They Live Remake

Strike Entertainment is in talks to acquire rights to remake John Carpenter’s 1988 cult film They Live.

Based on Ray Nelson’s 1963 short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning”, They Live was part sci-fi thriller and part black comedy. Pro wrestler Roddy Roddy Piper played a down-on-his-luck construction worker who discovered a pair of special sunglasses which allowed him to see the world as it really is. He finds that all printed matter contains subliminal advertising and that many humans are actually aliens who in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued. One of the film’s highlights is a five-and-half minute alley fight scene. The movie is also notable for coining Piper’s famous tagline “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum.”

I’m sure the change in economic times could be incorporated in the social satire of the story, and while a They Live remake is inevitable, I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be better served in five or ten years. I’m not one of those delusional people that say you shouldn’t remake a classic, because its going to happen one way or another — that’s a fact. But I do believe that Hollywood should only consider a remake when the original film becomes largely unrelatable to the general public. And you can call me an old, but I think there is no question that They Live still plays.

That said, Strike’s credits include Children of Men and Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead – so they’re a good company to develop such a project. No screenwriter has been announced.