Universal Pictures
Everything Arnold Schwarzenegger did in his prime is coming back, some of them as remakes (Total Recall; Conan the Barbarian) and some as late-coming sequels (The Terminator; Conan the Barbarian). We haven’t seen the return of any of his comedies, though there has been talk of a Twins follow-up. And now here’s news that Universal is rebooting Kindergarten Cop.
According to Showbiz 411, the new incarnation will not star Schwarzenegger and will actually be headed straight to video. That is, unless the studio looks at its Jurassic World money this morning and decides all their hit ’90s properties should return to theaters – Kindergarten Cop was Universal’s top-grossing movie in 1990, just ahead of Back to the Future Part III.
For now, the Kindergarten Cop redo (IMDb has it listed as Kindergarten Cop 2) is being produced by the studio’s 1440 Entertainment division. They’re the ones responsible for a lot of direct-to-video sequels you didn’t know existed, such as The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power and this year’s Tremors 5: Bloodline. They also make Beethoven sequels, which means they’re especially interested in properties originally featuring former child actress Sarah Rose Karr.
It’s likely there are some people out there who love Kindergarten Cop enough to be upset about it being rebooted, but this is hardly anything to worry about because of its low visibility as a non-theatrical release. Maybe they won’t even bother to find a small-screen equivalent of Schwarzenegger’s massive presence in the original. It’ll just be about a tough cop put in charge of a bunch of brats. Extreme contrast in size won’t matter.
I speculate that decision based on the fact that there isn’t really anyone like Schwarzenegger today. There are certainly men who are larger in size, but not who have the star status he had in 1990. His comedies were all about calling attention to his physique but also his reputation as the biggest action star of his time. You can’t redo Twins or Junior with just any actor.
Kindergarten Cop, however, has already been redone in a way with other movies about action-star types watching over kids. Vin Diesel had The Pacifier. Dwayne Johnson had The Game Plan. Hulk Hogan had Mr. Nanny. John Wayne even sort of did it before them all with The Cowboys.
The Kindergarten Cop remake/sequel will be written by David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2) and directed by Don Michael Paul (Jarhead 2: Field of Fire). It’s due sometime in 2016.
Related Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger
