Glen Powell has been cast in a remake of 1978’s Heaven Can Wait.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Powell will star in a remake of Heaven Can Wait. Stephen Gaghan is writing the script for the movie, which is based on Harry Segall’s play of the same name.
What was the original Heaven Can Wait about?
“Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is killed in an auto accident,” the description of the 1978 movie reads. “In the afterlife, Joe discovers that his guardian angel (Buck Henry) has taken him from his body prematurely, and he is due many more years on earth. Unable to return to his body, Joe assumes the form of greedy multimillionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth. As Farnsworth, Joe attempts a return to football and falls in love with environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie).”
Directed by Beatty and Henry, Heaven Can Wait was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It ultimately won the award for Best Art Direction.
Segall’s play was also adapted into 1941’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan, which spawned a sequel, 1947’s Down to Earth. Chris Rock then starred in a 2001 movie titled Down to Earth, which was another adaptation of Segall’s Heaven Can Wait.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the main character in Powell and Gaghan’s version of Heaven Can Wait won’t be a football player, but will still “feature the same concept of a man plucked away before his time.”
The new version of Heaven Can Wait is one of many of Powell’s forthcoming projects. He also stars in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, which releases on Netflix this June, and the upcoming Twisters sequel, which arrives in July. He’s additionally been cast in Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man, a new supernatural thriller from J.J. Abrams, a legal drama called Monsanto, and an A24 revenge thriller titled Huntington.
