First Watchmen is deemed a flop even before it opens and now THIS? Sort of a bummer of a day 'round here at Rancho Go-into-the-story-o...

My first thought was why would anyone want to make a remake of "Arthur" when the first one was so lame, but then I got to "The Neverending Story" and I thought why would you need to make a remake of that, since the first one got it right.

I wouldn't mind seeing a "Total Recall" that stayed true to the original story, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I hope at least they go back to the original title. Dick had some great titles, but Hollywood is always dumbing them down to stupid titles like "Bladerunner".

Jeff, this is all part of living with the reality that is the movie business. As a screenwriter, you have to anticipate every time you open the trades, there will be some seemingly stupid / formulaic / remake project being announced. It's just a fact of Hwood life.

OTOH, those type of projects help to create a rather 'stale' creative environment so that when a really great script comes along with a fresh voice, distinctive characters, and a strong high concept, the buyers will leap to snare it.

All I know is...if they're already doing a remake of Total Recall, it just makes me feel old.