A few months ago rumours about the film adaptation of Ken Grimwood’s 1982 best seller “Replay” was to be helmed by Ben Affleck. Things have been quiet for a while in regards to the film and it looked like the movie might be dead in the water.
While Affleck would have given it a gritty dark tone (and the book certainly does have dark moments), it might have skewed it into a bleak and somber film. Robert Zemeckis is, of course, no stranger to films that feature different time periods and multiple arcing storylines within one plot.
Rumour has it that he is circling this script as a way of getting back into live action filmmaking as his failed Yellow Submarine remake fell through when his Image Movers Digital studio closed its doors.
At the moment it’s just a rumour, but if you haven’t read Replay then you need to. It has the elements that made Back to the Future such a great movie.
The synopsis of the book is below:
43-year-old radio journalist Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in 1988 and awakens back in 1963 in his 18-year-old body as a student at Atlanta’s Emory University. He then begins to relive his life with intact memories of the next 25 years, until, despite his best efforts at cardiac health, he dies of a heart attack, again, in 1988. He immediately returns to 1963, but several hours later than the last “replay”. This happens repeatedly with different events in each cycle, each time beginning from increasingly later dates (first days, then weeks, then years, then ultimately decades). Jeff soon realizes that he cannot prevent his death in 1988, but he can change the events that occur before it, both for him, and for others.
Now all they have to do is find the perfect actor for the part. My pick would be Tom Cruise.
Hopefully soon we will be able to confirm all the key players in what is now assured to be a fun, thrilling and touching film.
