Exclusive: Starman Remake With Michael B. Jordan In The Works
It’s been almost 40 years, but it looks like these particular aliens haven’t gotten any better at driving. Our trusted and proven sources tell us Michael B. Jordan will star as the lead of a remake of 1984’s Starman to be directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy). Jordan will take up the role originated by Jeff Bridges, of an alien who crash lands on Earth and falls in love during his quest to get back home.
It was back in 2016 when it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that Shawn Levy was attached to direct a Starman remake in development, with Arash Amel (A Private War) writing the script.
“The upshot is that I’m not going to touch that phenomenal movie, unless I feel I have something new to say or a new way to say. And thus far in the script development of Starman, we haven’t gotten to a draft that feels worthy of remaking that title.”
-Shawn Levy in 2020 on the likelihood of Starman being made
Back then Levy was best known as the guy who had directed the Night at the Museum films, though he’s since gained more notoriety as the man behind the camera of Free Guy, and one of the Duffer Brothers’ most constant collaborators on Stranger Things. Before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, he was busy directing the upcoming Deadpool 3.
Before now, the last word we’d heard on the Starman remake wasn’t very good. In 2020, Levy told Collider the film was either somewhere on the “far horizon” or “unlikely” to be made at all.
We’ve exclusively learned Michael B. Jordan has joined the cast of Shawn Levy’s Starman remake as the titular alien hero.
“The upshot is that I’m not going to touch that phenomenal movie, unless I feel I have something new to say or a new way to say,” Levy said in 2020. “And thus far in the script development of Starman, we haven’t gotten to a draft that feels worthy of remaking that title.”
The news that Michael B. Jordan has joined the cast of Starman would seem to signal that either Arash Amel cracked the code of the remake, or other screenwriters were brought on board. It’s not rare at all for a script to go through multiple writers’ hands before finally being acceptable to the production’s other creatives.
The Original Starman
The original Starman is, among other things, a testament to the range of its director, John Carpenter. While Carpenter remains best known for more horror and action-leaning features like Halloween, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and more, Starman is more of a road trip romance.
Jeff Bridges stars as the titular alien who crash lands in Wisconsin and assumes the form of recently deceased Scott Hayden, the former husband of Jenny (Karen Allen). While Jenny is initially terrified of the alien, he eventually convinces her to help him make his way across the country to Arizona, where his people can pick him up. Along the way, the pair fall in love.
The original film was not a box office smash hit, but it was well received by critics. Bridges earned his very first Oscar nomination for Best Leading Man (though he lost it to F. Murray Abraham for the latter’s performance as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus), making Starman the only John Carpenter-directed feature to receive an Oscar nomination.
Once we know more about Michael B. Jordan starring in the Starman remake, we’ll make sure you know.
