Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman is in final negotiations to direct a Total Recall remake for Columbia Pictures according to Variety.

The original film directed by Paul Verhoeven in 1990 starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone and followed an apparently unsophisticated construction worker, Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger), who turns out to be a freedom fighter from Mars who has been relocated to Earth, and his attempts to restore order, and reverse the corrupt influence of commercial powers.

Kurt Wimmer, who recently wrote the script for Salt, is writing the screenplay which is being described as a “new, contemporized adaptation”. In the press release Wisemen commented:

“I’ve always been fascinated with Philip K. Dick’s short story, and I’m excited at that prospect of diving even deeper into the type of world it evokes and the questions it asks. I love that the most crucial mystery our character is trying to solve is the one of his own soul.”

Len Wiseman is also producing Underworld 4 and may return to direct Die Hard 5 if Bruce Willis gets his wish, so it could be a while before we see the Total Recall remake on the big screen.

Do you want a Total Recall remake?

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Just under a year ago we heard that Paul Verhoeven, the director of Total Recall, Robocop and Basic Instinct, had signed on to direct The Surrogate for 20th Century Fox. The film is based on a 2004 book by Kathryn Mackel and centers on a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane. Halle Berry signed on to play the mother, however we haven’t heard anything about it since.

Verhoeven recently spoke to MTV about the film, which he says is still in the works, and he explained why the project is a difficult one to get off the ground.

“Halle Berry is attached to the project and we discussed it all. The question is where do we get the $30 million to do a project that includes a lot of things that have to do with abortion and… surrogate mothers.”

Verhoeven told Josh that Berry is in for the role of the hopeful mother-to-be; if the surrogate has been cast, the filmmaker didn’t mention it. He also didn’t get into the particulars the conflict at the center of the story, saying only that “you can read about it in the newspapers nowadays.”

Verhoeven sees the end result as “provocative and sexual,” an aesthetic which he feels has been too long absent from popular cinema. “There are nearly no movies anymore with sex clearly in it,” he said. “If you look at what’s there, it’s all PG-13. There is really no R anymore.” The plan is for “The Surrogate” to change all that.

First of all, who the hell doesn’t want to provide the funds for a “provocative and sexual” movie starring Halle Berry and directed by Paul Verhoeven? Halle may have had 3 years off to have a child and probably isn’t as ‘bankable’ as she was in her post-Oscar years, but still…

Secondly, I think Verhoeven has a point. Studios nowadays want to appeal to everyone so as to maximize revenue and increase toy sales. When was the last time we saw something a bit different? A bit naughty? Kick-Ass is the only recent movie I can think of that took a risk with a 12 year old murderer, and it will probably pay off. The young demographics may be the people giving Harry Potter and Batman all the box office gross, but there are still adult currently in existence who may want to see something a bit more grown up.

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Halle Berry, who recently won the Decade of Hotness Award at Spike TV’s 2009 Guys Choice Awards, is in talks to join The Surrogate according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, not to be confused with Surrogates staring Bruce Willis, is based on a 2004 book by Kathryn Mackel and centers on a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane. Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) was hired to direct last week, and Ralph Winter (X-Men trilogy) is producing.

Halle Berry is in talks to star in “The Surrogate” for 20th Century Fox. The move follows Paul Verhoeven’s boarding to develop and direct the thriller, which Ralph Winter is producing along with Deborah Giarratana, Robin Guthrie and Susana Zepeda.

Berry is interested in the part and Fox is keen to have her do it, though official dealmaking has yet to begin. Berry would play the wife who wants to have the child.

This would be Berry’s return to the big screen after having time off to reproduce. After winning the Worst Actress Razzi for Catwoman Berry has been trying to return to her Oscar roots with dramas such as Things We Lost in the Fire. The problem with that is smaller films don’t get big releases or attention (unless they get Oscars) so it feels like Halle has been gone for years. Personally i’d like her to make a few fun films like Swordfish, or maybe hitch a ride on another action franchise (non-superhero).

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