If the new Frank Spotnitz TV Series is a success, they ought to turn the Richard Matheson scripts into feature films.
Filmed back to back and released every Halloween. The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler and The Night Killers.
Casting Kolchak right is the key.
Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Micheal Keaton, Harrison Ford, Phillip Seymour Hoffman... Hard to pick one after Darren Mcgavin.
Are you talking about a revival of the show or remakes of the movies?
In either case, I've long had my eye on a guy who'd be perfect for a new Kolchak -- Dennis Quaid. He's the right age, he can do drama well, and he's VERY good at smarta-- humor.
Yes, I meant the 'possible' movie remakes.
I'd just prefer to see The Nightstalker remade into a feature film rather than another TV series. Same as I'd prefer to see a 2.5 hour Salem's Lot Feature rather than yet another TV remake.
I'm not knocking TV. The Quality aspect has certainly grown in the last 10 years, eg. X Files, 24, Lost.
But I just think people are selling the concept short by not making a fully fledged movie out of the Matheson scripts.
But yeah Quaid would be great.
A few years back my brother and I were remembering the old show together. I have since got it on DVD and he on VHS. We decided on a line-up for the remake of the movie, or even a new "episode" with a plot formerly unreleased.
Kolchak: Michael Keaton, hands down
love interest (if any): Laura Dern
Vincenzo: Ed Asner (a la Lou Grant, but maybe too old by now)
Miss Emily: Angela Lansbury
Gordie the Ghoul: Tony Shaloub
potential monsters: Clooney, Nicholson, Duncan Clarke, Spacey, Fishburne, Snipes
I agree McGavin stole the show and is really unreplaceable, and the chemistry between him and Simon Oakland was priceless. Would love to have a scene where the two of them meet in a cameo, but alas...
Michael Keaton. I completely forgot. Absolutely. The Show is based in L.A. and Keaton was previously asked to join 'Lost' for ABC. I wonder if they've asked him back for Kolchak?
shareAh, if only Simon Oakland were still with us...
Michael Keaton isn't someone I would have thought of, but I can maybe see that. I can picture it, but I don't know how well he'd play the character and I doubt you'd get Michael Keaton doing a television series.
Not being a bandwagon Evil Dead fan, and having actually seen other things that he's done, I'd like to see Bruce Campbell. I almost said "I think...", but I know he would do the character quite well.
Really, I think I'd prefer just having the series left alone. I'm not too keen on remakes.
I'm currently shopping a script around Hollywood that was inspired by "The Night Stalker". Like many others, I'd wanted this film to be remade as a feature film, but got tired of waiting, so I wrote "04626".
MY story, takes place in LA, centers around a UCLA journalism major who's interning with the LA Times and is given a routine death story to follow up on - a girl found in a dumpster with her throat slashed and no blood found at the scene or in her body. My reasoning for this? Teeth don't grow back, anyone who's ever chipped a tooth can attest to that. So a vampire, if he lived hundreds of years, would eventually wear his teeth down to nothing. So, my vampire cuts the throats of his victims for the blood. I had the killings start after a massive electrical storm in LA killed power for three days. First one victim. Then another. Then another. Then, a house in an unicorporated area of South Central LA is found with FIFTY-FOUR bodies in it, all in beds or cots, all on life support, all with shunts in their arms (for blood transfusions - or for just draining blood. In other words, this house was a blood farm...)
The police don't realize that the serial killer they're after is also the man who kept all these people alive and on life support - but John McIntyre, the intern does. With his girlfriend, a pre-med student working part-time in the morgue as an autopsy assistant, his brother who is a literary major, and other friends who are in police science and computer technology, he sets out to crack the case.
But, like "The Night Stalker" this isn't an ordinary serial killer, it's a vampire.
Oh, and '04626' is all the identification the killer ever gets. It's his autopsy number. They never find out his real name...
Pat, '04626' sounds great. Good luck with it. I still stand by a studio remaking the original tv movies using the Matheson scripts as a basis.
The Night Killers script was pretty far out and would make a great third flick.
Hearing the news that Stuart Townsend has been cast as Kolchak is a bit of a joke. I like the guy but the casting is way off. Suddenly the new tv pilot seems like a big step backwards.
You know if the pilot sucks, and the heat dies down on remaking Kolchak, you should change the UCLA major angle into full blown journalist, or at least have the kid working for his first newspaper.
'John McIntyre'??
As in - TRAPPER John McIntyre??
> a routine death story to follow up on - a girl found in a dumpster with her throat slashed and no blood found at the scene or in her body.
Wait a minute. Where do you live, in that it is a routine death to find a body will all of its blood drained from it?
I'll thank you not to invite me to visit your town.
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"Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand." - S. Wonder
Michael Keaton as Kolchak is intriguing. I remember his quirky Bruce Wayne in the first two Batman films. He was much better as Bruce Wayne/Batman than Val Kilmer and vastly superior to George Clooney. Your list of potential villains for Kolchak is also very interesting. Either Kevin Spacey or Jack Nicholson would make excellent Skorzeny; both have a history or playing characters slightly around the bend. Oh, with modern computer technology, that cameo performance certainly wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Could be set up as a wink and a nod to the legions of loyal fans of those two enduring TV characters.
shareSorry, but the guy's a loser, and he always has been. He got where he is on the basis of sucking up to people, not talent.
And Dennis Quaid really wouldn't work, IMO.
Dammit, Kolchak is NOT PRETTY!!!
I just saw both TV movies on the re-released DVD and I think Paul Giamatti would be well suited to the role. His range is impressive and I think he could effectively show the fear the main character had. Given the industries need to use remakes to fill the void of creativity/talent/whatever I think it could introduce two good stories to a new audience.
With respect to the originals, man what great performances.
I've been a huge fan ever since the original movie came out 35 years ago.
The remake series with Townsend as Kolchak was unwatchable and was thankfully cancelled almost immediately.
If they were ever to do a remake of the original movie, my overwhelming choice for Kolchack would be Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame.
He has the perfect mix of cynicism that would be required of the role.
Jack Nicholson would also be an excellent choice, but it's hard to imagine him
taking the role.
As for the Tony Vincenzo role, how about John Goodman, Dennis Franz,or Jim Belushi?
I've also been a huge fan since I first saw the first film years ago, although I thought the second was a little weaker compared to the first one.
I also enjoyed the original series with McGavin as well.
I have not and don't intend to watch the new series if it ever surfaces over here in the UK.
My view is that Kolchak was supposed to be middle aged and not "eye candy for the ladies", which made the original concept exactly that, ORIGINAL. Updating it with a young (presumably good looking) reporter starting out on his career takes away what made the series different.
It also probably made it just a typical generic tv show that was unlikely to stand out in any way which presumably contributed to its cancellation
AMERICANS A people that pride themselves on virility and put on body armour to play rugby
Seagull, I totally agree. Nowadays shows lack any kind of originality, mainly because they all seem to follow the same formula; the "eye candy" male and/or female leads, usually both, with one having the hots for the other (these people are usually dressed to enhance the physical aspects of their gender).
Almost all shows nowadays follow this degraded formula. And they wonder why our youth are the way they are.
Bruce Campbell or Michael Keaton would be good as Kolchak. To make the character believable, he can't be a pretty boy. If nothing else, they need to read the book. In it, he was even more seedy that he appeared in the movie.
Dennis Franz would make a good Vincenzo. If nothing else, picture his role in Die Hard II for comparison.
Nicholson would make a better villain in the remake than the lead.
The TV "update" was really little more than a reworking of the X-Files. I watched the pilot just to see the digital insertion of Darren McGavin into the newsroom. Once I saw that, I changed the channel.