Timecop may be a beloved, or at least fondly remembered 1990s sci-fi action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme in his prime, but always seemed like a $100 million idea in a $27 million package. The plot was about a time-traveling law enforcement officer who goes back about ten years to stop Ron Silver from becoming president (or something like that). There were short scenes taking place on an empty road in the 1800s and a fancy office in the 1920s, but come on, is that all you got? Jean-Claude Van Damme travelled through time and never roundhouse kicked a velociraptor or joined forces with Julius Caesar to fight an army of invading cyber-Nazis? Use your imaginations, people!
So we’re actually cautiously optimistic about this new Timecop reboot Universal is developing. The advances in technology and preponderance of silly ideas taken dead seriously (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter actually exists, people) means that a new adaptation of the original Dark Horse comic book – which was originally about a timecop fighting a robot trapped in the 1930s – might actually kick a little ass. So the news that the reboot has officially hired some screenwriters seems like a good sign, although you may not be a fan of their other films.
Hollywood Reporter is reporting (from Hollywood) that Universal has hired Mark and Brian Gunn, the screenwriters behind such family friendly sequels as Bring It On Again and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, to write the script for the new Timecop. Don’t get too scared: just because they wrote some movies that don’t feel very Timecop-ish in the past doesn’t mean they don’t have this in them too. The Russo Bros. directed You, Me and Dupree before they made Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and that turned out pretty good, didn’t it?
Man, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island sucked though. Oh well. Good luck, Gunns!
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
