When the prolific gang movie The Warriors came out in 1979, people literally went nuts over the movie.  Fights outside of theaters were reported to have broken out all over the country. To this day, The Warriors remains a cult classic as very few movies depicting gang life have really surpassed it. Dressing like one of the Baseball Furies was a popular Halloween costume back in the day.  Who can forget the eerie invitation?  “Warriors, come out to play!”

 

Fans of The Warriors have waited thirty years for a sequel, a prequel, a remake, something.  Well now it seems they might finally get what’s coming to them.  A Warriors remake/sequel is in production and set for a summer 2011 release (it was originally supposed to come out this year, not sure what happened). Like the original, this remake is said to center around a gang who are mistakenly blamed for the assassination of a cult leader (not like a religious cult but more of a pro-gang political figure) and the story follows them as they make their way back home to Venice, instead of Coney Island with this new version.  Yep, word is it’s going to be set in Los Angeles instead of New York, kind of like Escape from LA’s version of Escape from New York.  The formula didn’t quite work with that one, though, did it? 

 I’m a little skeptical and here’s why.  Part of the mystique and utter creepiness of the original had to do with the fact that it was set in these seedy underground parts of New York.  It was downright scary sometimes like in the grafitti-covered subways.  The feel of the place, the atmosphere, it was a character in itself and played into the suspense in a big way.  Not to say that LA doesn’t have its own dank alleys; the LA River does make for some nice cold and lonely shots. But while The Warriors was not the first of its kind, there had been other gang movies like The West Side Story, The Wanderers (a classic which came out the same year), and of course A Clockwork Orange, The Warriors was the first to make it more realistic and take it seriously. Okay so yeah, some of the gangs were caricatures but it didn’t sugarcoat gang life like some of the others.

There has been buzz about this project for a couple of years now with still nothing as of yet on IMDB except a little blurb saying it’s still in development.  There’s talk about Evan Ross starring (son of Diana), and Boardwalk Empire producer Terence Winter directing.  They might even try to use real gang members. According to Cinecon, producer Tony Scott had this to say:  

“Retooling is a good word, it’s not a remake,” he told the site.  “I’m shooting in present day L.A. The original, they don’t stand up very well. They’re great cult movies, but that was the ’70s, and I’m doing it around the gang culture in L.A., which is a very fast disappearing culture. They’re homogenizing all the looks from the MS-13s to the 18th Streets, the Crips, the Bloods, and I met with all the gang members, and they all said, ‘If you get this movie on’–because ‘The Warriors’ is their favorite movie–‘We’ll all stand on the Vincent Thomas Bridge, 100,000 gang members for the beginning of the movie and we’ll sign a treaty and we’ll be there.’ But if I’m not making it, you have to think, ‘How hard can it be?’ Because in its simplest form, it’s about ten little Indians getting from Point B to Point A through the course of the night, and I can’t get the script right. I’ve been struggling to get the script. I’ve been wanting to make this movie for ten years now, and now I’ve got all these gang members. It’s not just hip to touch those worlds, it educates me and the public, and they’re so colorful and fantastic.”

We’ll see.  Needless to say Nerdsociety will be keeping an eye on this one and keep you updated as more information becomes available.  Until then Boppers, be lookin’ good, real good.  Adios.

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