It appears that the latest major role to be doing the rounds in Tinsel Town is the lead in the planned remake of Total Recall, with producers now actively looking for someone to step in Arnie’s shoes. Shooting is due to start next March, with Len Wiseman directing, and so they need to book an actor in now before everybody’s dance card fill up.
According to THR, currently at the top of the casting wish-list is Colin Farrell, with Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender also being considered. Although it seems to difficult to imagine Farrell in a role once played by Arnie, it depends very much on the direction the script takes. Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 movie was only loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s story, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, so there’s plenty of scope to alter the part from an Austrian man-mountain with limited acting skills, to something more suited to Farrell.
The bigger question is whether Farrell can really lead a big Hollwood movie, as the likes of SWAT and Miami Vice have bombed, and suggested audiences just aren’t that interested in him. Hardy or Fassbender would seem a better choice, although Hardy may be too busy if reports he’s got a major role in Batman 3 are correct, while Fassbender may be free to fill the role if he’s interested.
Total Recall follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars, who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air. Dick’s story very much played with the fact you’re never sure if things are real or if it’s all a dream, but it’s not known how much of that uncertainty will be kept in the remake.