Travolta takes Pelham

We recently learned that Denzel Washington would star in a remake of the excellent 1974 crime thriller THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, and now his New York transit cop (once played to cranky perfection by Walter Matthau) will be facing the menace of John Travolta’s impressive chin.

Travolta will step into the role previously played by the great Robert Shaw, the ringleader of a group of hijackers who hold a subway car full of innocent citizens for ransom. I’m betting their code-names (Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, etc.) get changed in the update, since audiences who don’t watch movies made pre-1980 will think it’s ripping off RESERVOIR DOGS.

Tony Scott is handling the directing chores (hopefully with less of his recent experimental jittercam techniques), marking his fourth collaboration with Washington. It’s nice to see Travolta putting on his acting pants again, as he hasn’t exactly bothered with interesting material lately (his frightening female fat-suit visage from HAIRSPRAY still causes the night terrors).