Exclusive: Logan’s Run Remake To Be Directed By Gore Verbinski
We've learned Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame will be directing the long-brewing Logan's Run remake from Warner Bros.
The guy who brought us the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films looks to be the same guy who will finally bring us the long-marinading remake of a cult classic. Our trusted and proven sources tell us the remake of 1976’s Logan’s Run will be directed by Gore Verbinski, from a script by Jon Spaihts (Dune). The new version of the sci-fi film is something that’s been in the works at Warner Bros. literally for decades.
Considering how keen CEO David Zaslav seems to cash in on Warner Bros. Discovery’s franchise properties (such as the controversial announcement regarding the Harry Potter reboot), the news that this remake — which seemed stuck in development limbo since before the turn of the century — is finally getting some movement perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise.
As far as box office returns are concerned, the original Logan’s Run was more like Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger than his Pirates trilogy; i.e. it didn’t make much money. But like Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner — another dystopian sci-fi flick that bombed in theaters — the film built up a large cult following over the years. It’s now practically impossible to discuss dystopian science fiction without discussing Logan’s Run.
Based on the 1967 novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, Logan’s Run presents the audience with the dichotomy of a future society that claims to be a utopia, but that proves to be supported by horrifically dystopian methods. The humans living beneath sealed domes live carefree lives until they reach the age of 30, at which point they undergo the ritual of Carrousel which they are told effects a rebirth, but which in fact kills them. Anyone who tries to escape the Carrousel is pursued by the Sandmen, and Michael York plays the titular hero who starts off as one of the Sandmen, but soon becomes one of the pursued.
Gore Verbinski had just made his feature directorial debut with 1997’s Mouse Hunt when word began to emerge that producer Joel Silver wanted to remake Logan’s Run. Silver was attached to the project until he resigned from his production company in 2019. In all that time a long list of directors and writers attached to the remake has grown, including Bryan Singer of the Fox X-Men films, Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, and The Martian producer Simon Kinberg.
The Pirates director is an interesting choice for the remake, and if Logan’s Run is successful, it could represent something of a redemption for Gore Verbinski. His only feature film to bow since the disastrous The Lone Ranger was 2016’s A Cure for Wellness, which was panned by critics and made only $26.6 million per Box Office Mojo, against a $40 million production budget.
