Though unfortunately it’s not a remake of the Kenny Rogers Western character, but instead a remake of the 1974 James Caan crime drama of the same name, which is too bad because I was really looking forward to a big-budget Hollywood Western. Hey, you can only watch so many direct-to-DVD and basic cable Westerns before you just hanker for something, you know, more glossy.
In any case, Todd Phillips, the director of “The Hangover” films (with part 3 coming up later next year), is in talks to direct his first drama after helming comedies like the aforementioned “Hangover” franchise, “Old School”, and “Due Date.
The remake features a script by William Monahan (“The Departed”), and follows a UCLA literature professor with the very cool name of Axel Freed, who has something of a gambling problem. Okay, so he has a really, really bad gambling problem. After borrowing money from everyone he knows, he turns to gangsters. Wrong move, that.
The original co-starred Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, and Burt Young.
Irwin Winkler, who produced the original, will return to do likewise for the remake.
Via : THR
