heathers

Fox is remaking Heathers – the classic 1989 dark comedy starring Christian Slater and Winona Rider — as a TV show.  That’s insulting to something many movie fans hold dear, but (a) it shouldn’t be all that surprising given Hollywood trends, and (b) it can’t be much worse than most of what’s on TV these days anyway.  No, the thing to be really insulted by is the justification for its creation.  From Variety:

The idea for a “Heathers” revival came from inside UTA, where reps for [the assigned writers] decided the title was ripe for revival [translation: it was their fifth straight week without a new idea] and contacted Lakeshore [Entertainment] about potentially dusting off the franchise.

Generally, when I think “franchise,” I think about a broad story featuring many characters that’s open-ended enough to inspire sequels and comic book series and whatnot.  Not a single movie where most of the main characters die.

“We had the title, and talked about doing a film remake at times,” said Lakeshore prexy Gary Lucchesi. “But doing it for TV seemed like a fresh and original idea.”

Key word: seemed.  When you live in LA and are surrounded by people smelling their own farts and telling you how great it is, then yeah, a remaking a movie for TV seems “fresh and original.”  It even seems like an “idea.”  You smell that?  I had a burrito for lunch.

[Videogum]