Howard Stern might be taking his obvious (if diminishing) resemblance to Joey Ramone a bit too far. In addition to lining up a gig producing a remake of Porky’s, the former king of all media is working with producer Larry Levinson on a remake of Roger Corman’s intentionally silly ’50s throwback student revolt picture and Ramones vehicle Rock N Roll High School. Who better to write such a thing than Bill S. Preston, Esq? Alex Winter, who says ‘this movie seemed so ripe for a remake’ will script.
My first reaction is to think this is an utterly pointless enterprise much like the Death Race 2000 prequel you’ll see in a couple weeks. If the Ramones could reprise their role as the band that ultimately incites students to destroy their school, we might be able to get somewhere. Casting the band 30 years later could be a way to get some entertaining perspective on how things have changed, but it’s too late for that now.
But just as I have to admit that parts of the new Death Race are actually a lot of fun (even if, and sometimes because the movie is so resolutely stupid) I wonder if this could actually be entertaining. It’s not like the original is an untouchable classic. (Though the cast is: Clint Howard, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Dick Miller, Don Steele, etc.) And the same approach that worked the first time — reworking a throwback ’50s high school rebellion story — could work just as well now if the base material was ’80s high school comedies.
It all hinges on the band, of course, and what group now would possibly have the same sort of underground cred, simple power and awkward charisma as the Ramones? Part of me would love to see Stern and Winter put together a new version based around rappers, but even then who’s the go-to artist?
While you brainstorm, enjoy the trailer for the original below.