A VR film company is rebooting the movie that taught many kids to fear the hell out of virtual reality. Jaunt announced that it’s developing a new series based on the 1992 cult classic The Lawnmower Man, only viewable with a virtual reality headset.
The original movie’s about a scientist who uses a combination of virtual reality and experimental medication to help an intellectually disabled gardener. Of course, things go horribly wrong, as gardener Jobe acquires powers normally reserved for Scarlett Johansson in Lucy and he starts murdering all his enemies. It spawned a couple of sequels, with the criminally underrated Matt Frewer taking on the role of the man who mows lawns.
Even though The Lawnmower Man shares a name with a short story by Stephen King, the two works have almost nothing in common (save for one scene). So chances are King won’t be involved in this virtual reality production. In fact, no one has come on board except for the guys who hold the filming rights, but they seem pretty psyched about it.
“The original movie was a film of unsurpassed imagination and creativity with its ground-breaking use of VR back in 1992,” rights holder Jim Howell said. “Together with Jaunt we look forward to a contemporary team bringing to life a whole new world of VR.”
It’ll be interesting to see what they do with the story now that VR technology has improved so much, as well as what form the series takes inside virtual reality. Will viewers take on the role of Jobe, seeing virtual ascendance through his eyes, or will we merely be witnesses to his transformation? I hope it’s the latter, cause then they can bring Frewer back. Seriously, someone give him a call.