Per Variety, a reimagining of classic 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider is in development. A consortium of stakeholders and producers now reportedly own the adaptation rights to the project originally released by Columbia Pictures.
The original film starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as two bikers who travel through the American Southwest after a cocaine deal. The film quickly became a landmark counterculture film that captured the national imagination by exploring the societal landscape, the rise of hippies, and tensions towards adolescents in the United States during the 1960s.
How exactly a film so ingrained in 60s culture will be updated for modern times is anyone’s guess, but never underestimate Hollywood’s desire to profit off existing IP. Producers are currently in search of bold writers and directors to update the project for modern times with the same fringe spirit, using Michael B. Jordan‘s Creed and its relationship to the Rocky as a comparison.
Maurice Fadida, one of the producers on the project, said in a statement: “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.
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.”
This reboot is in the very earliest stages of development, so it will be a while until it actually begins to look anything like its final form. Despite the goals of the producers, expecting this to have anything like the cultural impact of the original Easy Rider is a pipe dream.
#Peace.Love.EasyRider
