With remakes and reboots all the rage in Hollywood these days, it’s never a surprise to hear that another old favorite is being prepped to head back into theaters. Now it looks like the Flatliners remake is finally gaining some more traction, as actor Diego Luna is in talks to take on a role in the film.
A report from The Wrap says that Diego Luna, who recently finished work on Star Wars: Rogue One, is looking to add his name to the main roster of actors who will be working on the movie. Luna started in entertainment when he was just a child in 1982, but his breakout role came with the 2001 film Y Tu Mamá También. Since then he’s hade a number of appearances in Spanish language and American films, such as, Frida, Open Range, The Terminal, Mister Lonely, Milk, Rudo y Cursi and Elysium, and lent his voice to the lead character in The Book of Life. Luna also recently had the drama Mr. Pig at Sundance, which he wrote, directed and produced.
Flatliners is a 1990 science fiction and phychological horror film, directed by Joel Schumacher, which focused on a quintet of medical school students who decide to orchestrate secret experiments to try to figure out what happens after death. The group uses themselves as guinea pigs in the trials, and soon find themselves haunted with hallucinations about the things they each experienced during their brief time in the afterlife. The original film starred Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, William Baldwin and Kiefer Sutherland.
Seeing as how Flatliners opened to mixed reviews over two decades ago, and currently echoes that with only a 48% rating on Rotten Tomates, it might seem like an odd movie to take into remake land. Most reboots/remakes are based on properties that were extremely popular at the time of their release or those that have gone on to be respected by audiences and critics alike. In the case of Flatliners, the film has taken on a slightly cult quality that has led it to stick in the minds of many people who see it, and would be likely to have interest in a modern take on the story, which will include changing the cast to three actresses and two actors.
The only star firmly attached to the Flatliners remake right now is Juno and Freeheld star Ellen Page, who’s been attached to the project for several months. The movie will be directed by Niels Arden Oplev (the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and written by Ben Ripley (2011’s Source Code).
Flatliners is already shaping up to have some intriguing talent in front of and behind the scenes, so if they keep going in this direction, there’s little doubt that they might manage to outdo the original.
