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The upcoming remake of Total Recall, actor Bryan Cranston will take over as the antagonist Cohaagen, the character originally portrayed by Ronny Cox in director Paul Verhoeven's 1990 adaptation and a name that fans of the original probably still reminisce being yelled in Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent. Cranston has been appearing in more and more movie roles since debuting as Walter White on AMC's critically acclaimed drama Breaking Bad, and, during an interview with Reelz, explained that landing the role was as simple as a phone call.
"I was working on Breaking Bad and I got a call that the director Len Wiseman wanted to talk to me to be about possibly playing Cohaagen in the remake of Total Recall," Cranston told Reelz's Patrick Stinson. "And I said, 'Ok.'"
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Though director Len Wiseman's Total Recall differs significantly from director Paul Verhoeven's 1990 movie in many ways — no trip to Mars and oxygen-producing alien artifact being the most dramatic departures — Wiseman has included several nods to Verhoeven's movie in his remake. The first teaser trailer showed us that Colin Farrell's Quaid will use a memory-implantation machine that is virtually identical to the one that Arnold Schwarzenegger used, and subsequent trailers have shown how certain scenes in the new movie will mirror those in the original (and, yes, the 3-breasted mutant prostitute will make be back). Now, a new preview clip from the remake has been released that not only offers an updated take on another classic scene from the original, but a surprise cameo homage.
watch the new preview clip >> Posted 07.30.12 by BrentJS -
The first part of Sony's Friday panel at the San Diego Comic-Con was devoted to the upcoming remake of Total Recall. Director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) and cast members Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston were all on hand for the panel. The studio brought an extended trailer for the movie, which, sadly, only offered longer versions of scenes already revealed in the movie's promotional trailers and TV spots. What was new, however, looked terrific and the Blade Runner-esque world that Wiseman has created should more than convince doubters that this could be more than your average remake. As for why Wiseman was drawn to remake Total Recall, the director explained that it was the mystery of the plot, which sees factory worker Doug Quaid (Farrell) who heads to memory-implanting company Rekall and soon learns that he may or may not be a spy.
What attracted me the most was the mystery. I've been very interested in doing a mystery, and this was a mystery that was encased in a lot of action, the world building, all that I really geek out on — I love it, I love to create it, build it — but the core of what really drew me into it was the mystery and the fact that the mystery is the character itself I thought was fantastic. Anything that begs the question "who am I?" I'm just really drawn to. So that was the main thing that got me passionate about the film.
more of our panel coverage >> Posted 07.14.12 by Ryan -
Whether or not you're happy about the upcoming remake of Total Recall or are unaware or never saw director Paul Verhoeven's 1990 adaptation, Columbia Pictures plans to sell audiences on the movie by releasing footage of the high-adrenaline action that director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) has in store.
Building off of the action-packed trailer released in April, the second feature-length trailer starts off similarly, with factory worker Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) admitting to his wife (Kate Beckinsale) that he isn't happy with his life. He eventually ends up at a memory-implanting company called Rekall, where things go quickly awry. Quaid becomes a hunted man and discovers that he may be a spy. Or is he? The trailer doesn't slow down long enough to answer as it provides more of the fight between Quaid and his "wife," as well as more chase scenes, more fight scenes, and more overall explosion-ness than the previous trailer.
watch the new trailer >> Posted 06.28.12 by Ryan -
Swarthy Irish hearthrob Colin Farrell's first stab (bad vampire pun intended) at remaking a popular genre movie was a bust, with his Fright Night remake just barely covering its budget and even failing to beat the 1985 original at the domestic box office. But, Farrell will have another shot at remaking a classic this summer as he fills in for Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid in director Len Wiseman's (Live Free or Die Hard) Total Recall remake.
