Cronenberg’s Videodrome Set for Remake

Torture on TV isn’t a novel idea. Have you seen Dancing with the Stars or MTV’s glutton of “makes me want to stab out my eyes and end it all right here and now” so-called “Reality” TV shows? But of course, those types of torture have nothing on David Cronenberg’s 1983 movie “Videodrome”, which originally starred James Woods as a TV producer who puts actual torture on TV in order to reverse sagging ratings. You know, sort of like how MTV put those Reality TV shows on instead of actually playing music. But I digress.

According to Variety, Columbia Pictures, who released the original, is set to remake the film with scribe Ehren Kruger adapting the movie for today’s audiences:

The original “Videodrome” starred James Woods as the head of Civic TV Channel 83, who makes his station relevant by programming “Videodrome,” a series that depicts torture and murder that transfixes viewers.

The new picture will modernize the concept, infuse it with the possibilities of nano-technology and blow it up into a large-scale sci-fi action thriller.

Nano-technology? Large-scale sci-fi action thriller? Sounds interesting. I am not a diehard fan of the original, so I’m not going to whine about how Hollywood is once again remaking classics from years gone by, though I do reserve the right to whine in later articles about this remake.

David Cronenberg, who directed the original (as well as the classic “Scanners”), currently has no part in the remake.

Below: Mom always did say watching too much TV would be the death of me.