'Point Break' remake: Will Gerard Butler star?
The remake has been turning its wheels steadily but slowly, following Alcon Entertainment鈥檚 initial announcement that the 1991 thriller would be getting a proper makeover (technically, The Fast and the Furious doesn鈥檛 count as a remake). When on the project, it was slated to begin filming before 2013 drew to a close; that didn鈥檛 happen, but right now it鈥檚 looking pretty likely that principal photography will get underway within the next six months or so.
Point Break 鈥� starring the late Patrick Swayze, a pre-Speed (but post-Bill & Ted) Keanu Reeves, and directed by a pre-Oscars glory Kathleen Bigelow 鈥� follows 鈥淔! B! I! Agent!鈥� Utah (Reeves) as he goes undercover and infiltrates a gang of bank robbers, led by Bodhi (Swayze) 鈥� an adrenaline junkie with a penchant for surfing. The remake will expand (and update) the premise to encompass other extreme sports, though producer Andrew Kosove has that surfing will still be 鈥渧ery prominent in the story.鈥�
is reporting that Gerard Butler has entered talks to play the role of Bodhi. If the 300 actor strikes a deal, then Point Break 2.0 will be one of three projects he works on this year, following Alex Proyas鈥� mythological tentpole and prior to the start of production on the Olympus Has Fallen sequel, .
Butler played a surfer (real-life wave catcher Frosty Hesson) in the film , though his character there was more of a paternal and wizened figure 鈥� not so much the anti-establishment, well, maverick that is Bodhi.
Directing responsibilities on the Point Break remake have been assigned to Ericson Core, who served as the cinematographer on The Fast and the Furious and Daredevil as well as the true-story based football drama Invincible (which Core also directed).
While he鈥檚 a natural fit for the project, one has to wonder how well Core鈥檚 high-octante filmmaking technique will stack up compared against Bigelow鈥檚 鈥� seeing how that is the Oscar-winning and director鈥檚 area of expertise. It shall be a challenge for Core to match or exceed the intensity of Bigelow鈥檚 action choreography (for example, see ), though that鈥檒l primarily be an issue for longtime Point Break fans; not so much newcomers, who鈥檝e never seen the 1991 original.
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
