* Actor initially balked at role, but won over by director
* Farrell takes Schwarzenegger's old role in action flick
* Director pays homage to original, but focuses on character
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (Reuters) - Twenty-two years after the
blockbuster success of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film
"Total Recall," actor Colin Farrell is stepping into the
muscleman's big shoes in a reboot, but if it seems like a dream
job, Farrell initially was not so gung-ho.
As flattered as the 36-year-old Irish actor was to be
offered the part, he admits "there was a part of me that was
honestly afraid of judgment of people" who held the original
film so dear to their hearts.
"Films to some of us feel sacrosanct and the idea of
remaking something seems like an insult to the original when in
fact it's not," he told reporters at a recent press conference
to promote the movie.
To cure his unease, the actor sat down with director Len
Wiseman, talked about changes to the new movie and decided it
was clear the makers wanted a somewhat different tale - one with
slightly less brawn and a bit more brain.
"While honoring the same conventions and concepts and
narrative plot points as the original story, this seemed to
stand on its own," Farrell said.
The first movie in 1990 was directed by Paul Verhoeven and
starred Sharon Stone and former bodybuilder Schwarzenegger who
was then at the top of his action hero form.
The sci-fi tale was loosely based on a story by writer
Philip K. Dick and told of a man who goes on a "virtual
vacation" in his mind to Mars only to find he is being hunted,
and he must fight his way back to reality. "Total Recall" became
a huge hit, raking in $260 million at worldwide box offices.
The new film is also based on Dick's story "We Can Remember
It For You Wholesale" and co-stars Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston
and Wiseman's real-life wife, Kate Beckinsale. Farrell plays the
same basic character, Douglas Quaid, who takes a vacation by
strapping himself in a chair and going on a 'mind trip'.
As with the first film, science goes awry and Quaid soon
finds himself hunted by police before teaming with a rebel
fighter (Jessica Biel) who explains he's really a super-spy
working for an underground resistance.
THREE BREASTS IN; BIG MUSCLES OUT
Key differences include one of his pursuers, a role played
by Beckinsale is an amalgamation of two characters in the
original, and Wiseman's film takes place entirely on Earth.
Still, some scenes pay homage to the original. Wiseman said
he made a list of elements that stayed with him over the 22
years since he'd last seen the film, at age 14.
"The three-breasted woman was very much at the top of my
list," Wiseman, 39, told reporters, with a laugh. "I remember
the immigration booth where the face splits open."
So, Wiseman decided to take those favorite parts and "twist
them and trick them up a little bit" for his new version.
The most significant change was casting Farrell, whose
strong physique bears little resemblance to Schwarzenegger's
hulking mass. And that's exactly how Wiseman wanted it.
"I had absolutely no intention of replacing Arnold," said
Wiseman, who saw the new version as "a chance to do a very
different kind of Quaid."
He felt Dick's original tale had an "element to it of a man
who wishes he could be more and then turns in to a super spy."
In the 1990 film, "you're watching a guy who you already feel is
a super spy because you've seen him in such a capacity," Wiseman
said, noting Schwarzenegger's past films like "The Terminator."
"I really wanted someone (the audience) could relate to,"
said Wiseman. "I wanted someone who is more of an everyman."
He also wanted an actor first, preferring to "turn him in to
an action star, rather than taking an action star and turning
him in to an actor."
(Reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and
Andrew Hay)