They Live! - Remake at Universal

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=23810

They Live… Again!
Universal remake Carpenter’s alien flick

Universal has come here to do two things: chew bubblegum and remake John Carpenter’s They Live… and they’re all out of bubblegum.

Yes, on a particularly remake-heavy day, even by Hollywood’s standards, the studio has announced plans to conjure up a new version of Carpenter’s hugely enjoyable 1988 alien invasion movie, which starred Rowdy Roddy Piper as a drifter who, thanks to a pair of magical sunglasses, can see that evil aliens have infiltrated human society and are slowly taking over from within.

Although not Carpenter’s best work, the movie has a ramshackle charm, some demented dialogue (including the peerless line parodied above, in which Piper announces that he’s come to kick ass or chew gum… and he’s all out of gum), one of the greatest and longest fistfights of all time, and a barnstorming action climax, not to mention – hey! – a satirical subtext about the level of interference in our everyday lives.

It also looks like it cost about £20.38, so a remake that allows the new director (whoever that may be) to control some shiny new FX toys is not necessarily a bad thing.

No writer is yet attached, but Carpenter will executive produce, along with Shep Gordon, while Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, of Strike Entertainment (who are stumping up the cash along with Universal) will produce. Strike has previous in the remake business – they were behind Zack Snyder’s Dawn Of The Dead, and are working on a remake of Carpenter’s The Thing. Rest assured, readers, we’ll give that one a much harder time than They Live…

 

[Eggyman]

Heheh.

They Live was awesome... for a bad film. I watched it, knew it was bad, and loved it unconditionally despite it's flaws and the man I was used to seeing wearing a kilt.

I'll keep my eye on this.

 

[Brian Braddock]

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later; whatever any misgivings I may have about this being remade - I can't deny that the premise is still cooler than 95% of most of the stuff around at the moment.

If it's done right then it'll be interesting.

 

[The Dude]

I'm not anti-remake, I just think that certain films shouldn't be remade.

However, this has potential to be awesome if they do it right. I would love to see them try to top the fight from the original.

 

[Raiden]

I watched it back when I was about 13, and what I remembered the most was the end of the movie, when there was a topless blonde in bed with her lover. As a 13-year-old, you just remember all the boobs you've seen at that age.

 

[TheVileOne]

So freaking stupid. Some of the stupidest remake ideas possible.

 

[Cracker Jack]

How can they even think of remaking "The Thing." That's like remaking "Escape from New York" without Curt Rus..........Oh Never mind

 

[hitmanyr2k]

So freaking stupid. Some of the stupidest remake ideas possible.

Agreed.

 

[huskerwebhead]

This is a guilty pleasure movie of mine. The fight scene is the best...and it damn well better be included in the remake. Should be interesting to see if they can top it. And the Bubblegum line...required or I boycott. That is all.

 

[rashad]

 

[DOG LIPS]

This is a guilty pleasure movie of mine. The fight scene is the best...and it damn well better be included in the remake

What if it's in there but it's full of wire-fu?

 

[Gilpesh]

http://io9.com/5102045/6-rules-for-remaking-john-carpenters-they-live

The Rules For Remaking They Live

1: The role of Nada MUST be replaced by a wrestler (I'm open to The Rock Dwayne Johnson, but would prefer someone else).

2: Roddy Piper MUST appear in the movie somewhere, what he's not busy. If not as the lead, then as his dad or the creepy preacher.

3: Keith David should come back as Frank, because he hasn't aged a day.

4: The Magical Sunglasses may NOT be adorable hipster Ray-Bans.

5: The one liners have to be one upped in this. I don't know if someone can top, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum," but they should at least try, like Bond did with the martini, "do I give a damn" line. Is this possible? I'm not sure but they need to actually respect lines like this. Sit down with a lot of alcohol and drugs and come up with something that can at least live up to the original.

