Popular radio shockjock Howard Stern will produce a remake of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, the 1979 cult classic which starred the iconic punk band The Ramones.
Alex Winter, who we all know and love as the excellent Bill S. Preston, Esq. in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, will pen the script.
Stern, who has interviewed The Ramones many times over the years on his radio show, said he got involved with the remake because he is a fan of the original Roger Corman-produced musical comedy.
The original film starred PJ Soles as Riff Randell, a rebellious punk rock-loving teenager who would do anything to go see her favorite band, The Ramones, in concert. But her music-hating oppressive high school principal Miss Togar has other plans for her. With the help of The Ramones, Riff and her friends prepare to take over the school and oust the evil Togar.
Winter, who has transitioned from actor to writer/director since his Excellent Adventure days, said “This movie seemed so ripe for a remake.” Umm… no it’s NOT. As much as I love Howard Stern and Alex Winter, I LOVE The Ramones way more and think a remake is a horrible idea and that it will only desecrate the memory of The Ramones.
The original was based around the music and iconic status of The Ramones and the rebellion inspired by the 1970′s wave of punk rock music. What band of today will they get for the remake? The fucking Jonas Brothers? Seriously, what fucking band? There’s no way to even make a new movie around The Ramones even if they wanted to, because three of the four original band members have passed away.
The original Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is one of my favorite movies of ALL time. In the summer of 1984, my best friend rented it at the video store and watched it every single day. It changed my life!!!! And believe it or not, this movie still holds up today, because not only does the concept of teenage rebellion transcend generations, but so does the music of The Ramones.
While I don’t particularly love remakes in general, I can tolerate some of them and even enjoy them sometimes. But this one is just going too fucking far. Just write a movie from scratch and call it something else and leave Rock ‘n’ Roll High School out it. And as Riff would say, if you don’t like it, you can put it where the monkey puts the nut.
[Source: Variety]
