The 80s are hot today! First we had the news that Shane Black will write and direct the reboot of PREDATOR; and now WARGAMES is relevant again with the long-gestating reboot finally moving forward with a writer and director. MGM is overseeing the remake, which isn’t a surprise considering the studio remade ROBOCOP, CARRIE, and RED DAWN. They have hired Dean Israelite to direct and Arash Amel to write the WARGAMES remake.
The original movie starred Matthew Broderick as a kid who hacked into a NORAD supercomputer designed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. He begins to play nuclear war simulation games with the system which leads to a national nuclear missile scare, and brings the world to the brink of World War III. Ridiculous sure, but it was the 80s when people believed computers and nerds with computers could do anything from anywhere with the touch of a button.
Director Dean Israelite’s PROJECT ALMANAC will be released on January30, 2015. I’ve been curious about the Michael Bay produced found footage film which follows a group of teens who build a time machine. That will be the director’s first feature release. As for Arash Amel, he wrote the majorly panned GRACE OF MONACO. We don’t know any more details regarding this reboot, but I’m certain they will update it for today’s audiences. The technology gap can’t be taken lightly with this one. The Wrap reports that Ansel Elgort (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS) and Tye Sheridan (THE TREE OF LIFE) are high on the shortlist for the lead.
Are you game for WARGAMES again?