Spies Like Us, John Landis’ 80’s cold war comedy starring Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase and Donna Dixon’s bouncing mammaries, is getting a shot at becoming relevant in the 2000s.
Warner Brothers and Imagine will be distributing/producing a remake and has tapped Eurotrip/Cat in the Hat writers Jeff Schaffer, Alec Berg and Dave Mandel work out the laughs and plot tweaks.
The original Spies Like Us hit theaters in 1985 and followed the antics of two basement office CIA employees who bumble their way into and assignment seeking intelligence on a new mobile Soviet ICBM. Unbeknownst to them, they’re AK-47 fodder, as the real CIA agents need a decoy. The movie culminates in the agents uncovering a sinister plot and getting some sweet Soviet hiney in the process.
I was only about 11 or 12 when I first saw the original and don’t remember much beyond a (then) hilarious test-taking scene where Akroyd and Chase meet, but I’m actually looking forward to see how they tweak the original. I recall enjoying it back in the time when my little heart wasn’t black and shriveled– it may be time to find the DVD and give it another look to see how it holds up. The original Spies Like Us is out on an absolutely crappy early Warner DVD (cardboard snap case- the new hotness). Once the movie is completed and ready to hit theaters, I’d bet we’ll see a new, much improved DVD release as tie-in.