Greetings from Tromaville everyone! Yes, I was permitted to walk the halls of Troma Studios today for an exclusive interview with legendary low-budget filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman (which will be posted in full tomorrow), but I’ve got a hefty report for you all in the meantime. There’s some good news, some bad news, and of course – some strange news.
Let’s start off with the biggest bombshell for those of us gearing up to see Steve Pink’s remake of The Toxic Avenger, which was supposed to have Austrian muscle-head Arnold Schwarzenegger attached as a major character. Here’s the key phrase – supposed to. While IMDB still might have Arnie listed as the only cast member announced as of yet, it looks like the newly rejuvenated action star is no longer attached. While talking to Lloyd, he mentioned the following snippet:
WGTC: I love that Arnold Schwarzenegger has committed to [The Toxic Avenger] remake and wants to be in it…
Lloyd Kaufman: Well no, he unsigned. He signed and apparently unsigned. I’m not sure what went down, I’m not really privi’ed, but yes, it was announced in every newspaper, there are photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger holding up a poster of The Toxic Avenger. From what I understood, he got a better deal and had his fingers crossed.
For those of you hoping to see Arnold as some type of security muscle or environment-destorying baddie, looks like you’ll have to keep dreaming. Oh well, the news was good while it lasted, no? Of course, Lloyd isn’t directly working on the project himself, so take that for what you will, but I trust the man who created Toxie from his creative sludge.
Secondly, it looks like Lloyd Kaufman and company have their own sequel to The Toxic Avenger in the works, one that deals with The Toxic Twins, but the script still isn’t done. I’ll let Lloyd explain:
WGTC: Do you have any plans for after Return To Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 2?
Lloyd Kaufman: No, we’re writing, well, right here… [shows me a script in progress]
WGTC: Oh, so another sequel to The Toxic Avenger?!
Lloyd Kaufman: Our own Toxic Avenger. This will be the low-budget Toxic Avenger.
WGTC: What’s the working title?
Lloyd Kaufman: Well, Grime and Punishment. We want to go film in Chernobyl. It’d be exciting. We filmed The Toxic Avenger Part 2 in Japan, not all of it, but we thought we’d stir it up a little bit. It’s still about Toxie, but in each Toxic Avenger movie, Toxie gets older. In Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part 4, he and Sara had babies, so now those babies have become adolescents and go through puberty, but it centers on Toxie. The Toxic Twins are involved, though. We’ve got a long way to go, we’ve been working on the script for about four years and it’s still not there, but we’re getting there!
…We’ve had a bunch of writers, but the guy who is solving [Toxic Avenger V] directed [Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie]….
Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Not only are we getting Return To Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 1 (which I’ve already had the privilege of screening) and Return To Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 2, but it looks like Troma is getting all nostalgic and rebooting its most fabled franchise. While “Grime and Punishment” is only a working title on the script and obviously subject to change, the whole Chernobyl concept sounds perfectly up Toxie’s alley. Let it be known that The Toxic Avenger V: The Toxic Twins has previously been teased as The Toxic Avenger‘s fifth sequel, but it looks like the film’s current standing is a little more Toxie focused, with a way more awesome *possible* title that I majorly approve of.
