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‘Death Race 2050’ Release Date Set For 2017, Roger Corman Planning To Bring Back The Feel Of The Classic

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 08:19 PST, Sep 24, 2016

The Death Race 2050 release date is coming in 2017 on Blu Ray and DVD. Roger Corman is teaming up with Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Manu Bennett (Arrow) to being back the original feel of the 1975 budget classic.

The classic, which starred Sylvester Stallone as a hot-headed villain to the late David Carradine’s Frankenstein, was the source of the old joke about scoring points for running people over. In the film, a group of drivers teamed up with navigators to take on a race across the United States, where the goal wasn’t just to win, but score the highest casualty level.

Death Race 2000 was a sadistic ride through a fantasy where vehicular manslaughter is not only legal, but rewarded. The winner of the race, a man with a metal mask said to hide his horrific scarring, was Frankenstein, named after Mary Shelley’s mad scientist who brought a man made of random parts back from the dead. The ultimate twist was that there was next to no scarring. He’d simply been hiding his identity from the judges.

The Death Race 2050 release date is set to bring that back, along with the dark humor which made it a classic favorite despite a remake in 2008 starring Jason Statham.

The 2008 remake was not well-received, as critics slammed it for being misogynistic junk which doesn’t try to be anything else. Much to the chagrin of the fans of the original, it changed the setting and plot to one where a man (Statham) is sentenced for the murder of his own wife and sent to Terminal Island. There, he is introduced to a prison system where the fastest way out is to risk your life in a car race. Each car is fitted with weapons and armor, the former of which is unlocked by driving directly over the appropriate pressure plate before anyone else.

Unlike Death Race 2050, the remake’s release date had still earned enough to get two straight to DVD sequels. We’ll know if Roger Corman’s remake of the classic will do any better next year, though we will see the first official set photo at New York Comic Con in October.

The sequels to the Jason Statham remake were actually prequels, detailing how the race had begun as a way to generate money for the prison system. Initially it was a series of weapon-fueled fights to the death among inmates, but the introduction of heavily armed cars proved to be more interesting to an easily bored public.

The Death Race trilogy by Paul W.S. Anderson had even paid homage to the original film, as you can see one of the main characters watching it in the background.

It’s possible that the Death Race 2050 release date might add more of a Mad Max feel to the upcoming film, since it shares a similar concept. G.J. Echternkamp is set to direct it, the man behind Frank and Cindy, and whose acting roles include Hard Candy and A Necessary Death.

It’s important to understand that the Death Race 2050 release date will be the launch of another remake, with a modern feel. Fans of the classic might not go for that as much and may end up calling it worse than the Paul W.S. Anderson films.

Movie Web says the film takes place in the not-too-distant future where a corporate America placates the masses with brutal virtual reality entertainment. Moviegoers who remember Gamer might get flashbacks from this concept. In the movie, the event of the year is called “Death Race,” where the object is the same as the Paul Bartel original.

Do you think the Death Race 2050 release date will truly bring back the feel of the classic, or let us down harder than the Paul W.S. Anderson reboot?

[Feature image via Universal Pictures]

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