Before science fiction stories crossed over to moviegoers of all ages with Star Wars, genre movies were inherently much darker.
For a long time, science fiction flicks have been warning us about nuclear war and technology getting ahead of humanity, and the sci-fi films of the late sixties and seventies had pretty dark premises that tried to shake audiences up about the future.
Just think back to the incredible ending of Planet of the Apes, and the even darker sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Then there was Colossus: The Forbin Project, where artificial intelligence becomes aware and threatens to destroy the world like Skynet. Not to mention The Omega Man, which was the second adaptation of I Am Legend, Soylent Green, and of course Logan’s Run.
Like many classic si-fi stories, Logan’s Run was somewhat prophetic, and its message would still ring loud today. Imagine a world of the future where your life is devoted to complete pleasure, but you’re not allowed to live past twenty-one. Those who don’t believe the lie that they can be reincarnated through a ritual called Carrousel flee the city, and are chased down by futuristic police called Sandmen. But one Sandman, Logan Five, questions his role in all of this, and goes on the run himself when his time is up.
You may recall that last year there was another remake announcement for Logan’s Run, and it’s been at least a decade since Warner Brothers has tried to get a reboot going. But now this incarnation of Logan’s Run may be kaput because Ryan Gosling, who was going to play Logan Five, has just backed out of the project. As Entertainment Weekly confirms, Nicholas Winding Refn, who directed Gosling in Drive, was also going to direct Gosling in the new version of Run, and with his lead bowing out, well, who knows if he’ll want to continue on with another actor?
If it’s done right, Logan’s Run could be a hell of a film today. The original 1976 version has its fans, but it’s very clunky, and the special effects weren’t up to snuff. Again, Warners has been trying for over a decade to get another version off the ground, and they’ve hit a lot of bumps in the road along the way, but maybe we’ll indeed see another incarnation of it somewhere in time. Thankfully we’re all allowed to live past 21, so there’s no big rush.
