In 1981, Walt Disney Pictures released Condorman, a comedy/adventure film centered around a cartoonist (Michael Crawford) who begins to believe he’s a costumed hero and assists a female Russian secret agent in defecting to the United States safely.
Although the film wasn’t too successful and was hit hard by critics, today it’s remembered fondly by Disney geeks (myself included, of course) as a decent concept that was perhaps executed poorly.
Though no one ever thought that the hero would be back on the big screen, Moviehole is reporting that Disney may be interested in remaking Condorman and they’re looking at Robert Pattinson to play the lead role. They’re also considering shifting the genre from comedy to action.
Disney is well-aware of the film’s current status too. They’ve brought the Condorman costume and props to Comic-Con and the Pixar Toy Story Toons short “Small Fry” included a Condorman toy as a nod to the original film. So the interest is still there.
Plus, The Amazing Spider-Man comics editor Stephen Wacker has been campaigning for Marvel to acquire the character into their comics for a while now, as Disney owns Marvel.
Admittedly, I can’t see Pattinson in a silly role like this but if the studio is indeed taking a more serious approach and trying to turn Condorman into a bonafide action flick, then this could be worth keeping an eye on.