'Short Circuit' gets 'Robot' touch
Dan Milano to write remake of 1986 comedy
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Dimension Films has tapped Dan Milano to script "Short Circuit," the remake of the 1986 pic.
The original was about an armed robot that acquired a personality after a lightning strike, and sought the help of humans to prevent its destruction by its makers in the military.
Milano, who aside from writing and providing voices for the Adult Swim cartoon "Robot Chicken" and co-creating and playing the title character in "Greg the Bunny," figures to bring a subversive edge to the original film scripted by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock.
David Foster, who produced the original and is back to produce the remake with Ryan E. Heppe and John Hyde, said that Milano first watched the original while he was in high school, and sparked to updating the concept.
"We're bringing Number 5 into the 21st Century and taking advantage of the improvements in robotics that are so massive that robots are now performing heart surgeries in hospitals," Foster said.
The producer said the robot's visual look won't change, even though Foster said Pixar's "Wall-E" is a dead ringer for the original "Short Circuit" protagonist.
"We think of 'Wall-E' as an extended trailer for our film, because it's the same face," Foster said.
