‘The Bodyguard’ Sans Whitney: Will the Remake Do the Classic Justice?
Everything old is indeed new again. Warner Brothers is planning a remake of the 1992 film, The Bodyguard–with a few minor adjustments. And so far, we’re not sure how to feel about it.
First off, Whitney Houston fans, prepare to be disappointed. The star who made the film a mega-blockbuster hit will not resume her role as Rachel Marron, the international singer and diva facing a stalker’s death threat. Instead, the studio is searching for a young female pop star for the lead role. The goal is to recreate the phenomenon that was the original by giving an already popular artist their own, “I Will Always Love You,” ballad to last through the years.
Early rumors was that Rihanna was the front runner for the role. While it would be interesting to see an unexpected pick for the female lead, insiders say that the film’s producers may have already tapped Clint Eastwood to direct Beyonce. If that is true, then it is quite possible the singer will be on track to play every singer in history, real and fictional, that has ever lived.
In the modern version of The Bodyguard, there will be some of the old and a lot of the absurd and new. According to Deadline.com:
The new version is similar, including the love story, but here the bodyguard will be a former Iraq war veteran who gets the job protecting the star as his first gig after leaving the Army. He discovers that the world of Twitter, Google Maps and TMZ has made access to celebrities easier than ever, making the job more difficult than ever.
I can see it now: a psycho Bey stan using Foursquare to track down her every move. Thrilling, no?
Frankly, all this news has just made me miss the original film and soundtrack even more. Remember when Rachel throws a tantrum about having her Sunday brunch rescheduled to Tuesday? Remember the love scene withKevin Costner? Remember waiting for “Run To You” to come on so you could belt out the falsettos in your lace-up school shoes?
Ok, so maybe that last memory is a personal one, but point is this: The Bodyguard was and remains a defining moment in 90′s pop culture. The interracial love interest between the two stars was one of the first scripted without the entire storyline being dedicated to the difference between the two and a race relations debate. The film also proved that a black female lead could not only make a hit film, she could headline one that earned $441 million worldwide. To this day, the film is one of Warner Brothers’ biggest global hits, so whoever ends up with the lead role–expect to see their face everywhere you turn.
I wonder what Ms. Houston thinks of all this hoopla…
What’s your favorite Bodyguard moment? What do you think about the plans for a remake: could the update become an upgrade?
Nooooooooooo! No! No! No! Stop It! Stop it with the remakes of mives that are not that old! Stop it with the talentless “celebrities” being given roles they don’t deserve. Let us first praise the Most High that Rihanna was not chosen! But really, the Bodyguard came out when I was two years old, and I can still watch it. It’s good just as it is. Go remake Gone with The Wind. It’s rude to remake a movie when its stars are still alive and well. And let’s stop incorporating the Iraq war into every film with an angry man who works in a law enforcement type scenario. It’s not funny or cute. Does the phrase “too soon” mean anything? There are still men fighting over there as I sit on my a$$ and type. This is not supposed to be casual subject matter for movies. I cant. I will not be watching this remake. I will pull up netflix and just watch the movie as it was meant to be. The ’90s was NOT that long ago. can you imagine if every ’90s classic just got up and remade? smdh
@ Monzi
Let us first praise the Most High that Rihanna was not chosen!
This had me dying with laughter!!!!!!!!
But whyy??? The Bodyguard does not need to be remade. The soundtrack and everything was epic! Just leave it alone. Get your creative juices flowing and create a movie that isn’t a remake of something that is already a classic.
Why? To early for a remake
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Please just leave it be- not re-make worthy, really (even though i LOVED it). sidenote: who’s going to play the sister? solange?
It is truly the end of an era. I used to live and breath the soundtrack and I’ve seen the original movie hundreds and hundreds of times. I was a HUGE Whitney fan as a kid… I don’t want them to remake it, but I understand that they are more concerned about the money than about preserving 90s history.