Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for its upcoming sci-fi adaptation Total Recall.
The story is intended to be a bit of a mind-bender, with the audience never really figuring out which of the many possible stories is true for the protagonist, as everyone in the tale is trying to sell him a different version of himself. While the previous adaptation of the material, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, decided to tone down the cerebral nature of the tale, and limit itself to only one major twist, the new film seems to pull fewer twisty punches.
The new trailer gives us a bit more footage than we’ve had before, and focuses more on the plot, which does seem, as was promised, to be more grounded in the original Philip K. Dick story, We Can Remember it for You Wholesale. Notably missing from trailers or any other promotional material is any mention of going anywhere near Mars or having anything to do with aliens and terra-forming or whatever the end of the first film was supposed to be about. The only thing retained from the Schwarzenegger film seems to be the title, and that is just to keep audiences who don’t know the original story from getting too confused.
The official synopsis is thus:
Total Recall is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story ‘We Can Remember It For You Wholesale’ by Philip K. Dick. Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories.
For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he’s got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life—real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man.
Finding himself on the run from the police—controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world—Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.
Total Recall hits theaters on August 3, 2012.
