(L to R) Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in 1969’s ‘Easy Rider.’
Is there truly any movie that someone won’t consider remaking nowadays? Are we moments away from hearing that a ‘Citizen Kane’ redo, about a tech billionaire obsessed with NFTs (or, er, Twitter), is being thrown into production with Adam McKay directing.
All right, so we’ll take off our cynical goggles and give it to you straight: a group of companies that own the rights to 1969 counterculture classic ‘Easy Rider’ is looking to mount a redo.
The gaggle of finance types and producers, which according to Variety includes Maurice Fadida’s Kodiak Pictures, Defiant Studios’ Eric B. Fleischman, and the Jean Boulle Group, has announced its intent to make a new version of the movie.
In the original, best friends and free-spirited hippies––Wyatt, aka Captain America (Peter Fonda), and Billy (Dennis Hopper)––set off on a long journey from Los Angeles to New Orleans after completing a lucrative cocaine deal. In high hopes of making it in time for Mardi Gras, the duo of motorcycle rebels zoom through the quiet United States heartland in their chromed custom-made Harley Davidson chopper bikes, as a vibrant tapestry of diverse people, friends and foes, and unparalleled landscapes unfold. They’re in search of that so-called independence, even though malicious animosity and senseless violence get in the way. Can the two easy riders beat the system and sail into the sunset?
(L to R) Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, and Dennis Hopper in 1969’s ‘Easy Rider.’
Hopper and Fonda wrote the drug-laden motorcycle epic with Terry Southern, and Hopper directed. It featured an early role for a young Jack Nicholson, and despite its counterculture nature, was embraced by culture in general, earning two Oscar nominations and entering contention for the Cannes Film Festival’s coveted Palme d’Or.
It also made $60 million at the worldwide box office on a reported $400,000 budget and has long since been popping up on lists of the Best American Movies. And yes, while people will be up in arms about a reboot, let’s not forget that a sequel rode in back in 2012, focusing on Wyatt’s family legacy.
“Our goal is to build upon the counterculture and freedom narrative the original left us with and give the youth of today a film that pays serious attention to their own countercultures and challenges,” Fadida tells Variety. “What the young viewers of today are experiencing in their everyday lives may seem crazy to older generations, but it can very well become the societal norm, as was the case with the cultural shift of the late 1960s. We are hoping to play a part in that shift.”
The inspiration reportedly came from how the ‘Creed’ franchise has continued the story of ‘Rocky’ but with a modern eye and new characters. Yet while ‘Rocky’ spawned its own series of follow-ups (of mixed quality), ‘Easy Rider’ stands alone (no one is counting the sequel). We’ll see how far this one makes it down the road.
Peter Fonda in 1969’s ‘Easy Rider.’
Easy Rider
“A man went looking for America and couldn’t find it anywhere…”
71
1 hr 35 minJul 14th, 1969