Particularly for those who grew up in the 80s and the VHS years to follow, the college comedy REAL GENIUS is rightfully beloved for the whirlwind of awesome that is Val Kilmer.
Now Pajiba says that a remake of the quotable fave is in the works at Columbia, with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment responsible for trying to find someone who could possibly replace Kilmer’s perfect deadpan smarm. (Grazer actually produced REAL GENIUS the first time around).
The 1985 original followed teen genius Mitch (Gabe Jarret), a new student at a tech university who’s assigned to share a project and dorm room (along with closet-denizen Lazlo Hollyfeld, played by the still-omnipresent Jon Gries) with Kilmer’s hotshot brainiac Chris Knight. Partying, lasers, inventions, indoor sledding and nervous breakdowns ensue.
A few years ago, a sequel was rumored and Kilmer expressed interest in returning, but the project is now getting the remake treatment instead.
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