With Twisters booming at the box office this weekend, plus the recent successes of Hit Man and Anyone But You, it’s safe to say that Glen Powell is on fire right now. And soon it could be even more true, as Imagine Entertainment co-found Brian Grazer teases Powell starring in a remake of 1991 firefighter drama, Backdraft.
Grazer mentioned the news a few days ago on CNBC, and while he doesn’t have much to add, he seemed pretty confident about it. The fact that he mentioned Backdraft at all says a lot, because he had to know the press would run with the news. For what it’s worth, Powell hasn’t confirmed it, and deals fall through all of the time. So we’ll see what happens.
Released in 1991, Backdraft was directed by Ron Howard and starred Kurt Russell, Billy Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, and Robert De Niro. The story centered on brothers, both Chicago firefighters with loads of emotional baggage, who are on the trail of a serial arsonist. The film was a hit, earning $152M worldwide on a $40M budget.
There has been talk of remaking Backdraft before, with Howard stating to EW that Grazer had brought it up “from time to time.” Howard added “”Backdraft” would be really good [to adapt]. You could get the scope and the intensity that we had to do all in-camera — now we could do it efficiently and safely.”
So when would this Backdraft remake happen? That’s a big question because Powell has a ton of his plate including Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man, Ari Aster’s Huntington, a remake of Heaven Can Wait, and a new film by JJ Abrams.
This is obviously very early on, and the next thing to look out for is news on a director and writer. If that info drops soon, Backdraft could begin heating up very quickly.
