'Point Break': A look at the trailer and why it's being remade
A trailer has been released for the remake of the Patrick Swayze movie 'Point Break.' The original movie's resemblance to a certain box office-topping franchise may have been what made movie executives go ahead with a 'Point' remake.
The original 'Point Break' film starred Keanu Reeves (l.) and Patrick Swayze (r.).
Reuters
聽Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. have聽released a trailer for their upcoming remake of the 1991 movie 鈥淧oint Break.鈥澛�
The original version starred actor Keanu Reeves as FBI agent Johnny Utah, who鈥檚 tasked with looking into bank robberies that were carried out by a group of people wearing masks of US presidents. Another agent suspects the culprits might be surfers, and so Utah is asked to investigate those who enjoy the sport, meeting a group of friends led by a man named Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). Utah soon finds himself enjoying the group's lifestyle.聽
The 1991 version was directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, who was behind the 2008 Best Picture winner 鈥淭he Hurt Locker.鈥�
The new version, which is set to be released in December, stars Luke Bracey of 鈥淭he Best of Me鈥� as Utah and 鈥淒eliver Us from Evil鈥� actor Edgar Ramirez as Bodhi. It鈥檚 directed by Ericson Core, who headed up the 2006 movie 鈥淚nvincible鈥� with Mark Wahlberg.
The trailer shows Bodhi鈥檚 group employing in various activities such as parachuting, skiing, and surfing.
So why did studio executives green-light a remake? The most obvious is the motivation to remake any movie that the public still thinks of fondly, and 鈥淧oint Break鈥� is still well-regarded by fans.
But another is鈥� well, we鈥檒l go back to the plot. Law enforcement official goes undercover with a group of suspected criminals, begins to bond with them and even dates one of them, finds himself conflicted鈥� yes, it does sound like the plot to the movie that kicked off the mega-successful 鈥淔ast and the Furious鈥� franchise.聽
The similarities are acknowledged by many, with writer Scott Mendelson calling 鈥淔ast鈥� a 鈥渞ip-off/homage鈥� to 鈥淧oint鈥� and writing of the first "Fast" movie, 鈥淭he film hews so closely to the聽Point Break聽narrative that Universal/Comcast Corp. is lucky that 20th Century聽Fox聽didn鈥檛 sue them.鈥� writer Benjamin Lee writes of the upcoming movie that it 鈥淸takes] the 鈥楩ast and Furious鈥� formula that, well, 鈥楶oint Break鈥� did first.鈥澛�
As we previously mentioned, 鈥淔ast鈥� has become a smash hit of a series, with the most recent 鈥� the seventh in the franchise 鈥� grossing more than $347 million domestically, according to the website . Movie executives may be banking on the narrative being one that moviegoers enjoy and will go see in another film. It also聽looks as though 鈥淧oint鈥� will have various action sequences like those seen in 鈥淔ast,鈥� 鈥� minus all the cars.