Perhaps it’s not surprising with the recent passing of rock god David Bowie, but the film that introduced a generation to his skewed brilliance is slated to be remade, ‘Labyrinth’. In the original Disney release, Bowie played the haunting Jareth the Goblin King who menaced Jennifer Connelly, who was on a mission to rescue her infant brother from him and had to endure the titular maze. Though the movie is considered a classic today, back in 1986 when it was released, it was a box office failure. It marks the final movie that Muppets mastermind Jim Henson ever directed and marks a shift away from movies utilizing practical effects versus CGI. It also, along with 1982’s ‘The Dark Crystal’ and 1985’s ‘Return To Oz’, remains a reminder of a time when parents completely stopped caring about what their kids were exposed to and “kids movies” were scary as f***. (Seriously, 80s parents, was the coke really that good?)
The original movie was written by Monty Python’s Terry Jones and produced by George Lucas.
TriStar has made an agreement with The Jim Henson Co. to remake the iconic film and has hired ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ scribe Nicole Perlman to pen it. The Jim Henson Co.’s Lisa Henson will produce while TriStar’s Nicole Brown will oversee.
Perlman’s professional work has been limited to the realm of Marvel Studios. She got her start as part of the now defunct Marvel Studios writers program, and was uncredited as a script doctor on ‘Thor’ before writing ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. She has also submitted a treatment for a ‘Black Widow’ solo movie and has been tapped to write the screenplay for ‘Captain Marvel’. She was featured as herself in the documentary ‘Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp To Pop!’.
(Yeah, there was a ‘Black Widow’ solo movie treatment. I know, story unto itself, but let’s focus on ‘Labyrinth’ here…)
It is unclear right now as to whether TriStar’s ‘Labyrinth’ is a complete reboot or a sequel of some sort.
Are you excited that ‘Labyrinth’ is being remade? Or should they leave this classic alone?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
