Fans Are Upset With Yet Another Unnecessary Remake of a Sci-fi Classic
A reboot of Gattaca is on the horizon, and it is already causing a backlash among fans of the original.
Gattaca is a 1997 American dystopian science fiction thriller starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law.
The film is set in a world where eugenics has become commonplace, and potential children are conceived through genetic selection to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents, creating discrimination against people born outside the eugenics program.
The story revolves around Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), who was born naturally, and his struggles to pursue his dream of going into space.
As the directorial debut of Andrew Niccol, who is also known for his work on The Truman Show (1998), The Terminal (2004) and Lord of War (2005), the film was warmly received by critics and later became a cult classic among sci-fi fans.
It also sparked debates about the controversial subject of human genetic engineering.
Molecular biologist Lee M. Silver, reviewing the film for the journal Nature Genetics, said that "Gattaca is a film that all geneticists should see if for no other reason than to understand the perception of our trade held by so many of the public-at-large."
Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, who worked on the TV series Homeland, along with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club), are developing a reboot of the film for the premium cable network Showtime.
It has been in the works for more than a month, with possible franchise potential.
The news has already caused a stir among fans of the original, who are understandably concerned that the adaptation will bastardize the source material.
They say that the project could have been somewhat interesting as a continuation of the story with an emphasis on a different part of the social issues, but being a reiteration of the same plot absolutely kills any possible anticipation.
Fans also complain that instead of taking movies that had great concepts but were poorly executed or creating something original, studios decide to take the easy way out and just keep doing things that were great on their own, sometimes with disastrous results.
As Reddit user FreddieB_13 pointed out:
"The original is perfect as it is. There's literally nothing to improve upon. Instead of even trying, why not oh I don't know, tell an original story or adapt one of the thousand great sci-fi stories that have never been made into a film."
The cast and release date have not yet been announced, as the deals are still being finalized.