For the third time Bill Goldman will be able to cash-in on his novel Heat, having written the original book, the screenplay for the ’86 adaptation of the book, and now a screenplay for a re-adaptation (or remake of the first film, however you want to look at it). The first film starred Burt Reynolds and was directed by the redundantly 
named Dick Richards, while the new film will have Brian De Palma behind the camera, and Jason Statham out front. As you probably realize by now, this has nothing to do with Michael Mann’s Heat.
In any event, Statham will play his usual sort of dormant badass, though this time he’ll be a recovering gambling addict and a man who refuses to use guns. Naturally he gets wrapped up in some revenge and other assorted nastiness when a friend loses big.
This is theoretically a step up for Statham from his usual b-action fare (a genre that is really starting to wear me out), though De Palma hasn’t really knocked one out of the park in ages. For that matter Goldman hasn’t written much in the last ten years, though his output through the 80s and 90s represents a lot of solid action and dramatic work, while his late 60s and 70s material includes Oscar-winning scripts for All The President’s Men and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
All in all this could be a promising project and one that jump starts the increasingly bland career of the very talented Statham. No one involved is a sure thing, but there’s lots of potential if these guys step it up to their A-games of yore.
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Source | Collider