Columbia Pictures is set to remake the 1983 action thriller Blue Thunder, only this time instead of a tricked-out hi-tech helicopter, the story will revolve around a more advanced piece of surveillance weaponry with a state-of-the-art Drone at the center of the action. Marvel Studios executive and writer Craig Kyle (Thor) is updating the screenplay, with Fifty Shades of Grey's Dana Brunetti set to produce. The movie will reunite Brunetti with Fifty Shades producer Michael De Luca, who is now president of production at Columbia, and will oversee the project.

The Sony-based studio Escape Artists were simultaneously developing their own take on the material, but will now join this remake as a producer. The new version of the story is said to be 'timely', as it will explore the exploding use of drone technology in our society, both privately and in government sectors. This is just one of many Drone movies heading our way soon. IFC has Good Kill coming our way later this year, which stars Ethan Hawke as a troubled Drone pilot. And Eye in the Sky is planned with Ender's Game director Gavin Hood. But Blue Thunder may mark the first Drone thriller from a major studio, which will presumably have a bigger budget then the other upcoming independently produced Drone movies.

Blue Thunder followed the pilot of a military-style combat helicopter, which is reconfigured for police use to combat against possible large-scale civil disobedience during the 1984 Olympic Games being held in Los Angeles. The movie also spawned a 1984 TV series that lasted just 11 episodes. It isn't known how far the new script will stray from this idea, or if the Olympics will once again play a part in the overall storyline. The original movie was directed by John Badham and starred Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark and Daniel Stern.