'Red Dawn' set for remake

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- A remake of the 1984 U.S. action drama "Red Dawn" -- which starred Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen -- reportedly is in the works.

The Hollywood Reporter said screenwriter Carl Ellsworth has been hired to pen an updated version of the Cold War tale about a group of U.S. teenagers trying to survive a homeland invasion by the Soviets and Cubans.

Ellsworth, who wrote "Red Eye" and co-scripted "Disturbia," will be working from a "Red Dawn" story written by Jeremy Passmore.

The remake is to be helmed by Dan Bradley, a second unit director and/or stunt coordinator on "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Spider-Man 3" and "Quantum of Solace," the entertainment industry trade paper said.

"The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in," Ellsworth told The Hollywood Reporter. "As 'Red Dawn' scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?"