OK, I’ll admit it: I couldn’t be happier that that the long-planned remake of the vamp classic Near Dark will not be happening any time soon. Producer Brad Fuller recently spoke with Empire magazine about the just-announced Twilight sequel, when Fuller brought up the remake, telling Empire, “Near Dark is probably not going to happen, I think that Twilight was the same type of thing we were going for although Near Dark was a much darker, sexier, rated R version of that.” And if you have seen the original Near Dark, you know that “darker” is a nice way of putting it (anyone remember that scene in the bar? I’d like to see The Cullens top that).
Originally released in 1987, Dark was written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and centered on a small town boy (played by Adrian Pasdar) who is roped into a vampire gang when he falls in love with one of its members … and this is probably where Fuller started noticing some comparisons with the ‘Bella and the Gang’. Fuller went on to explain Dark’s delay was a direct result of Twilight’s release, saying, “For now, that movie is on hold. The concept of ‘one person’s a vampire, the other person isn’t and they’re in love, with the success of that film, we would not measure up, It’s not the right time to make that.” That does seem like a flimsy excuse once you consider that “star-crossed lovers with fangs” isn’t exactly a new idea.
But, no matter what happens, it seems like Dark is the remake that will not die, so I would expect that for now the film is simply down … but definitely not out.
UPDATE: Speaking of Twilight, it’s just been announced that New Moon will arrive in theaters on November 20, 2009.
Filed under: Horror, Fandom, Remakes and Sequels
