Toxic Avenger to get Remade

Producer Akiva Goldsman, the man behind such film remakes as Lost in Space and Starsky and Hutch, has set his sights on yet another.  This time it is  New Jersey’s one and only super hero, the Toxic Avenger.

According to Deadline New York, Goldsman, along with Richard Saperstein and Charlie Corwin have secured the rights to Toxie for Corwin’s company Original Media. The group is hoping to turn our favorite D-list cult icon into a super hero for these green environmental times.

The original was filmed by Troma founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz on less than a shoestring budget, and has become a cult classic hit.  It followed Melvin, mop boy at the Tromaville Health Club who falls easy prey to a  bunch of bullies and gets thrown in a vat of toxic waste. He then transforms himself into a misshapen hero who dedicates himself to wreak havoc on polluters of his beloved New Jersey.

The Toxic Avenger has had a bit of a resurgence in the last year.  A musical based on the original film played at the New World Stages in New York City in 2009 for 309 performances and won the Outer Critics Circle 2009 award for Best New Off-Broadway Musical. It will be going on a national tour this fall.

Goldsman, Saperstein and Corwin are planning to make the new Toxie into a family friendly PG-13 outing along the lines of New Lines’ The Mask. Original Media will finance the film, with writers being hired shortly. No word on who will direct or cast as of yet