‘Tales From The Gangster Squad’ Writer Will Beall May Rewrite ‘Logan’s Run’ For Nicolas Winding Refn
Oliver Lyttelton
Considering the spate of remakes and reboots, it takes a real feat to rouse our interest in one. Even with a promising creative team involved, a new version can sometimes just end up feeling redundant with many projects — some simply don’t need to be remade. But at the same time, we’re not against the idea in principle — something like “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Let Me In” or “The Thing” prove that, with a distinct enough spin, or with source material that left room for improvement, it’s not necessarily an evil.
And there’s one remake in the works that we’re particularly excited for — the new version of William F. Nolan‘s sci-fi novel “Logan’s Run,” previously made into a hit film in 1976, starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter. The new version has been in development over at Warner Bros for close to a decade, shepherded by Joel Silver, with Bryan Singer coming close to making a version at one stage, and with Joseph Kosinski and Carl Erik Rinsch both spending brief periods of time in the director’s chair after that. But last year came the surprise announcement that “Bronson” helmer Nicolas Winding Refn would reteam with Ryan Gosling, the star of his upcoming noir thriller “Drive,” on the film, and the project rocketed up our most anticipated list. Now, news is that one of the hottest screenwriters in town has jumped aboard the project as well.
Alex Garland, writer of “Sunshine” and “Never Let Me Go,” had penned the most recent draft, which gave the film a new lease of life, but he’s no longer on board (indeed, he admitted last year that the project was never really more than a paycheck gig). But Heat Vision report that Will Beall, who’s increasingly in demand after his “Tales From The Gangster Squad” script for the studio, is now in talks to write a new draft for Refn.
Beall’s a former Los Angeles homicide detective (making him one of the few writers who could kick your ass), who turned to screenwriting after Scott Rudin optioned his first novel, “L.A. Rex,” which Beall wrote the adaptation for himself. That script hasn’t yet been made, but it launched Beall in a big way — he was a writer and producer on the Nathan Fillion procedural “Castle” for some time, while the period crime thriller “Tales From The Gangster Squad” landed high on last year’s Black List, and Ruben Fleischer is gearing up to direct it now, possibly with Sean Penn and Gosling being chased for the lead roles. Warners also hired Beall to write a new “Lethal Weapon” film, which we can only assume they’re happy with, if he’s landed as high-profile a gig as this.
Beall’s hire suggests that we should expect the same kind of noir grittiness that “Drive” looks to deliver from the next Gosling/Refn project, and we’re just fine with that. While the original movie (which, for those who are unfamiliar, is set in a future where everyone over the age of 30 is executed) has its fans, we watched it recently and it hasn’t aged well, to say the least, so it’s fairly ripe for a remake. And in the hands of a trio of talented individuals like these guys, we’re sincerely looking forward to the film, even if, considering the project’s long history, we’ll only believe it’s happening when the cameras are rolling. There’s no word on when that might be — we assume it’ll move forward once all involved are happy with Beall’s script.
