Let’s face it, completely “recapturing the spirit” of the original “Slap Shot” movie is a task that not even legendary scribe Dickie Dunn could have accomplished.
“Slap Shot,” filmed in Johnstown during the spring of 1976 and released the following year, is an iconic motion picture that three decades later still is considered among the greatest sports comedies of all time.
Hollywood screenwriter Peter Steinfeld is a realist. His script for a potential remake of the Paul Newman classic reportedly isn’t simply a retread of the original. Instead, Steinfeld set out to stay as true as possible to Nancy Dowd’s original screenplay while giving the story a jolt of hockey reality, circa 2008.
Steinfeld recently completed the final version of his script, which he said was well-received by his producers. The script was forwarded to Universal Studios, the same studio that filmed the original.
“We finally are at a place with the script that it seems like everybody is happy with,” Steinfeld said during a telephone interview this week. “The script is in Universal’s hands right now. It’s their call. The producers and I feel really good about the shape the script is in right now. It’s been a long process. When you have such a great original movie to work off of, you don’t want to rush the remake. You want to make sure it is right.”
Steinfeld visited Johnstown in February, spending time at the War Memorial with Johnstown Chiefs players and staff. He mingled with the team’s long-time hockey fans, some of whom were around for “Slap Shot.”
The city and its hockey roots impressed Steinfeld, who believes Johnstown would be the ideal site to film a potential remake. But he cautioned there are no guarantees that Universal would return even if the movie eventually is made.
“We just have to hope the studio is equally as excited as we are,” Steinfeld said. “If they are, which is a big ‘if,’ then the next step is to go to directors.”
Steinfeld’s most recent scriptwriting credit was for the hit movie “21.” His past credits also include “Analyze That,” “Be Cool,” and “Drowning Mona.”
“There is no formula,” Steinfeld said of predicting what the studio will decide. “ ‘21’, which came out in March, is a perfect example. I originally wrote that movie five years ago. I wrote the movie ‘Be Cool.’ They read that script and John Travolta signed on a week later. Sometimes it goes super fast. Sometimes it can be a protracted process.”
An official reached at Universal said the studio generally does not comment on projects in production or pre-production.
Chiefs owner Neil Smith believes a “Slap Shot” remake would indirectly benefit his ECHL team.
“It would remind people how long the Chiefs have been there,” Smith said. “We’re the only original team that started in the league. It’s nice whenever Johnstown gets some recognition, albeit in a fictional way. It gives you pride in the history of a team that’s been around so long.”
Steinfeld has met some opposition from “Slap Shot’s” diehard fans.
Many of those who helped “Slap Shot” reach movie cult status don’t want anyone messing with their Hanson Brothers or Reggie Dunlop or any other member of the Charlestown Chiefs.
Steinfeld understands.
“I’ve never had so many people hate me for writing something they haven’t seen yet,” he said on the Web site YourMovieMaven.com. “It’s such a classic film and fans of the original feel like I’m grave-robbing or something. But I think the movie will be really fun and will capture what it’s like to play minor league hockey in 2008.”
If Steinfeld successfully can mix what worked so well in 1977 with the present game, perhaps at least some “Slap Shot” fans will find themselves right back where they started from.
Mike Mastovich is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
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