FLATLINERS Remake Gets A Director

Bloody Disgusting has it exclusive that original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev has been attached to direct an upcoming remake of Flatliners, quite possibly the most 1990 movie to have come out in 1990.

Oplev is having a busy year. He's directing the opening episode of CBS' Under the Dome, and his first big Hollywood film, Dead Man Down, hits theaters in less than two weeks. I have to admit, the Dead Man Down trailer always starts off boring and bland and forgettable, and I roll my eyes over having to sit through it again. But when the trailer's big, dramatic Pink Floyd cover kicks in, stuff gets crazy and I find myself suddenly eager to see the film. The effect soon wears off, but it's nice while it lasts.

Flatliners is a great movie to remake, by the way. The original is fine, but certainly nothing sacred. Meanwhile, the high concept (medical students experimenting with bringing themselves to near death) offers a remake many opportunities to distinguish itself. Columbia Pictures has been trying to get this project off the ground for quite some time. It now looks like that might actually happen.