Warner Bros. has found a guy to help bring back the mustachioed machismo of the 80s. No, not Magnum PI (yet) — director Phil Joanou will helm their remake of the gritty cop flick Sharky’s Machine.
Based on a novel by William Diehl, the story follows a hardass vice detective who falls for an expensive hooker who’s caught up in a complex scheme involving a mob boss, a presidential candidate and a shadowy power monger.
The original movie, which starred Burt Reynolds (whose own face has been remade several times since his glory days), was fairly unremarkable aside from Rachel Ward’s rack and Henry Silva’s plunge from an Atlanta skyscraper. There was a rumor a while back that Reynolds would helm the remake himself, but they’re probably better off with Joanou, who previously directed the great Penn/Oldman gangster flick State of Grace and the underappreciated Three O’Clock High.
Apparently Mark Walhberg is exec producing and might take the lead role, but Joanou just finished The Rock’s football movie Gridiron Gang – maybe he can convince Mr. Johnson to grow some lip fuzz and shoot his adversary out of a thirty-story high-rise.