By Yesterday, Ridley Scott decided that he wasn’t happy leaving everyone with their fond memories of his classic sci-fi Blade Runner, so signed on to shoot a sequel that is both unwanted and completely unnecessary. Not one to be outdone, his brother and partner in Scott Free Productions, Tony Scott, is reportedly moving forward with (I can barely bring myself to say it) a remake of Sam Pekinpah’s The Wild Bunch.
Seriously? I mean, SERIOUSLY? A remake of The Wild Bunch? A new Blade Runner is stupid enough, but the sheer metric tonnage of mental density involved in this ‘plan’ is beyond comprehension. Not only is The Wild Bunch possibly the greatest American Western ever made (I’m generally more of a Spaghetti man, myself), but also a movie shaped by the notoriously intense personality of its director, Sam Peckinpah. It was a passion project through and through, from the anger of its politics to the brutality of its violence. Tony Scott makes flashy, meaningless popcorn fare, and while there’s generally nothing wrong with that, there is something wrong when that man, who, let’s face it, has shown no signs of creative ambition in his work to date, plans on needlessly vandalising the memory of the most powerful and personal work of one of America’s greatest filmmakers. There would be something wrong with anyone trying it, but especially a director like Scott.
If anything good comes out of the financial and creative failure of Cowboys & Aliens, let’s hope that Scott’s studio backers decide Westerns are too much of a risk and kill this stone dead. I’d accept never seeing another new Western again if it meant this violation never gets off the ground. I bet he’s thinking of making it in 3D too.
(Aaaand breathe)
[via Deadline]