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Kaiser has done a wonderful job of ushering in some Winona Ryder nostalgia in the wake of Winona’s relative fashion triumphs on the red carpet of the Venice and TIFF premieres of The Iceman. Yesterday, I contributed slightly to the discussion by mentioning Ryder’s grace in the face of questions by rude journos, and throughout all of these stories, many of you have commented on how much you loved her 1980s movies — in particular, a whole lot of love has gone out to Heathers.
Well hang tight because I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that party tonight, and there’s some really bad news to that effect. Or good news, depending on how you look at it. The Bravo television network has announced it is developing a Heathers reboot for the small screen, and the show will focus not upon Veronica Sawyer or J.D. characters but upon the daughters of the remaining Heathers. There were two Heathers left at the end of the movie, right?
Bravo is continuing its push into original scripted programming, adding five dramas to its development pipeline including a reboot of 1980s cult movie Heathers.
As part of its goal to have original scripted fare on the air next year, the NBCUniversal-owned network is redeveloping Heathers, a project The Big C’s Jenny Bicks and Sony Pictures Television initially sold to Fox three years ago.
The updated Heathers picks up 20 years later, with Veronica (played by Winona Ryder in the 1989 feature) returning home to Sherwood with her teenage daughter, who must contend with the next generation of mean girls — the Ashleys, who are the daughters of the surviving Heathers.
“Through our growing slate of scripted development, we plan to build upon the success of our award-winning unscripted programming, accessing and exploring new worlds and characters while still engaging the same affluent and pop-culture-savvy audience that watches the Real Housewives and Top Chef,” said Andrew Wang, vp scripted development and production at Bravo. “We’re excited to partner with such high-caliber talent in developing TV that pushes boundaries conceptually and thematically while still telling a fun story in the way that our audiences have come to expect from us.”
[From Hollywood Reporter]
Hmm. This opens up a new opportunity for Shannen Doherty to possibly return as one of the surviving Heathers, but I’m not sure at all if producers would cast Doherty since she has a reputation as an on-set troublemaker. Lisanne Falk originally played the other Heather who didn’t bite it, but she seems to have dropped out of Hollywood for whatever reason.
The planned reboot sounds like a disaster in the making, really. There’s no earthly way they could translate the movie’s particular brand of dark satire to a Bravo show, so the whole vibe of the franchise will likely change. I still remember seeing Heathers in the movie theater back when I had a crush on Christian Slater (and Winona too). There were two little old ladies sitting in front of us, and they left during “that scene” in the woods. They were so traumatized, and I feel kind of bad for laughing at the memory.
Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto and Photobucket
Written by Bedhead
Posted in Television, Winona Ryder
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OMG leave Heathers alone!
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agreed! This movie is golden! LEAVE IT ALONE HOLLYWOOD
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NOOOOOOOOOO! Back away from the “Heathers” reboot fiasco! I love J.D. I love Veronica. That movie is classic.
“Football season is over, Veronica. Kurt and Ram had nothing left to offer the school except for date rapes and AIDS jokes.”
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Seriously!! Leave it alone~don’t sully the original with some lame tv remake. I still crush on Christian Slater in that role (*swoon)
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Watched this last nigh! Pretty dark subject for a teen show…
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I thought “Pretty Little Liars” had already covered the dark teen dramedy angle?
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ive watched pretty little liars, its silly!
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awful, some things are better left alone..
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What a terrible idea. I had such a crush on Christian Slater after seeing the movie…wow..I feel old now haha
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i miss this winona..
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I love Heathers and read this last night. I do t even want to think about what they’ll do to the story. The original was so perfect! Bravo must have had a brain tumor for breakfast!
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Like Neve Campbell said in the last Scream movie “Don’t f_ck with the original.”
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Interesting fact, but the actress who played Heather Chandler (and delivered the brain tumor line) actually died of a brain tumor.
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I would so watch this!
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LOVE Heathers, HATE this idea
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No. NOPE. NOWAY. I mean, even if this plot (so tired) worked for me, I would expect Winona’s ‘character!?’ to be played by Winona. Full stop. The Ashleys? Maybe in the 90′s. The Heathers, at this stage, would all have Madisons/Rooneys/Taylors
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Not a good idea. Leave Heathers alone!
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I just feel like it wouldn’t be quite as funny in this post-Columbine era.
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Oh my god, must they remake EVERYTHING??? JUST STOP already!
This movie was a classic and it’s untouchable-leave it the hell alone.
Where’s Mort? This is one of her favorites..I bet she won’t like this one bit.
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@kitten, you’re right! Why are the pulling my d*ck? And to top it off, they’ll probably have Brandi (of RHOBH) play Heather McNamara. o_O
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I second the notion! Leave classics alone. I heard a new gilligan’s island is even in promotion …not that that’s war and peace, but still…
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I love Heathers too and don’t want to see it sullied by some sh*tty remake – leave it alone!
