Logan's Run

For many film critics, Logan’s Run is no great classic, but it’s another one of those films that is such fun to watch (much like The Cassandra Crossing, another 70s campy cult classic) that you can’t help but be drawn into the story. Both films even have the same feel. They both have a great story and great plot – actually, a can’t-miss story which is why this film is so beloved as a sci-fi classic.

I forget when I first saw the film, but it must have been in the early 80s because soon after I read the original book that it was based on written by William Nolan. The book and its sequel were a bit… racy. The film touched upon it but certainly not in the way it was originally written. Logan’s Run has great visuals – either from the costumes or the look of the domed city. The film must have been a success because there was a short-lived TV series of the same name in the late 70s.

I’m surprised that a remake has failed to make it out of the screenplay stage for what seems like decades now. I’m shocked because dystopian films are so “in” now. In fact, if you read through the backstory about the number of times there has been a failed attempt to reboot Logan’s Run as a film, it would make for an awesome book on the process of how to fail at remaking a film. The number of directors who have been attached to the remake is astounding. I don’t really know what the problem is – the hard part (writing the screenplay) should be the easiest. Yet, every article I’ve read about yet another failed attempt at a remake has involved yet another draft of a new screenplay. What can you screw up with this story? A trained monkey could re-write the screenplay and it would come out looking great.

If Logan’s Run is ever going to be remade, the studio, the director and the writer are just going to have to say ‘that’s it, let’s just do this.’ I’m convinced that the multitude of screenwriters who have written drafts are either torn between being faithful to the book or being faithful to the film – at risk of alienating the fans of the story. As a fan (and as a screenwriter) I’d be thrilled with even a hybrid. Maybe I should write it.