With one of the most ‘90s-specific ensemble casts imaginable, Robert Rodriguez’s cult hit The Faculty is an era-specific classic sci-fi horror movie that works despite not being so scary. As such, this highly enjoyable high school take on pod-people creatures should ideally exist in solitude without any sequels or further lore-building efforts. So of course, 27 years later, a Hollywood remake is set to join the growing list of upcoming horror movies.
Let’s take a quick dive into the details we know so far about The Faculty‘s remake before addressing my biggest worry about this arguably unnecessary remake.
What We Know About The Faculty Remake So Far
- Director: TBA
- Screenwriter: Drew Hancock (Companion)
- Cast: TBA
- Studio: Miramax
- Production Company: BoulderLight (Barbarian, Weapons)
- Producer: Robert Rodriguez
Obviously we’re still in the early days, but the biggest creative force going into the new Faculty project is screenwriter Drew Hancock, who is currently a hot commodity for genre fans as the writer and director of the buzzy new horror Companion, starring Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher. Interestingly enough, Hancock’s prior work is largely in the world of comedy, as he’s written for Adult Swim’s Mr. Pickles, MTV’s Faking It, and Spike’s Blue Mountain State, while also creating the go90 streaming show My Dead Ex.
Beyond Miramax, the main connective tissue between the original film and the remake is Robert Rodriguez, according to Variety. Rodriguez has signed on to return as a producer, though I’d actually be more interested to see how he’d remake his own movie, as opposed to another filmmaker stepping in to take the reins. But it’s not really the directing that I’m worried about with this.
I Hope The Faculty Doesn’t Utilize A.I. To Modernize Its Story
With so many movies (mostly horror) currently focusing on the rise of A.I. technology, from M3GAN‘s sequel and its adults-only spinoff SOULM8TE to AfrAId and beyond, I can only imagine how many Hollywood executives are gleefully rubbing their palms together while imagining how to inject artificial intelligence into as many remakes as possible. Something I don’t ever need to see: Speed, but with a self-driving bus.
In any case, the fact that Drew Hancock is the one handling the script makes me wary that The Faculty is going to take the alien parasite threat that made life hell for Herrington High School’s students and staff and swap it out with an entirely technological threat. The impetus there being Companion‘s narrative, and how it shines a horrific light on advanced tech, since I’m sure that’s a big part of what inspired Miramax bosses to hire him.
Not that I think Hancock is ill-equipped to craft a completely new take on The Faculty that strays far from A.I. remote-schooling screens on wheels and the rest. And I don’t mean to pigeonhole him in such a way, but I would be surprised if he wasn’t given certain parameters to work with that tap into Companion‘s story in some way.
I don’t even know how the writer would make that work, though I guess if Jordana Brewster was brought in as an android high school teacher, it wouldn’t take much to get students to do whatever she says, even if it’s implanting chips in their heads that turn them into slack-jawed monsters. We can only hope she’s one of several former cast members who get recruited for the new one.
Still one of Robert Rodriguez’s best movies to date, The Faculty is currently among the best movies streaming on Pluto TV. For updates about the new remake, don’t forget to insert your new brain chip!