We can reboot him! We have the technology!
Despite how much some of you don’t want them to update anymore of your fondly remember movies and TV shows, things are moving ahead with the planned big-screen version of The Six Million Dollar Man, now titled Six Billion Dollar Man.
We already know that Mark Wahlberg is attached to star (a solid bit of casting if you ask me), which would reunite him with his Lone Survivor director Peter Berg. And now we know that Argentinian filmmaker Damien Szifron – who wrote and directed the fantastic, Best Foreign Language Oscar-nominated anthology revenge film Wild Tales – is attached to write the script for the big-screen reboot.
The original Six Million Dollar Man TV series – itself based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin – starred Lee Majors as Steve Austin, a crippled former test pilot who is is rebuilt by the government with nuclear powered limbs and implants which give him super speed and strength.
Quite apart from the change in title from million to billion – I guess the former just isn’t as much of a jaw-dropping amount of money as it once was – the new version will put a twist on that idea, with Austin now being a military officer instead of a test pilot who is suped up using advanced technology, turning him into half man-half machine. The obvious comparison now will be to the new, surprisingly decent RoboCop although this seems to be swaying towards a more military angle.
Having seen Wild Tales, it’s hard to see how Szifron is a the go-to choice to bring the Six Million Dollar Man into the 21st century. However, he’s clearly a talented writer able to weave weighty themes into thrilling situation so hopefully that will translate well to this particular redo. He said in a statement about it:
The themes surrounding this beloved property allow for the creation of a memorable sci-fi actioner as well as a bold spy thriller. Expectations are high and I’ll do my best to deliver the strongest basis for an amazing cinematic experience.
Are you looking forward to the new Six Billion Dollar Man or should they just leave the idea in the past? Is Szifron a good fit? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or on Twitter @TOF_UK!
Six Billion Dollar Man doesn’t have an official release date yet but we can probably expect it summer 2016.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter