By ANI

Washington, Aug 9 (ANI): Actress Joan Allen is set to star in the Universal Pictures’ remake of 1975 cult action film ‘Death Race 2000′, to be directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

Actors Ian McShane and Tyrese Gibson also are buckling up for ‘Death Race’, which will star Jason Statham in the lead role, Hollywood Reporter reports.

The film, which is to be produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner via their C/W Productions along with Anderson and his Impact Pictures partner Jeremy Bolt, shows a future America in which prisoners are forced to brutally compete in an enclosed arena.

Statham will play a prisoner, Frankenstein who is forced to become a driver just weeks before his release, and becomes the crowd favourite.

Allen will play the warden of the prison who runs the race and mercilessly forces Statham to enter the arena.

McShane will star as a coach, while Gibson will be Machine Gun Joe, a sociopathic racer, who seeks to escape from prison.

The film’s production will start this year with an aim for a fall 2008 release. (ANI) (Source: Yahoo! India)

The Hollywood Reporter reports that “Transporter” star Jason Statham will join Universal Pictures’ remake of the Roger Corman cult classic, “Death Race 2000.” The new film will simply be titled “Death Race.” Paul W.S. Anderson (“Alien vs. Predator”) will write and direct the film, with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner producing via their Cruise/Wagner Productions banner.

David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone starred in the original 1975 film which is set in the future and told of a violent road race that spans from New York to Los Angeles. The president presides over the race and one of the ways drivers earn points is by running down innocent bystanders.

Roger Corman is exec producing the remake. (Source: Cinema Confidential)