Tony Scott ranks pretty high up the list of action directors. So if you were to do a remake of an action packed cult-classic, he’s definitely the guy to go to, and luckily for ‘The Warriors’ that’s exactly what they did. The film is extremely beloved, so when remaking it there are only really two ways you can go without pissing everyone off. Do a shot for shot, identical movie such as the Omen remake or stray so far from the original that the new film stands on it’s own and can be appreciated separately from the original such as The Thing remake of The Fly remake. It looks like Scott is going down the second road.

From MTV -

“The Warriors” is a modern classic, the tale of a gang making their way from the Bronx to Coney Island while a city full of rivals hunts them.

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“I’m not doing a straight remake,” [Scott] told RT. “I love the original ‘Warriors’ and I’m using the same basic story. It’s really still 10 guys stuck at point B and they need to get back to point A. But I’m going to set it in Los Angeles and it’s going to be a kind of study of gang culture in LA today.”

Scott revealed to RT that he’s been speaking with local LA gangs, specifically naming the “Crips, Bloods, The 18th Street Gang [and] The Vietnamese.” The response has been positive so far as Scott tells it; many gang members have seen the original and are excited about the possibility of getting involved with the remake.

As a native New Yorker, I’m not terribly pleased to hear about the change of venue but I suppose it makes sense. Los Angeles is a very different sort of location; Scott describes it as “a city which is horizontal.” His vision? “I’m hoping to get a hundred thousand real gang members standing on the Vincent Thomas Bridge for one shot.” The number sounds a bit large, but I like the ambition Tony!

Having never seen the original, the film holds no special place in my heart, but I know how much some people love the films and the idea of remaking it might upset a lot of people, however it is definitely possible to re-imagine a film and come up with something as good as if not better than the original, as I mentioned before The Thing was remade after about 30 years and both films are now considered horror classics. It has been about 30 years since The Warriors was made, is it about time it was updated?

(Update 2012) With director Tony Scott’s tragic death, don’t expect the movie to happen in the next couple of years.