Warner Bros. Are Remaking ‘THE BODYGUARD’!

Warner Bros. has decided to reboot the 1992 huge global hit movie ‘The Bodyguard‘ – according to Variety!

The updated version will be scripted by Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer, whose action comedy script for ‘Family Getaway‘ made the 2010 Black List and is a priority project at the studio. Dan Lin is expected to produce via his Lin Pictures company, and Mark Bauch will co-produce.

The original was scripted by Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Mick Jackson, and  told the story of a Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) hired to protect a singing diva (Whitney Houston) whose life has been threatened by a stalker. Professional then crosses over into pleasure, when Frank Farmer (the Bodyguard) falls in love with her and then begins to fear a distraction from his job. The movie grossed a massive $411 million worldwide – which was a big deal at the time, and in the studio’s history!

The soundtrack also became an icon of its time, when Whitney Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a 7-day period! Having bagged a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the soundtrack went a whopping 17 times Platinum – certified by the Recording Industry Association of America on 1st November 1999. As a result, this album became the best-selling soundtrack of all time!

Regarding the remake, the story looks set to include the love story but this time the bodyguard will be a former Iraq war veteran, who gets the job protecting the star as his first job after leaving the Army. Making his job even harder, he discovers that the world of Twitter, Google Maps and TMZ has made access to celebrities easier than ever. Casting wise, the hope is to take a young female singer with global appeal and to give her the platform like the original movie had on Houston.

So, any casting ideas?

Rumours on the net previously suggested that Channing Tatum and Rihanna would be a good match. Obviously I’d rather they didn’t remake ‘The Bodyguard‘ at all, but now that Warner Bros. is serious about doing it, these two sound like the perfect fit!