Bioshock creator and Irrational Games co-founder Ken Levine has been asked to put his considerable talents towards writing a reboot of the 1976 sci-fi classic Logan’s Run. According to Deadline, Logan’s Run is a “passion project” for Levine, but, despite his new gig, he will continue to work on games with the fine folks over at Irrational, which is great news, because we don’t want to wait three more years for another Bioshock (or a Freedom Force reboot. Just sayin’).
For those of you not familiar with the film, Logan’s Run, based on a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, takes place in a futuristic world where humankind is only allowed to live to the age of 30 before they must willingly sacrifice themselves to preserve resources. Logan, our hero, is a Sandman, one of the police officers in charge of tracking down the Runners, a name given to those who attempt to escape their fate. That is, until Logan comes of age and realizes just what the Runners are running from.
The project has long been in development, with directors like X-Men: Days of Future Past‘s Bryan Singer and Drive‘s Nicholas Winding Refn were eyed for the project. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes like Levine’s that are attuned to the dystopian is just what the project needs to get off the ground. We’re pretty sure Levine has a screenwriting vigor stashed away somewhere.
What do you think? Who would you like to see in a Logan’s Run reboot? Let us know in the comments below!
LOGAN’S RUN (1976) remains a personal favorite retro science fiction film (I know it didn’t follow the novel written by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson … but neither did the 1977 – 1978 T.V. Series (HAH! I’m old enough to remember that, also) …
Finding the right disc release for LOGAN’S RUN was quite a challenge (there’s the 2009 Blu-ray, if you never bought the DVD – bad news? it minimally improves on the original DVD, not a huge jump in quality as the film truthfully needs proper restoration + there’s none of the awesome extras originally included on the old laserdisc (its just the original special features ported over from the DVD) – good news? There’s a commentary track featuring director Michael Anderson, actor Michael York, costume designer Bob Thomas discussing the making of the film. Anderson explains there are plot holes, because the film was heavily edited to a shorter run time (allowing more showings per day) with content removed from a pending “R” rating (so that it would be approved for a “PG” rating) – and none of the edited footage is available in order to restore LOGAN’S RUN to a “director’s cut”!
Try to find the 1998 MGM DVD release (it has that Behind-the-scenes featurette carried by all later releases, plus an Introductory essay by Director Michael Anderson, along with an 8-page Booklet featuring trivia, production notes and a revealing look at the making of the movie) vs 2003 Warner Bros DVD and 2009 Warner Bros Bluray (both are bare bones releases with nothing new added – not even a proper digital remastering for Blu-ray)
Would I accept a remake? Only if the Story followed the Novel, used Practical Effects vs Strictly CGI, wasn’t released in 3D (and made an effort to offer cameos for original stars Michael York with Jenny Agutter) ….
Well, I’m over the due date, so I better report to Carousel and be Reborn !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSUAAKFLoL0
I’d love to see a remake of this. It has a lot going for it and could be re-imagined into an even better film than the first. The challenge is keeping today’s Hollywood from turning it into shit just for the sake of action. I mean it begs to be an action film, but it’s got to be more than just action. There’s this thing called a plot that’s such a key ingredient that Hollywood doesn’t worry too much about nowadays.
This reboot has the Potential to be great as long as it doens’t stray into the JT “In Time” Plotline.
I hear it will make a lot of engaging choices, that draw you into the movie and really make you love the characters, but in the end none of that matters because no matter what Logan does everyone still dies.
Logan doesn’t “come of age,” he’s only 26. The computer speeds up his aging process so he can figure out whether “Sanctuary” – the mythical world outside the biodomes – actually exists. The computer toys with Logan’s life to get information.
@T- He was a screenwriter first. I’m pretty sure he has a skillset outside of “Bioshock-esque” and video games. Those also aren’t the only two games he’s written.
I’m never really excited about reboots, but putting Levine in charge makes me hopeful. Man’s got a clear vision. Will be keeping an eye out for more news.
I think this is a colossal mistake…Nicholas Winding Refn should be the one to head the project…his films are unbelievable.
I shudder to think what Logan’s Run would be if done in a “bio-shock-esqe” fashion.
Hopefully he uses the book as his guide and tries to forge a new vision that is not the classic version of the film nor a film pretending to be a video-game…if we are going that route, just hire Uwe Boll and be done with it.