Ah, WEIRD SCIENCE, yet another staple of my childhood and harbinger of sexual awakenings to teenage boys of the ’80’s. Even if you didn’t grow up in that era, it’s likely you’ve seen the John Hughes sci-fi teen comedy that sees two nerdy guys (Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith) create their own “perfect woman” who turns out to be some kind of magical superhottie. It put the limelight on said hottie, Kelly LeBrock, who embedded the image of a chick in blue panties and torn t-shirt standing in a doorway deep into the subconscious brain of lustful males everywhere. It also featured two co-stars who would later go on to have tremendous careers; Robert Downey, Jr. and Bill Paxton, in one of his most hilarious villain roles to date. In the mid-90’s the USA Network ran 5 seasons of a WEIRD SCIENCE TV show, starring another superhottie, Vanessa Angel (KINGPIN).
And now, it’s being remade, courtesy of Joel Silver and screenwriter Michael Bacall (PROJECT X, 21 JUMP STREET), this time as an “edgier R-rated comedy in line with 21 JUMP STREET and THE HANGOVER.” Now, although the original will always remain a classic in my mind, I actually don’t have a problem with this. For one, I’m a sucker for the premise. Secondly, there is a bevy of megahotties that could fill the role of Lisa (Kelly Brook, Kelly Brook, or Kelly Brook would be my choice) and a lot of potential to take the story into updated territory, that could reallly benefit from an R-rating. One of my main complaints of the original was that the two nerds were just…too nerdy. I just didn’t buy that they’d never try to bang their “creation.” You don’t make a 1985 version of Kelly LeBrock and NOT try to throw down.