They Want to Remake They Live and The Thing

If Universal Studios and Strike Entertainment get their way, John Carpenter’s tale of alien invasion gone kooky, the Rowdy Roddy Piper starrer “They Live” will see the light of day once more — as a remake. Yup. A remake? Why even remake it in the first place? I have no idea, but apparently it just seems like the thing to do in creativity-bankrupt Hollywood nowadays. Unless, of course, the rights holder refuses to sell the remake rights, but of course there’s as much chance of that happening as of me going to Hollywood and becoming the next International sex symbol. And so — they’re remaking “They Live”. Shit.

THR breaks down the original:

The original film, part sci-fi thriller and part social satire, told the story of a down-on-his-luck construction worker (Roddy Piper) who discovers glasses that let him see aliens walking among us and controlling humanity. The man races against the clock to find a way to stop them.

The movie is known for a fight scene that lasts 5 1/2 minutes and for the line, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass … and I’m all out of bubblegum.”

No writer is on board.

This is the second John Carpenter film that Strike Entertainment is eyeballing for a remake. The other one is the cold thriller “The Thing”. Another one of Strike’s remakes, 2004’s “Dawn of the Dead” found gold at the box office, which may be why they’re still on the remake kick.

By the way, “The Thing” was already a remake of another movie, so basically this new remake will be a remake of a remake. Yeah, chew on that for a while.