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Anna Faris Set to Remake Private Benjamin

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (27)

anna_dafaris.jpg

The Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Biz blog is reporting, exclusively, that Anna Faris is set to remake the 1980 Goldie Hawn comedy, Private Benjamin. Hmph. We actually reported that, in passing, back in December. Maybe “mention” would be a better word, as it was a footnote in a lengthy post otherwise about movie blogger semantics. So, I don’t begrudge THR the exclusive (bastards).

But the word is this: New Line is setting up the remake, which is about a sheltered high-society woman who decides to join the army on a whim. (It’s not to be confused with Overboard, a remake of which we also broke back in December, which was about a sheltered high-society woman who got amnesia (Hawn was clearly the go-to dim high-society woman back in the 80s).

Anna Faris is actually very well cast for the role, and I don’t think too many people are going to get worked up over tarnishing a sacred memory with this remake. The original, which was Nancy Meyers’ screenwriting debut, wasn’t all that memorable unless you watched a lot of TBS in the late 80s, where it was often reran after Braves games, although it did garner Meyers an inexplicable Oscar nomination. Hawn was charmingly daffy, and the fish-out-of-water thing worked intermittently, but no: It wasn’t a particularly good movie (maybe it belongs on the Great 80s movies that haven’t held up well list)

Amy Talkington, who is also penning the Valley Girl remake, is in talks to pen the Benjamin script. The new take will be set in the modern times with a modern war as the backdrop, and is expected to focus on the female empowerment aspects of the story (now’s probably not a good time to bring up Faris’ role in Observe and Report).

(Source: THR and Pajiba)









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Comments

I actually love this movie. Really love it. But I admit to having bad taste in movies. Goldie Hawn was a fairly consistent fixture in my childhood cultural experiences.

Posted by: Patty O'Green at March 31, 2010 9:35 AM

If there isn't a role of Nadine's mother in this movie, I am going to set something on fire.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at March 31, 2010 9:39 AM

It's one of those movies that you loved then, but watching it now, it doesn't work. And everyone in the movie was smoking all the time. Yuck.

Posted by: grumpiestoldman at March 31, 2010 9:40 AM

Wouldn't it have had to be great in the 80s to be on that list, Dustin? As a child whose sole baby sitters were my grandmother and grandfather through the early 90s, I watched a lot of TBS. There's a good chance that if the film was on almost-daily rotation, it was crap back then, too.

That said, this is perfect for Anna Faris. If she won't go back to indie dramas (please? You were wonderful in May and Brokeback Mountain), at least she can keep playing characters well within her wheelhouse and make us laugh.

Posted by: Robert at March 31, 2010 9:51 AM

I hate to know this, or say this. But, didn't Jessica Simpson already do this?

Posted by: Nimue at March 31, 2010 9:53 AM

All I know is she needs to scenes duplicated shot-for-shot for this to work.

1. "Please dear, I need to know. What were his last words?"
" I'm cumming."


2. When she answers the phone "...Private Beng-a-meen"

Cracks my shit up just thinking about those 2 scenes.

Posted by: PissBoy at March 31, 2010 10:03 AM

I don't remember J.Simp doing an army movie.

When I was younger, I would always get Private Benjamin confused with Major Payne, that movie where Damon Wayans is this crazy Army dude trying to discipline a bunch of kids in military school or something. Hilary from "Fresh Prince" was in it, too.

That explains why I was so confused when I saw Anna Faris in the header pic. I was, like, "Are they sure they don't want Beyonce?"

And then, I was like, "Why in the world would they want to remake such a piece of crap??"

Posted by: Jelinas at March 31, 2010 10:06 AM

No Nimue. Officially, Simpson was in a movie called Major Movie Star.

It's the story of a fluffy, bubbly blonde "movie starlett" who finds herself broke, divorced, and striving for direction in life. She gets in a car accident and in her delerium, enllists in the army. As opp0osed to the upcoming Simpson biographical documentary where she's become fluffy, bubbly blonde "celebrity" who has found herself broke, divorced, and no longer relevant to society who desperately makes shitty movies and mindless TV shows to try to stay in the public's mind.

Private Benj was about a socialite whose husband dies unexpectedly on their wedding night while he's cumming. She's distraught and searching for direction/structure to her life so she joins the army. Initially she hates it but then ends up becoming a total badass.

