It was 2007 when we first heard about a remake of Total Recall, a film from 1990, which really isn't that long ago, although it seems so in Hollywood. In April the producer of the remake, Neal H. Moritz, revealed some surprises about the new version.

Now we're hearing that a director is in negotiations for helming the remake, and you can probably tell who from the title, the man who brought Die Hard back with Die Hard 4.0 (Filmstalker review), Len Wiseman.

According to the reports Len Wiseman is in negotiations for the task of directing the remake which Paul Verhoeven did so well, and a remake that would be in line to change things somewhat from the 1990 Total Recall.

Back in April of this year Neal H. Moritz spoke about the remake, along with a few others he's working on, and revealed some interesting points about the Kurt Wimmer written script.

It won't be on Mars and the concentration will be on the idea of the chair and what it can do, which would suggest it'll be less about a single adventure from the chair, and about the people and the company behind it and the bigger effects it can have on people and societies.

Perhaps it will have more focus on the original story from Philip K. Dick, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale? I suspect it will as this seems to be the trend with remakes, go back to the source, if there is one.

The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision has the story that Len Wiseman is in negotiations to join the film which tells the story of a man who is haunted by a recurring dream of travelling to Mars. He heads to a company called Rekall Inc. that provides virtual memories to make you believe you've had your dream break from your own life. He comes off of the chair believing he's a secret agent who has turned to fight for the Martian resistance.

Actually it's quite a complicated story, and deals with the idea of what's real and what's in the mind. I like the original film and initially the only reason for a remake would seem to be to bring the effects up to date, however going back to the original story might bring something new, and the idea of concentrating on the chair and the company might open things up a little rather than a single story of one of the chair's occupants.

Variety have a comment from Columbia Pictures Matt Tolmach that seems to suggest Wiseman doesn't have much negotiation to do:

"Len has an incredible love of the genre and a great gift for action...He'll bring a contemporary feel to the film while taking care with everything we love about (the) original story."

As for Wiseman taking the helm, well we can be assured of some stylish action, especially with a script from Kurt Wimmer, but will they get the heart of Philip K. Dick's story and bring it to the fore?