Paramount is developing a remake of the 1990 crime thriller Internal Affairs, which starred Andy Garcia and Richard Gere, Collider has exclusively learned.
Todd Garner will produce under his Broken Road Productions banner, and the project represents a change of pace for Garner, who has never really produced a crime movie before. He’s best known for producing studio comedies (Tag, Paul Blart: Mall Cop), horror movies (Haunt, The Possession of Hannah Grace), and action movies (Knight and Day, Into the Storm), so it’s refreshing to see him venture outside his wheelhouse for something a bit more gritty.
Mike Figgis directed the original film, which starred Garcia as an Internal Affairs agent who becomes obsessed with bringing down a manipulative cop (Gere) who has managed to maintain a spotless reputation within the LAPD despite being involved in a web of corruption.
William Baldwin and Michael Beach co-starred as Gere’s fellow cops, while Nancy Travis played Garcia’s wife and Laurie Metcalf played his partner. The supporting cast also featured Annabella Sciorra, Xander Berkeley, John Kapelos and a young Elijah Wood, who played Baldwin’s son.
Henry Bean wrote the 1990 movie, and Paramount is currently seeking a writer to pen the remake, which will no doubt feature two juicy lead roles. The original boasts an 88 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the film took in $27 million at the domestic box office, where it was the only January release to finish in the Top 50 that year despite playing on fewer than 1000 screens.
Paramount has been exploiting its library of late, with sequels to Top Gun and Coming to America arriving next year, and a remake of 48 Hours in the works with the Safdie brothers. Internal Affairs may not have the name-brand recognition of those films, but it features the kind of hard-to-resist premise that could entice audiences with the right stars.
The studio is currently mounting an Oscar campaign for its Elton John biopic Rocketman, which it hopes can duplicate the awards success that Bohemian Rhapsody enjoyed last year.
via Collider