PB was also hilarious.
Simpson's movie was so tragically terrible it was renamed and released straight to DVD after test audiences preferred being sodomized with a cheese grater to sitting through her movie.

Posted by: PissBoy at March 31, 2010 10:11 AM

Valley Girl remake?

VALLEY GIRL REMAKE?!

Blasphemy!

If they attack the car, save the radio.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at March 31, 2010 10:12 AM

"Private Benjamin" provided one of my favorite lines. "This isn't the Army I joined. I joined the Army with the condos and the curtains!"

Also, I thought Tarantino taught us all that the word is spelled "basterds".

Posted by: UncleJR at March 31, 2010 10:17 AM

As I was sitting around the fire pit last night, arguing with friends about how we figured 90% of society would take the "flight" aspect in a "fight or flight" situation, I decided what movie needs to be remade.

"God gave men brains larger than dogs so they wouldn't hump women's legs at cocktail parties."

That's right...Hackers. Look back at that movie. Don't they think the new laptop is awesome because it has a 56k modem? Imagine what they could do with that now? Of course...someone would probably arm them with guns, and a computer, and they'd likely use the guns more. Still.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at March 31, 2010 10:43 AM

Deist...sadly their nips get hard because it's "...got a 28.8 bps modem!" "You in the butter zone now baby...."

::facepalm::

Posted by: PissBoy at March 31, 2010 11:05 AM

Please explain to me the appeal of Anna Faris.

Look, when I think of Catherine Keener, I think about how she laughs in every movie she's ever been in and how it's this amazing deep laugh. And when I think of Anna Faris, I also think of her laugh, but in that case, I want to punch something in the neck.

Posted by: SavageCats at March 31, 2010 11:12 AM

Posted by: DeistBrawler at March 31, 2010 11:31 AM

Well said, DeistBrawler, well said!

Posted by: mr friendly at March 31, 2010 12:00 PM

I thought New Line was no more. Didn't WB fold them into the larger Warner Films division?

The original was ok, Anna Faris definitely has the Goldie Hawn vibe so the the casting is spot on.

Posted by: TylerDFC at March 31, 2010 12:02 PM

I enjoy Anna Faris movies, and I love Goldie Hawn movies. I do not, however, think that Faris has the chops to take on a Hawn role. This will be fail fail fail.

Posted by: Sloan at March 31, 2010 12:14 PM

Please explain to me the appeal of Anna Faris.

She's oddly some kind of darling around here.

But anyway, fuck all that inconsequential garbage:

Who the fuck would replace Eileen Brennan?
No, I want you to tell me before you think is such a good, harmless idea. Tell me.

That's right, cause you can't. Faris can fuck back off to the Scary Movies.

Valley Girls don't really exist anymore, do they? The only Valley girls I know of work for Vivid. Is it a period piece or some shit? Or will it just be a Hills movie, but with "Valley" slapped on it like that bullshit Greek gods movie that's coming out so it'll fool some old folks into upping the gross a little?

In the words of Chuck D: Fuck Hollywood, man.

Posted by: Jay at March 31, 2010 12:20 PM

To say nofuckingthing of replacing Armand Assante.

Armand Assante

Bullshit

Posted by: Jay at March 31, 2010 12:38 PM

What, do you want to put us all in internment camps, grumpiestoldman? Should we be locked away from the rest of society, shunned like freakish Morlocks and cast away into the depths?! Or perhaps you'll eventually give us our own land, a remote island, somewhere you just won't have to look at us? Oh please, voice of society, judge us and find us wanting, because your rejection is what I crave! If you think we're wrong, well then I just don't want to be right!!!!

Posted by: Smokin at March 31, 2010 12:42 PM

You tryin to say you think Armand Assante is replaceable? Cause that's what it's soundin like to me.

Posted by: Jay at March 31, 2010 12:49 PM

Bah. Once Private Benjamin left basic training, the movie dragged. DRAGGED, I say!

Posted by: Craig at April 1, 2010 12:35 AM

I was all for this before Jay brought up that point about Eileen Brennan. Anna Faris as Benjamin... I could see that. But he's right, we are down one Captain Lewis and that's just not gonna work.

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