A remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs (keep your eyes peeled for the sweet headlights shot at the 12-second mark above) isn’t a bad idea in and of itself, but hiring no-name director Rod Lurie (Nothing But the Truth, Resurrecting the Champ ring a bell? …Anyone?  …Bueller?) and casting James Marsden as the lead doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  Nausea, perhaps, but not confidence.

The new “Straw Dogs” follows Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner (Marsden), who moves with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, leading to a violent confrontation.  The original, co-written and directed by Sam Peckinpah, saw Dustin Hoffman in the role of Sumner, with the story set in rural England. [THR]

Instead of a violent gang rape and subsequent gun fight as in the original, the new version will have a dance contest followed by an underground MMA fight.  It’s essentially the same social critique, just… updated.