Proposed La Bamba remake found at bottom of dry intellectual property well

Has the well really run so completely dry? Are there no interesting musicians left to explore? How in the world are we getting another version of La Bamba before we even make any headway on the Madonna biopic? These are the kind of questions that come up after reading the Variety report that Sony Pictures has greenlit another biopic of Ritchie Valens, when Lou Diamond Phillips‘ star-making turn as the rocker in 1987 is still comfortably within living memory. 

Iconic though he may be, Ritchie Valens is not a role one would assume gets passed from actor to actor like Hamlet or Batman. Sure, there are plenty of notable real-life figures who’ve been played by multiple actors, like the Founding Fathers or Jesus or Bob Dylan. But this isn’t simply another take on the life of Ritchie Valens, it’s explicitly billed as a remake of the movie La Bamba. We’ve already got a perfectly good La Bamba. Why mess with a good thing?

In Hollywood, the answer is always, “If it can make some more money, sure, why not.” This remake is being written by José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) and executive produced by Luis Valdez, who wrote and directed the original, giving this endeavor a sort of John Woo remaking The Killer for some reason vibe. Valdez’s justification for returning to the film is that, apparently, there’s more to know about Valens now than there was 40 years ago. “Together with the rock and roll classics of Ritchie Valens, my 1987 biopic La Bamba has graciously withstood the test of time. And yet, the tragically short life and career of Richard Valenzuela continues to inspire new generations of fans the world over,” Valdez said in a statement (via Variety). “As new biographical details have come to light, a new cinematic look at his eternally young seventeen years on earth can only add to his undying legend.” Apparently, that legend is going to get milked for all it’s worth.