The rights to remake Fritz Lang’s sci-fi classic “Metropolis” have been acquired by Thomas Schuehly (”Alexander”), who is partnering with Mario Kassar (The “Terminator” films) to produce the film. The two are currently in negotiations with several undisclosed directors, so no news as to how the 1927 silent classic will be adapted to the big, color, talking screen. “Metropolis,” the story of a dystopic future where the city planners live in luxury above the city while poor workers live in subterranean squalor, was one of the most expensive films of its time and is considered one of the most important films ever made.
Obviously this is one of those divisive productions that every true-believing science fiction fan is going condemn at the outset, but why not remake “Metropolis?” It has interesting characters, lots of room for cool effects, and a plot that Bill O’Reilly will decry as communist propaganda. Hollywood has obviously run out of ideas, so let’s hitch a ride down the derivative film highway that is the current pop culture landscape and see what happens.
