Image Credit: Chris Hatcher/PR Photos; Everett CollectionColin Farrell’s career has taken some wildly unpredictable and improbable twists and turns over the years, so it makes a weird kind of sense that he may soon find himself stepping into a role made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sources tell EW that Farrell is on the short list of actors being considered to star in Sony’s planned reboot of the 1990 sci-fi film Total Recall, which starred Schwarzenegger as a man who discovers that all of his memories have been implanted and he’s actually a secret agent with powerful enemies on the planet Mars. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the other actors in the final running for the project—which is expected to hew closer to Philip K. Dick’s original story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” than the Schwarzenegger film—are Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender, but one source close to the negotiations confirms their reporting that Farrell has the pole position and may be close to receiving an offer. If so, it would clinch a remarkable turnaround for Farrell. The rakish Irish actor’s career hit the skids after the problem-plagued Miami Vice bombed at the box office (a debacle he told EW earlier this year he doesn’t exactly have total recall of, given his out-of-control partying at the time). But Farrell’s career has been on a dramatic upswing again lately following well-received turns in films like In Bruges and Crazy Heart, and he has recently wrapped work on two other high-profile studio movies, Horrible Bosses and Fright Night.
Personally, as much as I like Farrell, I’m still finding it hard to wrap my head around any actor in Total Recall other than Ah-nuld, who had such an inimitable way with lines like, “If I am not me, then who the hell am I?” and “Cohaagen, you got what you want. Give these people air!” But what do you think? Does the idea of Colin Farrell in Total Recall work for you? Do you think Hardy or Fassbender would fit the bill better? Or are you of the mind that, after his stint as governor ends, Schwarzenegger himself should get his ass back to Mars?
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Farrell in anything works for me. Since In Bruges I’ve been a huge fan.
Just say no to remakes, ALL remakes, especially if the original was well made. This qualifies.
They can only do this if the chick with 3 boobs returns
hahaha so pathetic
every story, one comment, a reply to one of the first comments so its near the top of the page, and then he’s gone to find the next story to lurk on.
literally the most obvious troll i’ve ever seen.
First, Colin Farrell is a fantastic and versatile actor. Second, the idea that a new interpretation of a previously done work is silly. Nobody ever said that they should never film Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet again because Laurence Olivier or Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey had already done it. This version, by the way, is supposed to “hew closer to Philip K. Dick’s original story” than the Arnold version. It will be interesting to see that, and that does not take anything away from the Arnold movie. Two versions needn’t mean that one is better or worse than the other; it can just mean that they’re different and offer contrasting experiences that could be interesting.
Second sentence above was meant to read “Second, the idea that it’s some sort of travesty or insult to offer a new interpretation of a previously done work is silly.”
WHY? Why remake this film? It’s such an iconic campy classic! People reference this movie constantly. Especially recently with the airlines move to have body scanners – they refer to as “like in movie Total Recall”.
This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas.
IF, they were going to go closer to the book, and make that page for page, then maybe. But I don’t have a lot of faith in that actually happening.
And MAYBE if Arnold was involved then maybe.
But still….I think it’s a dumb idea. Come up with a new idea.
Farrell can be good, even very good, in movies, but he’s already doing one remake. Plus, 1990 isn’t THAT long ago. Also, say what you want about Arnold’s acting, but he’s a rather iconic presence. This is going to have the same effect as Marky Mark trying to fill Heston’s shoes in PLANET OF THE APES. Well, I hope he enjoyed his comeback while it lasted.
You know what?
Let’s do it.
Tom Hardy OR Michael Fassbender OR Colin Farrell? Goodness, what a selection to make. I’d be curious to see what they could do with this story after, er, un-Arnold-ing it.
Hardy and Fassbender are decent actors, but nobody needs to do this. I’m all for guys with everyman physiques in action pics, but I was not too convinced by Adrien Brody in PREDATORS. If the movie calls for an Arnold-like guy, get one. Better yet, if the Arnold movie is fine in the first place, leave it alone.
no remake needed
Are there no new ideas? Honestly!
I know, right!
He just did a movie called ONDINE. It was very good.
I liked that naked movie he was in. Very little plot or dialogue, and his acting could have improved, but overall I was satisfied.
anytime a remake of a movie is made without the original actors it is a big flop.remember teenwolf2 lmao need i say more.
Actually I think Arnold’s best line from the movie was, “Consider that a divorce” spoken in his best Austrian Oak accent.
If they remake it I’d like to see a little more of the ambiguity of whether or not it actually is ALL a programed “Blue Sky on Mars” memory played up. I think you could make a case that it WAS all in his head.
my favorite arnold line in total recall is…”see you at the party richter”
They wanna remake an Arnie movie & i’m actually cut up about it!
New Ideas please Hollywood.
I hope it will not be a remake of Total Recall, but a new take on Philip K. Dick’s original short story, which called for a different kind of leading man. Although, Total Recall is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.
Another freakin’ remake??!!!! ERGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aw, come on! Enough with the remakes already!
I think they ought to start remaking Elvis movies. They’ve tried everything else and while they were enjoyable time wasters if you liked that kinda thing, let’s face it lotta room for improvement. I was kinda joking, b ut now that I think about it, maybe they would be kind of retro cool, just find a good actor who can rock and dance, hmmmm.
Is this a remake as such? Or is it another take on the original Philip K. Dick novel? I’d love to see the latter — they took some pretty serious liberties with Dick’s stories in the Arnie version.
“Total Recall” is a wonderful, campy classic. Don’t touch it! Do all the original scripts circulating in Hollywood suck so bad that a 1990 movie has to be remade? (And it was a pretty big hit; it’s not like no one saw it.)