6: The five minute fight scene — this is hard. I say, should the producers or director stray from the amazing plot that is a subliminal alien take over and create new characters or make Nada a woman (ugh it hurts to even think that, but we have to assume the worst) this would be a great place to give a tip-of-the-hat to the original. Recreate the five minute fight shot for shot, no matter how far the remake strays. Sure it's been done but that's no reason for it to be neglected.

 

[CELTICPRED]

Wow, remakes of They Live and The Thing?

This is just sad. So sad.

 

[Lobo]

Heheh.

They Live was awesome... for a bad film. I watched it, knew it was bad, and loved it unconditionally despite it's flaws and the man I was used to seeing wearing a kilt.

I'll keep my eye on this.

And it had the greatest street fight in cinematic history

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsZpdUUdd3I

 

[Wesley Dodds]

The thing about this is i can see it so clearly too... Their gonna replace Piper with The Rock, maybe instead of Sunglasses they'll use 3D shades and instead of yuppies being the satirical target it'll probably be yet another lazy (and by the time it's released, probably redundant and irrelevant) swipe at the Bush administration...

 

[Warhammer]

I like this film too much to endorse this remake. I mean, my whole view on remakes is that it either must be a remake of an obscure film or a bad one, but this bad one is too good.

 

[Jay Lifestar]

Concept wise I think this can work well if taken seriously. Honestly, though I'm a fan of the original ... I wouldn't mind seeing it re-done.

But if studio heads even THINK about re-making Gymkata or American Ninja ... there'll be hell to pay.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I like the orginal movie because of the primise. It's a terrible movie with a horrible lead actor so I was hoping for a remake.

Good news

 

[catter]

Piper is not a horrible actor in fact hes better then most wrestlers that act
Hes much Better then Hogan,Cena,and HHH(in Blade 3)

Plus hes just a badass who fit that role perfectly

I know everyone *****es about remakes and im usually someone who wants to see them but to remake a movie like this is just stupid
Now Superman or that can be remade( and the original 2 superman are classics but not cult classics)
not a movie that is a cult classic
its like remaking Rocky Horror Picture show it really doesnt make sense

 

[Brian Braddock]

Concept wise I think this can work well if taken seriously. Honestly, though I'm a fan of the original ... I wouldn't mind seeing it re-done.

But if studio heads even THINK about re-making Gymkata or American Ninja ... there'll be hell to pay.

Agreed - Seriously, American Ninja is the ultimate remake taboo for me. If they do try to remake it, I'll be right there with ya.

And I hope they realise, as regards to the They Live remake, that whoever they get to play Pipers character is doomed to start before they've even began if theyre gonna have them say the bugglegum line.

They could get Sir Laurence-freaking-Olivier to deliver that line and the internet would still go into meltdown with fanboys slating how poor it was compared to Pipers.................

 

[byte19]

christ. maybe John should just die. why is he making a mockery of his own damn films? saw the original in theaters, won't be seeing this.

oh, and a certain someone here.... Spidey 4 is actually a remake of 3......

 

[catter]

Alright I watched the movie on IO on demand again and I Thought this movie would make an Awesome Video Game
They Can get Piper to do the voice
Also Instead of a Remake Why not just make a Sequal
I mean the movie Ends with the World discovering that Half the Population are Aliens They can Also say Pipers Character Survived and he can lead a group of people to fight them

 

[TheVileOne]

Have you seen Roddy Piper lately?

 

[Superark]

They Live is such a great film. I'm intrigued by this, it could be a cool remake. But seriously do we need this or any other remake for that matter? It feels like Hollywood has gotten so lazy.

Plus I'm sure they could ever top the original They Live. John Carpenter has a unique style that fit perfectly for this kind of film.

And its going to be really hard to fill Roddy Piper's shoes. He made that movie. I can't think of any actor who could fill that role. Roddy was a legit tough guy with a great sense of humor.

Films like this are always the worse ones to remake too b/c of their cult status. You just know its going to piss off fans of the original