Tony Scott sat down with RT recently to discuss The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, released in the US on June 12th and the UK on July 24th, but of course we couldn't leave him without taking about another remake on his agenda; The Warriors. Based on a novel by Sol Yurick, the 1979 original was written and directed by Walter Hill.
"I'm not doing a straight remake," he insisted. "I love the original Warriors and I'm using the same basic story. It's really still 10 guys stuck at point B and they need to get back to point A. But I'm going to set it in Los Angeles and it's going to be a kind of study of gang culture in LA today."
The plot revolves around a gang - the titular Warriors - framed for killing a gang leader who's attempting to make peace with the area's gangs. Scott explained his switch from the original New York setting. "It's a city which is horizontal. New York is vertical, all skyscrapers, and Los Angeles is horizontal. I'm hoping to get a hundred thousand real gang-members standing on the Vincent Thomas Bridge for one shot."
Scott has been busy pursuing these gang members. "I've been meeting the various gangs as part of the research," he explains. "I never meet the gang leader, always his second-in-command. I have to do this little tap-dance and sell the film to them. I've met them all, Crips, Bloods, The 18th Street Gang, The Vietnamese and so on. The all love The Warriors. So it was, 'yeah, fuck yeah we'll be in that!'"
While there's no start date set for the project, expect announcements shortly after Scott's promotional tour for Pelham wraps up. Scott recently announced plans to produce a prequel to Alien, directed - also in 1979 - by his brother Ridley. Join us later in the week for our full interview.
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Bob S. writes: on Jun 02 2009 01:19 AM This movie's a cult classic - and it's not one that I'm averse to seeing redone with a larger budget. It's one of the most interesting interpretations of Xenophon's Anabasis (anyone else read The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford? Awesome book). The gangs in THE WARRIORS were well-crafted and memorable, and hopefully their portrayal here will be equally so, even if they're grounded in reality. I think Rockstar Games even released a computer game based on the movie. A hundred thousand real gang members? Wow...but Tony, please, no more style over substance. Yes, 100,000 gang members will make for a highly memorable scene, but what makes the tale of Xenophon interesting (no matter how it's told) is the characters and their journey through danger. (Reply to this) |
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John Z. Delorean writes: on Jun 02 2009 03:52 AM The Rockstar Game was great and the movie is a classic. I don't mind actual gangmembers as extras but I need real actors in the main roles and even though its not a remake please add an Ajax type character. I'd rather have seen it shot in NY because I think it adds more atmosphere and is almost claustrophobic at times like in the subway or the Lizzies hideout. (Reply to this) |
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princ3_ali writes: on Jun 02 2009 04:02 AM this is by far the dumbest thing i have ever heard after just writing a paper about contemporary cinema and its obsession with remakes, i think i would know which can and can not work the idea of having guns in the warriors throws the story out of perspective and changes the whole mood and atmosphere i will personally be boycotting this movie and tony scott with his stupid ways (Reply to this) |
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princ3_ali writes: on Jun 02 2009 04:03 AM this is by far the dumbest thing i have ever heard after just writing a paper about contemporary cinema and its obsession with remakes, i think i would know which can and can not work the idea of having guns in the warriors throws the story out of perspective and changes the whole mood and atmosphere i will personally be boycotting this movie and tony scott with his stupid ways (Reply to this) |
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princ3_ali writes: on Jun 02 2009 04:08 AM this is by far the dumbest thing i have ever heard after just writing a paper about contemporary cinema and its obsession with remakes, i think i would know which can and can not work the idea of having guns in the warriors throws the story out of perspective and changes the whole mood and atmosphere i will personally be boycotting this movie and tony scott with his stupid ways (Reply to this) |
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John A. writes: on Jun 02 2009 04:39 AM Tony Scott, the master of subtlety and director of such classics as Domino and Deja Vu, is perfect for this. I greatly look forward to... ok, I couldn't even finish that statement. Sorry. This will be awful. Maybe it would work with a better director, one with a talent for both characterization and visceral action. I dunno, Martin Campbell or Pierre Morel (director of Taken). I'm not suggesting that there's much characterization in Taken, but we immediately "get" Neeson's character without any idiotic subplots and the movie does its job of blowing things up and shooting guys. The Warriors, no matter how its done, should be a similar series of action set pieces, just with wackier costumes. (Reply to this) |
