This one is for my friend Magnus, with whom I saw the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) almost a month ago.
We already knew that a remake is currently in the works, and that Denzel Washington — teaming up with director Tony Scott for the fourth time, following Crimson Tide (1995), Man on Fire (2004; my article) and Deja Vu (2006; my comments) — is slated to play the good guy who was originally played by Walter Matthau.
Now Variety tells us that John Travolta has signed on to play the bad guy who was played by Robert Shaw in the original film.
What say you to this news, Magnus?
By the way, on a semi-unrelated note, I just realized the other day that American Gangster — the upcoming crime flick directed by Tony’s brother Ridley Scott — marks the second time that Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe have worked together. In the new film, Denzel is a criminal and Crowe is a cop. But the roles were reversed years ago, when Crowe played the cybernetic villain in one of his first American films, the sci-fi flick Virtuosity (1995), while Denzel played the ex-cop who is sent out to get him. Wow, that takes me back (see page 4 of this PDF file for my review).
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