‘Universal Soldier’ is one of those final action science fiction gems that fit well from the 80s and early 90s and now the film is set to get a fresh coat of paint. This rebooted property, or “re-imaging” as screenwriter Richard Wenk (‘The Equalizer’) is calling it, will have a significant drastic change from the original. The first film in the series featured Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as the two leading characters, and the new iteration is set to only have one in the starring role. The movie has Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal producing and the script should be turned in shortly.
Wenk doesn’t reveal any major spoilers about the film but does reveal that fans of the franchise should know that it is not a remake :
“I will say that I’m just finishing up a re-imagining — let’s be clear about this it’s not a remake and it is not a redo — but it is a re-imagining of a movie called ‘Universal Soldier’…very much like ‘The Equalizer,’ it’s the title that inspired me and not the movies…I’m just about to finish (the script) and turn it in this week.”
This doesn’t give us very much to go on, but the first movie had two soldiers who were killed in Vietnam turned into deadly mindless killing cyborgs by the US military. Only, once their memories start to return, the blind obedience begins to fade as well.
The movie did spawn a franchise with two television movies and three cinematic features though none of the sequels had the same impact as the first film.
Would you be interested in a fresh take on ‘Universal Soldier’? Do you think that a new iteration of the film could catch the imagination of today’s audiences? What do you think could make this story into a “re-imaging” of the first film and not just a reboot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Discussing Film
