Logan’s Run Gets A Director
Posted by John Campeaon 21. 08. 2007in News Chat
Remember ages ago Bryan Singer was all set to develop and direct a Logan’s Run remake? A lot of people were pretty excited about the idea of it and everything seemed to be flowing along smoothly. Then, somewhere along the lines Singer dropped the project. We really haven’t heard much about the film since. But it looks like Logan’s Run is back up and running.
Yahoo News gives us this:
Commercials veteran Joseph Kosinski will make his directorial debut on the sci-fi thriller, which has been in the works at the studio since the mid-’90s. “Logan’s Run” is best remembered as the 1976 film starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Farrah Fawcett, though it was based on a 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. The premise sees a future society that demands the death of everyone upon reaching a certain age. Anyone who veers from that destiny is dubbed a “runner” and is hunted by operatives known as Sandmen. Logan is a Sandman who is forced to go on the run.
Since this is Kosinski’s first film, I don’t really have any opinion of him either way. I will say this… I did a quick search and I haven’t been able to find anything on him at all. It concerns me that they’d bring on a director who hasn’t (as far as I can tell) worked on any other movie in any capacity before. Directing a commercial is a TOTALLY different thing than directing a narrative 2 hour story. I’ve directed a national commercial once…. doesn’t mean I’m ready to jump behind the camera and direct a feature.
At least this is a much smaller project than say…. Halo.
Still, Logan’s Run is a terrific story that I think will do well with a modern telling. It’s one of those older films that is a prime candidate to be remade.
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We got Ridley (and Tony) Scott, David Fincher and Machel Bay from commercials…
And a stupid typo… need more caffine.
Hey Paul,
Actually, if you look into it, Bay and Scott did other work between his commercials and features (see IMDB) and David Fincher also worked several behind the camera positions on features before directing.
This guy…. nope.
Get Singer back, he is the only chance (almost) of this film being any good
There were a lot of interesting things in the novels that were different in the original movie. Like, the age was 21 in the books. In the movie you lived until 30. Making a movie about a culture of teens where 21 was an old man would be a more interesting, IMO. It makes the idea of nobody questioning the system a lot more plausible.
Also, the books didn’t take place in a domed city. The whole world was run that way. One of the things that didn’t get adapted was the Devil Sticks or D-Sticks. I always thought Lucas kind of ripped that idea off for the speeder bikes in Jedi from the D-Sticks, which were supposed to essentially be hover-bikes that people used to play chicken.
There’s some good stuff in the books that would make an interesting adaptation if done properly. It will be interesting to see how it comes off. Hopefully it won’t be as painful to sit through as McTiernan’s take on Rollerball was.
Whether it is a remake of the 70′s film or a new interpetation of the novel, either way it would make an interesting film- so long as the powers that be don’t make the same errs as Tim Burton’s ‘Planet Of The Apes’, which I felt had great FX and pace but almost nothing in regards to the context of what made Planet Of The Apes…Planet Of The Apes, if you get my meaning.
That’s my only concern for the remake of ‘Logan’s Run’. The only one.
As far as naming the director goes, while it is true the budget for this isn’t ‘Halo’ big (and, hey, if ‘Run’ turns out nice…maybe Kosinski should be on ‘Halo’ heh heh…he would be one step abve Blomkamp, that’s for sure…and, guess what? Joseph Kosinski DOES have a HALO connection…see below) but let’s take a look at his pitch. According to The Hollywood Reporter…
“Kosinski — who has directed ads for Apple, Nike, and Nintendo — impressed the folks at Warners with a highly visual presentation that previewed the look of the movie”
So, in other words, he *pitched* the studio and Joel Silver with his ideas and concepts. This is the main difference between Kosinski and Blomkamp. Blomkamp pitched nobody.
BTW, besides Singer, the other considered directors were V For Vendetta’s James McTeigue and Robert Schwenke (Flightplan)…so Kosinski’s pitch must have been damn good. I say give him a shot.
BUT
take a good look at the screenwrter peeps! REJOICE!
Tim Sexton, who was Oscar nominated for his adap of “Children Of Men” is the scribe. Think about those apples.
Now, about Kosinski’s Halo connection…which oddly enough wasn’t brung up yet by the int’l friends. Does Halo 3: Starry Night ring any bells?
http://www.josephkosinski.com
I’ve seen a few of Kosinski’s commercials and I must say I’m rather impressed by them. True, I would have liked a big name behind the project but I think Kosinski will do the movie justice.
Let us just rejoice in the fact that it’s not Anderson behind the camera.
Like Jackson said, the age was 21 for their ‘last day’. It’s pretty sure that the studio will want this to get all those teeny boppers up on the big screen and to get the teenage audience. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be Sanctuary: The Musical.
Wasn’t Singer involved in the new Battlestar Galactica, then dropped out? Well we all that turned out pretty damn sweet.