Does anyone out there remember director Renny Harlin's 1993 mountainside action romp "Cliffhanger"? Forget about it if you do, because a reboot is coming. Variety reports that StudioCanal will team with Neal Moritz's Original Films for the production, with a planned 2010 start date for the shoot. Of course, that shoot will first require a script, with the search for a screenwriter already underway.
The original "Cliffhanger" stars Sylvester Stallone as Gabe, a mountain rescue climber who flees to a lower altitude life after his actions result in the death of a co-worker's girlfriend. Gabe is forced to climb again when a distress call comes in during a visit with his former colleagues. As it turns out, the signal is little more than a ploy staged by a group of thieves, who become stranded after their in-air heist goes awry and their plane crashes. Gunshots ensue, hostages are taken, and only Gabe can save the day.
Interestingly, the Variety piece makes no mention of the plot or planned direction for this reboot. Moritz confirmed that the new "Cliffhanger" will span multiple mountaintop locations, but nothing more. The producer also revealed that the intention is to do with "Cliffhanger" what J.J. Abrams did with "Star Trek." By that, I assume he means "rake in lots and lots of box office dollars," since that's what "Trek" continues to do a week after its release.
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for "Cliffhanger". It's not a particularly good film, nor is it really bad enough to be classified as a "guilty pleasure." It's just another in the string of "trapped in one place" '90s action flicks that followed in the wake of "Die Hard". The cast is really what sells it: in addition to the Italian Stallion's Gabe, you have John Lithgow unleashing his inner badass as the leader of the stranded thieves. It's ridiculous and hokey, and it doesn't hold up under close scrutiny, but "Cliffhanger" continues to offer good, dumb fun for those who seek it.
Back to the original question: does anyone out there even remember "Cliffhanger"? Does the idea that a reboot is coming leave you on the floor, laughing? What plot points and/or themes do you see as essential for such a project? Would you like to see Stallone or Lithgow return in some capacity?
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