Paul Verhoeven is well known for making a number of truly classic movies that manage to stay in filmgoers consciousness for decades, continually gain new generations of fans, and create new debates, while gaining cult statuses that spawn multiple editions of home releases, and leave studios constantly plotting remakes; such as Robocop, which was recently reported to have had its MGM funded remake cancelled due to the studio’s financial woes, and Total Recall, which has just been confirmed to be getting its own reboot.
The original film, which was released back in 1990, was based on a story by Phillip K Dick; which followed Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) as construction worked Douglas Quaid, who goes to a company called Rekall to have a virtual Mars vacation inserted into his memory, before he began to remember that he was actually a secret agent who had already been to Mars and has his memory wiped; and was so successful because of its purposeful ambiguity, that left everyone wondering whether or not Quaid’s secret agent experience was real, or if he was simply trapped in the chair at Rekall and being accidentally lobotomized (the conspiracy theories, aliens, action, and three boobed hookers also helped).
Total Recall was also the source material for two minor TV shows, and even had a sequel planned (which eventually morphed into the sci-fi flick Minority Report), but is now being rewritten by the writer/director of Equilibrium, Kurt Wimmer; who is yet to confirm if he’s sticking to the old plot like glue, or taking the story in a different direction; and will be directed by Len Wiseman (the man who wrote, directed, and produced, the Underworld franchise, and either wrote, produced, or directed, everyone of the Die-Hard films).
As of yet, there’s no word on which young star will be stepping into the shoes left by Mr Schwarzenegger, who will be taking the place of Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) as Quaid’s wife, or Michael Ironside’s (Terminator Salvation) role as the guy who’s hunting down Quaid’s secret agent person Houser, let alone an official release date, although it is currently scheduled to be opening sometime next year.
