In 1985, John Hughes’ Weird Science, his third movie as a director, was a huge stepping stone in the launch of the ’80s Brat Pack with Anthony Michael Hall following his appearances in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, as he was joined by Ilan Mitchell-Smith and a fresh-faced 20-year-old youngster named Robert Downey Jr. It was the seventh film produced by the slightly older 33-year-old Joel Silver.
The high concept premise involved two nerdy high school students who are inspired by the movie Frankenstein to create the perfect woman with superpowers using their computer to make the school jocks and bullies jealous. In 1994, the movie’s concept was relaunched as a television show by the fledgling USA cable network. Kelly LeBrock played the perfect woman in the original movie, a role taken over by Vanessa Angel on TV.
Now word comes from Deadline that Universal and Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures want to relaunch the comedy as a movie with Michael Bacall (Project X, 21 Jump Street and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) writing the script.
According to the story, the film will try to create an edgier R-rated version of the concept with the help of Bacall who had success relaunching the popular ’80s television show 21 Jump Street in a similar way.
The movie will be produced by Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures with Andrew Rona and executive producer Alex Heineman with Universal’s Scott Bernstein overseeing the project.
The original theme song for the 1985 movie was composed and performed by a band called Oingo Boingo whose frontman Danny Elfman has gone on to become one of the most successful film composers of the past two and a half decades. It’s probably a bit too early for this kind of suggestion, but we want to put it out there that Toronto’s Metric (who provided music for Scott Pilgrim) should be asked to rework the theme song for the remake.
