Kate Beckinsale Offered Role in ‘Total Recall’ Remake

Beckinsale in "Underworld"

Kate Beckinsale Offered Role in ‘Total Recall’ Remake

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

Whether we like it or not, Hollywood seems intent on moving forward with a remake of “Total Recall,” though we can’t imagine why. The original may not be a perfect film, but it’s a fairly iconic sci-fi action flick that is best left alone, especially when one considers that the director for the remake is Len “Underworld” Wiseman; he may be a competent choreographer of mayhem and destruction, but he lacks the intelligence sense of humor that Paul Verhoeven brought to this story the first time around.

Oh well, that’s show biz. With Colin Farrell stepping into the shoes once filled by Arnold Schwarzenegger, casting for the movie continues, with Deadline now reporting that Kate Beckinsale has been offered a role in the film. She’ll be playing the character of Lori, portrayed in the original by Sharon Stone.

Beckinsale hasn’t officially signed on yet, but seeing as she is married to the director, we’re guessing that she’ll take on the role.

While not all remakes are a bad idea—John Carpenter’s update of “The Thing” massively improved on the original, and David Cronenberg’s take on “The Fly” is classic sci-fi/horror—they seem to work best when a filmmaker finds a story that was executed poorly the first time around. “Total Recall,” however, is a beloved fan favorite, and we can’t imagine that Len Wiseman will be capable of bringing any major improvements to the material. What little resemblance to the first film bore to the Philip K. Dick story which spawned it will surely diminish even more significantly with a shameless Michael Bay imitator at the helm.

Even from an economic standpoint, this remake doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But hey, we expect nothing less from Hollywood these days.