Jake Gyllenhaal In Talks to Star in ‘Road House’ Remake
Pain don’t hurt, but sometimes remakes do.
Apparently having run out of other things to remake or reboot, now it is Road House’s turn. The delightfully strange and intensely sincere 1989 action movie about the adventures of a philosophical bouncer at the most dangerous bar in America, Road House flopped in its theatrical release but became a cult classic on video and cable thanks to star Patrick Swayze’s utterly committed performance as Dalton, the world’s greatest “cooler” (basically a super-bouncer).
The unique mixture of elements — Swayze, wild fight scenes, 1980s fashions, mullets — would not seem to make Road House an ideal candidate for an update. But Doug Liman apparently disagrees. Per Deadline, he’s “in talks” to direct a Road House reboot with Jake Gyllenhaal in line to replace Swayze as the lead.
As for this reboot, its unknown whether it’s a straight remake or a modern take on the material, and its also unknown if Gyllenhaal will be playing the role of Dalton or play a completely new character in that world. Given Liman’s track record of high-speed thrills and action, along with his innovative style with rich and interesting stories, audiences can expect that same fun that the original delivered on.
This seems like a part of Gyllenhaal’s recent rebranding as an action and thriller guy after years of doing more indie dramas and quirky character studies. He just appeared as a cop in the Netflix drama The Guilty and he’ll next be seen as a bank robber in Michael Bay’s Ambulance. He’s about to start shooting The Interpreter with Guy Ritchie, which could then be followed by this new Road House. That’s an ... interesting run of roles.
Again, it doesn’t seem like Road House needs a remake or even really makes sense as a remake. (It barely made sense in 1989.) But Gyllenhaal and Liman could be a pretty good team. Let’s see what they do with it.