Exclusive: Update on Romancing the Stone Remake
And is an Overboard Remake In Our Future? /
Dustin Rowles
Trade News | December 7, 2009 | Comments (31)
As we wind down the Aughts and begin to look ahead to the next decade, it seems that the ’80s will likely feature heavily. We announced last year that Fox was putting together a Romancing the Stone remake (to which Prisco retorted, “Didn’t we already make a Romancing the Stone remake called Fool’s Gold?”). Dan McDermott (Eagle Eye) had been given the task of coming up with a script for the remake, which was originally directed by Robert Zemickis, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
Now, it looks like Robert Luketic may direct the remake. Luketic is probably best known for his work as the worst director in Hollywood. He directed The Ugly Truth and Monster-in-Law, two very bad movies that apparently allowed him to fall on his ass backwards up the Hollywood ladder. Luketic has several other films in development, including Barbarella, which will probably never happen because, let’s be honest, nobody wants it to, especially with Luketic on board (replacing the departing Robert Rodriguez). A Romancing the Stone remake, however, looks more likely because 1) there’s already a finished script (though, it’s currently out for rewrites), and 2) one of the producers who put the project together is Emma Watts, who was named the President of Production for Twentieth Century Fox last month. John Davis (Norbit, Daddy Day Camp) is also overseeing development.
Romancing the Stone is an action-adventure movie about a romance writer who sets off to Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure. No talent has yet been attached to the remake (Luketic’s involvement doesn’t change the veracity of that statement).
Meanwhile, in somewhat related news, Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment are also developing a remake of Overboard, the 1987 Goldie Hawn slash Kurt Russel romantic comedy about a spoiled princess type who fails to pay a widowed father of three for work done on her yacht. The next day, the widower pulls her out of the ocean, and she has amnesia, so he poses as her husband in order to trick her into paying him.
I haven’t seen the film — not a lot of folks did, as it only amassed $25 million at the box office, which makes it perfect for a remake, I guess.
The remake’s script comes from Bill Collage and Adam Cooper (Accepted), who are also busy adapting Moby Dick for Timur Bekmambetov. Devon Franklin is one of three producers overseeing production of Overboard, which I mention only because he was also an executive on Robert Luketic’s The Ugly Truth, and because — as of the moment — there’s an offer out to Katherine Heigl to star in the Overboard remake (see how I brought this post full circle?). My guess, however, is that if Heigl — who already has a handful of projects in development — doesn’t bite on it, then perhaps the Overboard project will quickly sink, at least until another ditsy spoiled blonde rises the Hollywood ranks, at which time the script will be dusted off, polished, and put back into production.
(H/T The Hollywood Cog)
Comments
Posted by: Forbiddendonut at December 7, 2009 11:41 AM
Overboard was a pretty funny movie. I liked it when I was a kid. I haven't seen it in a long, long time.
I just saw Romancing The Stone on cable a few weeks back. It still holds up. A re-make, however, as usual, is a bad idea and unnecessary.