'X-Men: Dark Phoenix' director Simon Kinberg inks deal to remake 'Logan's Run'
After more than a decade in development, the Logan’s Run remake has finally inked a deal with its director.
Simon Kinberg has signed on to direct the sci-fi film, which was first adapted for the screen in 1976 with Michael York playing the titular character.
According to Deadline, Warner Bros has brought in Kinberg – who is currently directing X-Men: Dark Phoenix – to take the helm of the project written by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One and Two screenwriter Peter Craig.
The remake has gone through a string of names attached to both direct and take the lead of Logan 5, a law enforcement officer living in a utopian universe where society’s equilibrium is maintained by killing off its citizens once they reach the age of 30 (aged 21 in William F. Noland and George Clayton Johnson’s original 1967 novel).
Logan is tasked with capturing runners trying to escape their fate but when his own end is nigh, he goes on the run too.
Directors like Bryan Singer (X-Men) and Joseph Kosinski (TRON Legacy) have been linked to the directing job, with Drive’s Nicolas Winding Refn the most recent name attached along with his frequent collaborator Ryan Gosling in the leading role.
Recently it was suggested that the role of Logan would be gender-switched to become female, which certainly fits with the growing number of female action leads.
Wonder Woman, Atomic Blonde, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Red Sparrow and the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise all feature women playing central action roles, as Hollywood responds to a growing appetite for action heroines.
LOGAN’S RUN REMAKE: A TIMELINE
1967: Logan’s Run book published
1976: Logan’s Run film released
1977-78: Logan’s Run TV series airs on CBS and is cancelled after one season
Mid 1990s: Warner Bros begin developing a remake
April 2000: Skip Woods enters negotiations to write and direct with Joel Silver producing
March 2004: Bryan Singer brought in to develop and direct. Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco brought in to pen the script
December 2004: Dan Harris says he submitted a first draft written with Singer
February 2005: Christopher McQuarrie hired to rewrite script
February 2006: Production scheduled to begin in September/October 2006 in Vancouver
May 2006: Singer leaves project as director. Later that year, both Robert Schwentke and James McTiegue are approached to direct but neither sign on
August 2007: Joseph Kosinski tapped to direct with a new script penned by screenwriter Timothy J. Sexton
May 2010: Carl Erik Rinsch hired to direct
June 2010: Alex Garland was hired to write the film
August 2011: Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn attached to direct a script written by Andrew Baldwin with Ryan Gosling and Rose Byrne set to star
October 2012: Ryan Gosling leaves project
September 2013: Nicolas Winding Refn confirms departure from film
June 2013: Kevin Levine attached to write script
April 2015: Reports suggest the lead Logan would be played by a woman
March 2018: Simon Kinberg and Peter Craig sign up to direct and write, respectively.
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