ROTTEN TOMATOES: Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes "Hitch" on to Another Remake

Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes "Hitch" on to Another Remake

by Scott Weinberg | April 18, 2005

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No sooner is one remake an opening weekend hit than Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners are press-releasing a new production. As "The Amityville Horror" was enjoying a smashing debut weekend, the Dunes boys announced that their next project will be a remake of Robert Harmon's 1986 cult classic "The Hitcher," which starred C. Thomas Howell as a terrorized motorist and Rutger Hauer as one of the coolest movie villains ever devised. Variety indicates that Mr. Bay might want to make a few changes for the new version: "Someone mentioned the title and I said, 'That's the one we should do,' " Bay said. "I loved it as a kid, and we can add some cool twists and turn it into a rocking film." One possibility, he suggested, is to make the protagonist female." No word yet on who will be directing the new "Hitcher," but if "Chainsaw" and "Amityville" are any indication, expect it to be a first-timer.

Related Items

Movie:	The Amityville Horror
	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Celeb:	C. Thomas Howell
	Rutger Hauer
	Robert Harmon
	Michael Bay

(1-17 of 17 posts) | Reply

skletonkee writes:
on Apr 18 2005 01:02 PM

[b]NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/b]
Somebody kill this man before its too late!!

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dodadoof writes:
on Apr 18 2005 01:19 PM

I really hate this guy.

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Aoiboy writes:
on Apr 18 2005 01:29 PM

Oh, crap... I hope that nobody drops by tomorrow at Bay's office and mentions by chance my favorite films, so that this guy remembers he saw it as a child, asks for a budget to Daddy Hollywood Honcho, then completely ruins the idea behind the original (and what certainly made the film a hit, in the first place). A female hitchhiker ?! That's even an overdose of creativity coming from Bay...

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Mike writes:
on Apr 18 2005 01:56 PM

[b]THE HITCHER was great! I'm game![/b]
At first I was kind of hoping [b]THE HITCHER[/b] wouldn't be remade when it was talked about a while back, but I've pretty much changed my mind completely now and welcome it with open arms. [b]THE HITCHER[/b] was a kickass movie and a real cult classic. I thought they did an awesome job with the [b]TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE[/b] remake (the cinematography was great!) and they could do an awesome job with this as well. I also like the idea of making the protagonist female. Hottie Jessica Biel had been thrown around as a possibility to star and I personally think that would be pretty damn cool. I could see her in the lead.

One of the best things that would come out of a remake though is that it will get a lot more people to check out the original and it will also obviously get us a cool Special Edition of the original [b]HITCHER[/b] to be released when the remake hits theaters. I've heard the DVD it has now sucks and the transfer isn't very good which had been holding me off from buying it for a while. And now that I know a Special Edition will end up coming with the release of the remake I will definitely wait to purchase it.

Anyway, I have faith that this will be a solid remake and I'm looking forward to it.

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VML writes:
on Apr 18 2005 09:59 PM

Isn't too early to remake that movie?

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Ophiuchus writes:
on Apr 19 2005 01:52 AM

In reply to this comment (#821477)
[b]No way![/b]
It's *never* the wrong time for a remake in this industry.

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Jaws2004 writes:
on Apr 19 2005 10:19 AM

[b]so?[/b]
Why you people being so upset? Remakes are made all the time. Sam Raimi has produced some remakes, Spielberg is directing one, Peter Jackson is doing one etc. No need to upset. It will not make the original movie bad.

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Bourne316 writes:
on Apr 19 2005 11:55 AM

uummmm.....lets see wat happens :-/

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skletonkee writes:
on Apr 19 2005 12:34 PM

In reply to this comment (#821479)
[b]why upset?[/b]
Cause Bay is shooting blanks 2 for 2 now. The guy is a hack.......

I have no problem with remakes but this guy seems to be raping the cult film culture and creating subpar versions rather then expanding and putting his own spin on them.. (ummm, hello? how can you make an amytiville thats worse then the origina? oye)

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alienhunter1919 writes:
on Apr 19 2005 01:08 PM

Goddammit

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Roadhg67 writes:
on Apr 19 2005 03:34 PM

does this man have no dignity?

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pennydinawoods writes:
on Apr 19 2005 05:32 PM

Michael Bay doing a remake?

God help us all.

Especially if he hooks up with Bruckheimer on this one...

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halose7en writes:
on Apr 19 2005 08:43 PM

If nothing else, I give Hollywood a little credit for being able to dig up all these really obscure (and classic) movies that they want to remake. The originals, of course, are usually pretty good, but the remakes always suck. I guess if nothing else, it helps me decide what old movies I need to go dig up at the local video store.

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getluv writes:
on Apr 20 2005 10:16 AM

you people meed help.

Amityville Horror and TCM were fantastic, and i am very game for him doing this project.

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Reel 2/Dialogue 2 writes:
on Apr 21 2005 09:58 AM

In reply to this comment (#821476)
If this remake does bring about a Special Edition DVD for the original, then I'm all for that. Bay's version seems like video-bait at best.

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Mike writes:
on Apr 22 2005 09:11 AM

It will bring a Special Edition of the original out for sure. Besides, I don't see how people can be so pissed about this remake and think it will ruin the original when there was already a sequel released and it sucked! No way will this be as bad as that!

Plus, the [b]TCM[/b] remake was excellent and better than the original, in my opinion.

I didn't think the [b]TCM[/b] remake was scary, but it did make me jump once. Still, I enjoyed it a lot. It had absolutely gorgeous cinematography - some of the best of 2003. And even though I didn't find it scary, it was scarier than the overrated original anyway, which had a great last 30 minutes but everything that came before it was pretty damn terrible, making the movie only OK. The remake gave us characters we could actually care about, unlike the original where I just wanted everyone to die so the movie would end. The lead girl character was such a bitch that I didn't even care about her and wanted her to die until the last 30 minutes, where I ended up feeling sorry for her and found myself wanting her to make it out alive. Still, I found the remake far superior. Maybe if I had seen the original [b]TCM[/b] when it first came out I would have liked it more and found it scary, but that's not the case now. I didn't see it until like summer of 2001 with my 28-year-old cousin, who thought it sucked. She did like the last 30 minutes though, like I did, and felt the same way about the main character. I ended up liking it quite a bit more than her even if I agree that it sucked until the last 30 minutes. I'd give it a [b]6/10 (C+)[/b]. It was a movie I felt they could improve on, and they did so with the remake.

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tmcgurk666 writes:
on Apr 23 2005 04:25 AM

why? at least make Gary Busey the hitcher, that would be horrifying.
P.S.- go away Michael Bay...leave our horror flicks alone. We hate you.

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