Shawn Levy To Spearhead Columbia’s Starman Remake

Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy is on the verge of helming Columbia Pictures’ Starman remake, based on the John Carpenter sci-fi classic of the same name.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, it’s understood that the studio has drafted in Arash Amel (Erased, Grace of Monaco) to pen the screenplay, shifting the tale into the modern era. Michael Douglas, meanwhile, is attached to produce alongside Levy after working on the original more than three decades ago.

First released in 1984, Starman orbited around the story of a mysterious alien that responds to NASA’s far-flung spacecraft Voyager II. After careering into Earth with the intention of paying a visit, the extra-terrestrial assumes the form of a woman’s dead husband, eventually directing her toward a strange rendezvous site before it perishes. Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen anchored the ’80s feature, with the former earning an Oscar nomination at the time for his stoic turn as the alien/Scott Hayden.

Playing up the fish-out-of-water trope, John Carpenter’s cult sci-fi flick released during a celebrated golden age for the genre, though it’s unclear how Columbia will angle the remake for the 21st century. Appointing Shawn Levy at the helm can only tell us so much, given that the director’s main foray into science fiction was 2011’s Real Steel. Only when the studio casts its two primary leads will we be able to gauge the remake’s chances of making a splash.

From 2011’s The Thing remake to the rumored overhaul of Big Trouble in Little China, for better or worse, John Carpenter’s cinematic pantheon continues to attract Hollywood studios eager to roll out the remake treatment. But can Starman succeed where others have failed? Time will tell.