Ray Winstone in talks to join Point Break remake; filming already underway

My Mom always said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. With that in mind, here's an update on Alcon's POINT BREAK remake.

Variety has learned Ray Winstone is in negotiations to star as Johnny Utah's FBI partner in POINT BREAK, which was played by Gary Busey in the original. Luke Bracey will appear as Utah, and Gerard Butler will play Bodhi in Ericson Core's (INVINCIBLE) remake.

Collider recently spoke with Alcon Entertainment producers Broderick Johnson and Andrew A. Koscove, and they talked a little about the upcoming remake. Johnson says some filming has already been done for POINT BREAK, and they aren't using stunt actors for their film.

We’ve shot some extraordinary footage with our surfers.  And we were in the Italian Alps with the greatest extreme snow boarders in the world, shooting footage.  We’ve actually been in photography on the film, beginning our stunt work with our real athletes.  This is a movie with a lot of stunts and no stunt people in it because the stunts are way too dangerous for people who are stunt people.  We have real athletes who do this, like Jeb Corliss, who’s the greatest wing-suiter in the world.  His team will be doing work for us, over the summer, in Switzerland with motocross.  So in any event, principal photography starts in June.  But the greatest footage we’ve ever gotten at Alcon is the second unit footage that we have gotten with these athletes and what they’ve done.

Broderick Johnson also says the remake will be quite different from the 1991 film, and won't just be following the script from the original.

The script only shares in common with the original the characters and the nature of the character dynamic between Utah and Bodhi and their relationship.  Everything else about the movie is different.  The narrative of the movie is different.  While we do have surfing in the film, it is only a subset of the extreme sports that we deal with, including free-climbing, motocross, wing-suiting and so forth.  The movie is being shot in 10 countries across the globe.  Kathryn Bigelow’s original movie was really ahead of its time for 1991, when it came out.  That was really at the infancy of what extreme sports would become with the X-Games.  This movie is on a much broader scale around the world, and the narrative of the movie is completely different.  What we found fascinating about the original film, and is preserved in this, is the character work and the relationship between Bodhi and Utah, who are these two gentleman on opposite of the law, but yet, at the same time, share a common bond.  That’s the one element that the two movies share.

Johnson continues by explaining why they decided to do a POINT BREAK remake.

We’ve thought about this a lot because the world of remaking movies, in truth, is a pretty risky proposition.  A lot of them don’t work, as we have been regularly reminded.  So, the question then becomes, “What’s the raison d’être for remaking a movie that wasn’t a giant hit, but is an iconic film that many people have seen?”  I would argue that the difference is that the world in which a Point Break can exist today, as compared to almost 25 years ago, is profoundly different.  Then, it was a few guys surfing in the Santa Monica bay and robbing a couple of banks, as compared to what Jeb Corliss does or what these big wave surfers do today.  And the camera technology to be able to capture that, and not with green screen, of which we have virtually none in the movie, but in camera is not technology that existed 25 years ago.  So, we felt that we truly could remake the movie in a completely unique and different way than the original film, and that’s why we’ve decided to do it.  But the character work in the original film, which ultimately sustains any movie, no matter how glorious the bells and whistles are, and the bromance is fascinating.  That is a central part of our story, even though everything else about it is different.

Will we be seeing any former Presidents masks in the remake?

Well, I think you’ve also got to throw in Merkel and maybe Putin, and a couple new people in there.  Maybe we’ll put Nixon in there as a little throwback.

Andrew K. Kosove adds they won't be filming the remake in 3D, however they will be converting it.

We won’t shoot it in 3D.  We’ll convert it.  One of the benefits of the smaller cameras is that you can really put the audience in with the action.  When you start shooting in 3D, the camera rigs are very large.

Do you feel any better (or worse) about the remake after reading these comments from the producers? Sound off below in the strikeback!