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Propadanda writes: on Jun 02 2009 04:55 AM This could be a great entertainment flick, I just hope it doesn't get modernised and too "realistic" like Tony implied, by meeting real gang leaders and **** like that. I don't want people pulling out guns and having shootouts on urban streets with a blue filtered look. I want it to be colourful, old-school and very reminiscent of the original, with lots of outlandish gang get-ups, bandannas and all. Something that's a lot of fun. Pretty much I'd like it to be very similar to the original, but that looks like it isn't going to happen. I'm still really interested in seeing how it turns out though. (Reply to this) |
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De4ective Detectiv3 writes: on Jun 02 2009 05:21 AM I could never understand the love for this movie. It's so campy. I always preferred Escape From New York to this. Is Tony Scott really going to try and put a serious spin on it? (Reply to this) |
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Mike B. writes: on Jun 02 2009 05:50 AM I can't wait to watch the riot on youtube when he gets 100,000 gang members *from different gangs* together on a fawkin bridge. (Reply to this) |
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Yjeizz writes: on Jun 02 2009 06:26 AM If you're going to base it in Los Angeles and you're not making it a straight remake, don't call it The Warriors. The original is amazing and a classic none the less. I really hate the phase Hollywood is in right now. (Reply to this) |
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BUCK69 writes: on Jun 02 2009 07:09 AM In reply to this comment (#2523872) Now I know why you call yourself princ3_ali - you say the same thing three times. This is a remake that would work. First of all, it's not going to be a straight remake. The first was more surreal, like Walter Hill's "Streets of Fire." This is going to be more grounded in the real world; the location is obviously different and it will be much more closely tied to the source material. I see this as more akin to the recently announced Coen Brothers remake of "True Grit" as opposed to some of the more recent garbage that's been tossed on movie screens. (Reply to this) |
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jokerboy1991 writes: on Jun 02 2009 07:18 AM Yeah I never LOVED Warriors, I thought it was fun but nothing amazing. I dont care much about a remake. I think Tony Scott is fine and not as bad as some say. (Reply to this) |
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ZiGyStRdUsT writes: on Jun 02 2009 07:33 AM I have a feeling putting so many gang members together might not result too well. (Reply to this) |
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Gimy writes: on Jun 02 2009 07:49 AM is this finally getting made? reminds me of fanboys, lots of talk for YEARS and it turns out to be crap. i heard about this years ago, same premise with the REAL life gangs but...nothing ever happened. should be fun. gimme the behind the scenes footage rather than the actual movie though...sounds way more entertaining (Reply to this) |
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Ashron writes: on Jun 02 2009 07:56 AM I think this could be pretty good. I loved The Warriors as a teenager, but I saw it recently and, while the fight scenes are still cool in their stylized way, parts of the movie are painfully slow. I don't think an update is necessarily a bad thing. And to the person who said they wanted it to be close to the original, if that's the case, just watch the original. (Reply to this) |
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chewie louie writes: on Jun 02 2009 08:03 AM 100,000 L.A. gang members together in one location? What could possibly go wrong? (Reply to this) |
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TheCaptain of TeamLoyalty writes: on Jun 02 2009 08:28 AM A remake of a mediocre movie, it could work, i mean it cant be worse than the original...well it will have to try hard to be worse than the original. (Reply to this) |
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tomwaitsjr writes: on Jun 02 2009 08:39 AM Warriors. . . come out to Play e AY. DeNiro used real bike gang peeps in A BRONX TALE and it worked out really well. (Reply to this) |
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CFM writes: on Jun 02 2009 08:59 AM "I'm hoping to get a hundred thousand real gang-members standing on the Vincent Thomas Bridge for one shot." Cool. Then I hope the authorities are onhand to bust them punk-a$s beoyches. Yeah! (Reply to this) |
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CFM writes: on Jun 02 2009 09:01 AM In reply to this comment (#2523871) I dig how princ3_ali thinks he knows which remakes can and can not work, because he wrote a paper. *raises middle finger* (Reply to this) |
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