Howard Stern has partnered with former Dimension Films executive Dan Gross and his newly launched independent film production company Arclight Films to acquire remake rights to the classic comedies “Rock’N’Roll High School” and “Porky’s.”
Both projects are on a fast track, according to Stern, and they hope to shortly attach writers to contemporize them. Both projects are being privately financed with the hope of securing a distribution deal via a major studio once the projects are fully packaged. Under the deal, Stern will executive produce both projects as well as lend his name to the titles by rolling them out under “Howard Stern Presents.”
“If I say to an audience, particularly my audience, this is ‘Howard Stern Presents,’ it means something to them,” Stern said. “It means that it’s going to be crazy. It means that it’s going to be different, and they know I’m not going to be giving them any schlock.”
“Rock’N’Roll” was released in August 1979 and went on to become a cult classic. The film stars P.J. Soles, Vincent Van Patten, Clint Howard, Dey Young, and Mary Woronov along with the Ramones, who are the lead characters in the movie, for which they also supplied the music. For the “Rock’N’Roll” remake, Stern said he’s unsure if they will choose an unknown band for the film or go with a more established rock group, but he’s leaning toward the latter.
“The musical aspect of it turns me on,” Stern said. “It would be really interesting to take an unknown band and put them in it and see where it goes. So it could go either way. But right now, I’m leaning toward an established band.”
“Porky’s” debuted in theaters in March 1982 and stars Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson and then-newcomer Kim Cattrall. The film, which followed a group of high school boys on their mostly sexual misadventures, was a risque release for its time and a big hit at the box office. “Porky’s” cost $4 million to make but wrangled in more than $105 million and spawned two sequels, “Porky’s II: The Next Day” and “Porky’s Revenge.”
Both Stern and Gross cited the films as two of their all-time favorites, adding that both are ripe for remakes. “These are two movies that I actually like, and I always thought to myself that they were the kind of movies that you think, ‘Oh yeah, I would like to see an updated version of that,’ ” Stern said.
Stern is waiting to see the completed scripts before deciding whether he’ll play any onscreen roles in the movies.
