There are good Arnold movies. There are bad Arnold movies. Then there are the Arnold comedies. As a mild career revitalization, Arnold Schwarzenegger became a comedic lead in the ’90s, headlining yuk fests of sorts like Twins, Jingle All the Way, Junior and Kindergarten Cop. As Hollywood has started making their way remaking, rebooting or sequelizing Arnold’s past projects, it looks like the comedies are next in line, with a remake of Kindergarten Cop in the works. And maybe a TV series too.
Unlike most of these reports, we do know whose on board to write and direct this new project. Don Michael Paul, an actor who also helmed hits like Half Past Dead, Who’s Your Caddy and Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, will direct, and he works from a screenplay by American Pie writer David H. Steinberg. It should be noted this production comes from Universal‘s 1440 Entertainment, so don’t expect to see this in a theater near you necessarily. This is likely a direct-to-DVD effort, or perhaps a TV movie or sorts.
For those who don’t remember, or haven’t seen, the original, Kindergarten Cop focused on a tough police cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a drug dealer. This new one, however, tells the story of a cop and his “Indian sidekick” Sanjit looking for the Federal Witness protection program’s missing flash drive, which somehow ends up in an early elementary classroom. How this will translate into not only a whole new movie but a TV show is a question Steinberg will have to answer. But those are the facts, folks.
Let’s not beat around the bush: Kindergarten Cop is not a good movie. But if it works — and it kinda does — it’s because of how Arnold’s unusual personality carries it forward. With that, while it’s unknown whom will play his character in this new movie, it’s hard to imagine someone could capture their oddball…..err, charm. That said, this looks like they are going more for name recognition than trying to revere to the original.
A $202 million hit from a $15 million production back when it came 1990, the Ivan Reitman movie isn’t necessarily remembered but it was definitely seen back in the day. And if that gets Universal some extra money between their latest rakings, then I guess that’s alright. [Showbiz 411]
