Steve Guttenberg’s been telling anyone who’ll listen about it for months, but now New Line has made it official – they’re working on a new version of the classic 80s comedy, Police Academy. However, whether this new version will feature Guttenberg is up for debate.
THR reports that the man behind the original Police Academy movies, Paul Maslansky, is steering the new film, which is designed to start from scratch and reboot the franchise. The first Police Academy saw a city throw open the doors of its police force to any recruit, much to the chagrin of its serious officers. The misfit officers band together and, of course, save the city.
But will Gutternberg be involved? It’s too early to say, because as yet no writer or director is attached to the film, but there have been rumours that it will be both reboot and sequel, with Steve returning as Carey Mahoney, the repeat offender who signed up to the the police force and became the de facto leader of the bumbling cops. However this time around he’d be a veteran officer, trying to put a new bunch of recruits through their paces.
That said, Guttenberg’s mainly spoken of the new film as a proper sequel, reuniting most of the original team, but it seems that certainly won’t happen now, as Malansky has confirmed he mainly wants a brand new cast.
You can see why New Line reckons its worth revisiting Police Adacemy, as while it had become a complete joke by the time of Mission To Moscow, the original film nevertheless spawned six sequels and two TV series, making it one of the most successful comedy franchises of the 80s.