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Isn’t H’wood FILLED with writers? Why do they have to keep going back into the past for “ideas”?
Terrible idea that will fail
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I loved Winona sooooo much in Heathers! She was so cool, and so pretty! The remake itself is a mediocre idea – I’ve heard worse. It may work if they don’t use the original actors. But having Winona Ryder play Veronica…just no. It will retroactively ruin Heathers for me.
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Bad idea, just leave it alone.
Amazing what a career Shannen could have had, if she weren’t such a mess on set. She was in some good movies and TV shows.
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I never really understood the fascination with this movie. I thought it was really disgusting and could not relate to any of the characters. It was kind of like an 80s “Mean Girls” without any of the wit or charm.
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It’s dark humor, which is hard for people to swallow, kind of like a wake up cup of liquid drainer
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There are SO few movies that do the dark humor thing successfully. ITA that it makes people uncomfortable when they’re not being “told” how to feel in specific situations. So many movies are so manipulative in that way and it drives me CRAZY. I love movies that are ambiguous and shocking-it seems so much more like real life to me than the linear, all-wrapped-up-in-a-tidy- package kind of movies.
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I absolutely forbid it.
Heathers is one of my favourite movies ever. Our world is way too PC to fashion a remake – come on, making suicide jokes about the fat kid in class? That’ll go over well…
Lick it up, baby. Lick. It. Up.
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I forbid right along with you! Sacrilege!!
P.S. Winona so rocked that blue velvet tiered skirt. I loved all the styling/clothes in this movie.
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You took the words right from my fingertips.
Heathers is one of my favorite movies, and they’re tarnishing its legacy with this reboot.
Part of the reason Heathers worked so well was because of its bold humor and the time period. If the movie had been released now, it wouldn’t have the same impact it did in 1988.
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Dear Diary: Heather told me she teaches people “real life.” She said, real life sucks losers dry. You want to f*ck with the eagles, you have to learn to fly.
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Aw man, you guys are making me want to re-watch this for the 1,000,000th time. It was on Netflix Instant a few months ago-wonder if it’s still there…
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Suicide gave Heather depth, Kurt a soul, and Ram a brain. I don’t know what it’s given me, but I have no control over myself when I’m with J.D. Are we going to prom or to hell?
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This is so dorky but in high school my now husband and I used to say “our love I’d god,” instead of I love you.
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Is nothing sacred?
I have watched this movie a million times. .When i was a kid it was constantly on TV and it was amazing.
Please leave it alone.
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Wow. Have ALL the writers in Hollywood run out of ideas? Nothing original to offer up except constantly remaking movies that were fabulous and should be left alone? I loved Winona in this. Christian Slater lighting his cigarette off her burned hand is classic dark humor. Why screw it up?
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terrible idea. I don’t think Heathers should ever be re-made, in any form. I agree with others that it doesn’t translate to these times.
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Lunchtime poll:
You find out Bravo is going to try reboot one of the best dark comedies of your lifetime with some crappy, half-baked idea.. What do you do?
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No. Stop it, Hollywood.
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Terrible idea.
corn nuts……
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BQ or plain?
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Did they have a brain tumor for breakfast?
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I have this movie on DVD, and it is PERFECT just the way it is. It does not need an remake, a reboot, a sequel, a prequel, or a spinoff.
Also, are the popular teen girls really called Ashley now? I thought we’d be on to Madisyn or Kaylee or McKeighla by now.
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f*ck me gently with a chainsaw… no.
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Keep your damn hands off of our Heathers!
“Lick it up, baby! Lick. It. Up.”
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Maybe if it’s set in the 1980s it could work. But how will it be any different than all the other teen bitch shows on tv right now?
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I LOVED this movie way back when, and I still love it, but would I watch a dumb TV show spin off of it? No. Hell no.
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Ugh! What’s Bravo’s damage?!
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Big Mistake. HUGE!
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Remaking Heathers can’t work. The movie has a zeitgeist quality – it’s dark 1980′s. And it’s perfect the way it is. And it has a defined beginning and end. To reboot it is to just… create another teen drama and slap a cheap label on it to get non-teens to watch the first couple episodes. It’s stupid. Makes me want to drink a Drain-O cocktail.
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Honestly, I am relieved that it’s a 20-years-later “reboot,” and as long as they don’t try to redo the actual storyline and plot of “Heathers,” I’m not bothered. The Bravo show sounds like it will hold a lot of fertile ground for exploring alienation, bullying, and the grey areas of teen behavior (i.e. the wrongish, squicky stuff you have to do and/or accept, to cope and to make it through); so that’s always good.
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thanks this
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