Though there's no way for Farrell to compete with the "Austrian Oak" in the body department, all signs point to Wiseman's adaptation of the late great Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" making us forget we ever saw Paul Verhoeven's 1990 adaptation a half-dozen times (except maybe for the mutant prostitute with three breasts; that's a character that's hard to forget). But, don't take our word for it, check out the first TV spot and the "Official International Trailer" for the new Total Recall and judge for yourself.
watch the new tv spot >> Posted 05.24.12 by BrentJS -
As promised, the first full-length trailer for director Len Wiseman's (Live Free or Die Hard) Total Recall remake dropped last night and it is chock-full of action. Many of the scenes are reminiscent of director Paul Verhoeven's 1990 movie — Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) fighting his "wife" (Kate Beckinsale), Quaid surprising himself by taking out a group of attackers with extreme prejudice — but the world created for Wiseman's movie is far more realized than in Verhoeven's and we get to see something we didn't in the original: Quaid's "wife" fighting his "fantasy woman" (Jessica Biel).
watch the full-length trailer >> Posted 04.02.12 by BrentJS -
Last month, Colin Farrell was photographed inside a flying car on the set of director Len Wiseman's (Live Free or Die Hard) remake of Total Recall. New set photos have arrived online which again show Farrell inside the flying vehicle, though both the car and Farrell aren't looking so good.
Based on the late author Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", Total Recall sees Farrell as factory worker Doug Quaid, who, after attempting to take a "vacation" via a memory-implanting company called Rekall, discovers he may be a spy and quickly becomes a hunted man. Farrell takes over the role originally played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in director Paul Verhoeven's 1990 adaptation, though the remake is said to be following the original short story more closely than the Verhoeven version.
Farrell's Quaid will still square off against Vilos Cohaagen, (a Mars Administrator played by Ronny Cox in Verhoeven's version)the leader of the nation state Euromerica, played in the remake by Bryan Cranston (AMC's Breaking Bad). In an interview with Collider, Cranston revealed his approach to the character.
No pounding on the desk for Cranston >> Posted 09.19.11 by Ryan -
According to Variety, Jessica Biel has been offered a role in director Len Wiseman's remake of the classic 1990 sci-fi action movie Total Recall that has Irish bad boy Colin Farrell taking over for Austrian Übermensch Arnold Schwarzenegger as Doug Quaid/Hauser, a seemingly average man who decides to take a virtual vacation and ends up convinced that he is a secret agent on the hunt for an alien artifact on Mars. The role that Biel was offered was not specified, but the two most likely roles are that of Doug's wife, Lori (Sharon Stone in the original), or Melina (Rachel Ticotin), a Martian prostitute and resistance fighter who Quaid falls in love with (and may have loved before as Hauser). Other actresses who have tested for the female leads in the movie include Eva Mendes, Kate Bosworth, and Paula Patton.
more about the Total Recall Remake >> Posted 04.10.11 by BrentJS -
Bruce Willis has made no secret about wanting to a make Die Hard 5, revealing last February that a fifth installment could begin production in 2011. The action star also discussed that he hoped the story for Die Hard 5 would "go worldwide." Months later, 20th Century Fox was negotiating with screenwriter Skip Woods (The A-Team, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) to draft the screenplay.
As for a director, Willis has expressed interest in re-teaming with Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman, but, according to recent reports, Fox has hired a different director instead.
who will direct? >> Posted 02.15.11 by Ryan -
Irish actor Colin Farrell is no stranger to appearing in TV show adaptations (S.W.A.T., Miami Vice), but his latest work has been in remakes. In May , Farrell was cast in director Craig Gillespie's Fright Night remake, and, in October, Farrell was rumored to be the frontrunner for director Len Wiseman's Total Recall remake.
In Fright Night, Farrell goes vampire in the role Chris Sarandon played in the 1985 original. In an interview with Collider, Farrell couldn't reveal much about Fright Night, but did reveal that it was the script (written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Marti Noxon) that drew him to the remake.
Will Farrell head to Mars? >> Posted 01.08.11 by Ryan