Looks like yet another non-fiction film is about to get a dramatic feature remake: Marshall Curry’s Racing Dreams was optioned for adaptation by DreamWorks earlier this week. The movie, which was produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, follows three kids who compete in the World Karting Association’s National Championship, in the hopes of one day becoming NASCAR drivers. The remake is being produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, writers of Transformers and Star Trek. Does this mean the go karts will transform into giant robots? Hopefully.
Strangely, a ton of documentaries have been optioned by Hollywood lately, including The King of Kong, Sherman’s March, Ring of Fire, Crazy Love, Planet B-Boy, Air Guitar Nation and Young@Heart. (Did I miss any?) The documentary fan in me says that these movies don’t need remakes, and that the original films could play just as well to a wide audience with better distribution and the right marketing. With Racing Dreams it’s even more frustrating because as far as I know the original doesn’t even have a distributor yet and never got a theatrical release! What gives?
Source: Variety
Is this for real? The remake business is getting out of hand
My doc, Must Read After My Death, was optioned by Alan Poul and Craig Wright.
I’m sure the remake will be great with such writers as Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Moreover, this is a nice opportunity to promote go kart racing sport and get more attention to this activity.