SHOOT ‘EM UP’s Michael Davis to Direct OUTLAND Remake

Director Michael Davis and The Hollywood Gang’s Gianni Nunnari are planning a remake of Outland, the 1981 sci-fi Sean Connery action flick. The script will be written by Chad St. John, who wrote the WB’s “The Days Before”. Outland was basically High Noon in space, and its one of the more unlikely films to get a remake, which I must say is to its credit. Seeing as Shoot ‘Em Up was one of the best times I have had at the movies in years, I cant be anything but excited. Synopsis and more after the jump.

The drama revolves around a police marshal stationed at a remote mining colony on Jupiter’s moon Io, where he uncovers a murderous conspiracy threatening the entire Outland with collapse.

Though there have been some kickass sci-fi pics in the last 5 years, Ive truly missed the spirit of 80s sci-fi, where every film was one vs. a million and the body count was all but imprinted on the back of the box. If anyone can deliver that, one need only look at the director’s previous work.

Shoot ‘Em Up showed a thorough understanding of core elements of the action genre: suspension of disbelief is tantamount, characters should be one-dimensional, and dialogue only serves as a bridge between bloodbaths. Davis took all of these elements, trimmed absolutely every last ounce of fat, and dialed everything up to eleven to create a balls out, kinetic coke binge that never misunderstood its purpose. It was outrageous, it was campy, and it thoroughly thrilled the shit out of me.

Of Outland, Davis says, “We’re staying true to the thematic heart of ‘Outland’ while expanding the space frontier concept.” The guy has already shown he truly gets his source material, so I say god speed.