already.
Keep forgetting about Paula Patton, she’d be great in the Ticotin role.
Hahaha, is “over forty” code for “too ethnic?” Neither looks older than Colin Farrell, so I don’t think age is an issue.
Paul Patton is boring as all get out (as is Bosworth), though, so there’s that.
These soulless remakes will never end…unless the public votes by not seeing them.
Where could the enjoyment as a moviegoer possibly be in seeing this, when one knows every movement of the story? Seeing Colin Farrell reprise Arnold is not worth the cost of a ticket.
For those unfamiliar with the first one, maybe there will be interest, but I just can’t imagine anyone who’s seen it already paying good money to see it again. Movies are stories, and this one’s been told and told well– and to a wide audience.
To me, it’s like paying to hear a joke to which you already know the punchline. Can’t Hollywood give the moviegoers out here something we haven’t seen before?
Remake fatigue setting in.
Remake fatigue setting in? It’s already set! No more, please! No more!!!!
So this really is the same story as the original that every has already seen? What exactly is the point?
The book had more info about the aliens. Maybe they’ll CGI them. I am reminded of the “special edition” of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Eva Green’s inclusion raises hopes that the project might have something going for it. The rest, not so much.
Michelle Rodriguez as Melina, DUH. Ticotin even played Rodriguez’s mother on Lost. It’d be a cool connection.
seriously Jessica Biehl ? you gotta be kiddin’ me! come on you gotta do better than that!
and by that i meant you misspelled her last name. Not her acting ability
just re-release the original and save yourself the trouble.
Colin in 2011 < Arnold in 1990
Amen!
This project is further proof that studio executives are Total Re*****
But what do we expect from positions whose only required skill set it…what again exactly? I know what writers, directors, and actors do, but studio executives and d-people? Stop taking up parking spaces and go create something.
Just re-do it in 3D. It’s a great film – Ah-nold’s best! No need to remake it.
Is Vern Troyer reading for Quato?
nice- lol
I will never see this remake. Shame on every acreative loser involved.
Jennifer O’Dell from The Lost World in the Sharon Stone role.
…but she’s an untamed beauty from a lost planet! How would the producers ever find her? They’d have to build a dirigible and pray it doesn’t get stranded in…The Lost World! Ta-ta-taa, da-da-daaaa (theme music playing.) Seroiusly, that would be cool, but I don’t know if she’s still working.
Colin Farrell could not even dream of being as charismatic as Arnold in this role. Seriously, this is the stupidest idea I’ve seen yet and I don’t really have a problem with remakes. Total Recall is so good because of Arnold, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin and Ronny Cox.
Colin Farrell as Doug Quaid is just too funny to even believe it’s real. Come on Sony, you’re better than this.
WHY WAS BOSWORTH CAST AS LOIS LANE? I AM STILL WRAPPING MY HEAD/MIND/SOUL AROUND IT!
Will the remake be aiming for PG-13 rating?
I hope so. So no one will go see it and it bombs. So maybe Hollywood will learn a lesson to stop remaking the films of my childhood.
The over-the-top blood and violence is what makes the original so great. Ah-nold stabbing the guy in the neck with the spike is awesome. Then when Ironside loses his arms – classic – unforgettable. It just wouldn’t be the same movie with a PG-13 rating.
Why are they remaking a movie that isn’t that old, in color, an excellent film, and plays regularly on TV? And there’s no way they could cast a better villain than Michael Ironside.
preach!!!
I hear Diane Kruger took herself out of the read. Good for her….she`s way to good for this…
First comment is on the money and probably the most important question of all.
The problem with this is Colin Farrell he’s terrible and he’ll be awful as Quaid.
He probably thinks he’ll actually be able to erase Miami Vice from his brain
Colin will make a great Quoat’l.
It has to be EVA especially after Rachel did a kick ass role.
Hopefully she do one of those water scenes she did in that Samuel Jackson movie.
How is Colin Farrell an effective replacement for Arnold?
Oh wait — this is probably being billed as a reboot with a modern twist because 1990 was soo long ago.
Yeah, stories told over and over get boring and lose our interest–James Bond films — and action remakes are never better than the original –Terminator– so how could it be any good?
Strong themes and ideas, that’s how. Total Recall — Arnold version — got it right on so many levels. It was action packed, a filmic escape, and was able to slip sci-fi and existentialist themes into the mix. Spolier– not really– for those who haven’t seen the original, if you listen in on the sales pitch given to Arnold in the first act at Recall you’ll have the entire second and third out laid out for you. Additional life lesson spolier, the story isn’t what your paying for, it’s the journey.
This film will be based more on Philip K. Dick’s story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” than on Verhoeven’s 1990 “Total Recall” so I wouldn’t necessarily call this a remake.
Yeah that’s the same argument the Coen Bros made when they remade “True Grit.” “We’re going back to the book.” Guess what? STILL A REMAKE
“Yeah, stories told over and over get boring and lose our interest–James Bond films…”
Well, this is sort of a specious contention; each Bond film is not exactly the same story, with all the same characters, the exact same plot, same twists, etc. So there is a degree of surprise and freshness to a Bond film or T2 that a direct remake such as the Recall one in question does not offer.
“Additional life lesson spolier, the story isn’t what your paying for, it’s the journey.”
What does this mean? Seems like semantics.
I fucking hate hollywood. Why remake movies that are already great when there are so many horrible movies out there they could redo? I mean, they have to know that no matter what they do, they cannot make a new Total Recall that is going to be better than the original. Same with Lethal Weapon. This just proves that Hollywood has run out of ideas AND talented writers. HEY HOLLYWOOD!! YOU FUCKING SUCK!!!!
Colin Farrell worked hard to receive goodwill and respect for ‘The Way Back ‘ , ‘ In Burges ‘ ( one of my favorites ) , and ‘ Crazy Heart ‘ . Why would he demolish his current A-list status with trash remakes of ‘ Fright Night ‘ and ‘ Total Recall ‘ ? Who the hell is giving him career advice ? Colin made horrible film choices previously, why make the same mistakes that will lead to career suicide ? Farrell has the talent, the looks, and the charisma to have a long and varied movie career.
$10MM payday. Good enough for me.
sp,
Check the boxoffice on those three movies and you’ll see why Farrell is doing Fright Night and Total Recall. He needs some boxoffice hits. That’s the only way to really be A-List.
sp – don’t be naive and don’t be stupid. farrell has the chops, the looks and the talent but as “don’t be naive” comment suggested, he definitely needs the commercial movies again. how about you educate yourself about the movie business during your lunch break as a receptionist?
Greta, I am not naive. You need to stop being idiotic. He is at a point in his career when he can pick and choose. He can pursue commercial projects with quality – not empty and trashy remakes. Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio know how to mix good ( or at least entertaining ) commercial films with character driven films. That is the key to career longevity.