The era of 1980s reboots is not over yet and with good reason. Considering the recent slew of movies that have seen studios tapping into the eternal river of nostalgia for a quick source of profit, including the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife, in development Flight of the Navigator, and numerous children’s TV revivals such as Masters of The Universe and Fraggle Rock to name a few, it is not surprise that the revisiting of old properties is set to run for a while yet. One of the latest projects to join these ranks is the 1989 Patrick Swayze movie Road House, the action film in which the late Dirty Dancing and Donnie Darko star appeared as a rough and ready bouncer working in a Missouri bar, and is now set for a remake with Donnie Darko lead, Jake Gyllenhaal taking over Swayze’s roll.
Deadline have reported that Gyllenhaal, who two years ago made a big mark on the MCU playing Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, is in talks with MGM to lead the movie as the bouncer of the Double Deuce bar and The Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman is on board to helm the remake. According to sources, the movie is a high priority for MGM, but even if all goes well, the production is likely to not pick up until later next year considering Gyllenhaal is currently about to start filming on The Interpreter with Guy Ritchie and Doug Liman is tied up directing Everest. With a script being currently written and refined, it does seem however that the movie will certainly be coming in the next couple of years if the studio can get all their pieces together on the board.
For now, there are no other details about whether the Road House reboot will be direct remake of the original, which was directed by Rowdy Herrington and along with Swayze starred Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara and Kelly Lynch, or will simply take the title and premise to build a whole new narrative with new characters. While the original movie was not a runaway success when it first came out, just like many of the best remembered movies of the decade, the $200 million in home video sales of the cult hit more than made up for the middling $30 million taken at the worldwide box office. The two figures combined made a pretty decent return overall from the film’s $15 million budget.
Just to add to the cult status of the original movie, Road House was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor, but managed to find its way into the Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the 100 Most Enjoyable Bad Movies Ever Made, which is not surprising considering it managed to pull in a solid 7/10 rating on IMDb, even if it only made it to 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. A belated sequel was put out in 2006 on a straight to DVD release, which told the story of the son of Swayze’s character, but had little other connection to its predecessor. Talk of a remake first surfaced in 2015, when it was revealed that Ronda Rousey would star in a new take on the property, to be written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, but that plan fell through and was cancelled in 2016. However it looks like MGM have a solid hold on it this time around. This news originates at Deadline.
Source: movieweb.com