Cronenberg to remake his own remake of ‘The Fly’
By Craig Kennedy - September 23rd, 2009; 11:38 pm
THR’s Steven Zeitchik is reporting that David Cronenberg has agreed to direct and possibly write a new version of The Fly, the 1958 classic he memorably remade in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.
It’s not a horrible idea per se, but is Cronenberg only interested in the quick cash or does he genuinely have a few interesting ideas that would justify a new incarnation of the familiar story of a scientist whose experiments in teleportation accidentally merge his body with that of a housefly?
Cronenberg is an LiC favorite and we’re inclined to give him the benefit of a doubt, but this one leaves us scratching our collective heads.
Filed under: Development
Tags: David Cronenberg, The Fly
Seriously? Huh. I’d like to think he has a new angle on this, but how can he one-up the brilliant remake he already did?
What the hell is going on with all these people remaking their own movies? Don’t get me wrong – I love Cronenberg, especially when he teams up with Viggo Mortensen. But come on.
It might be “not so terrible,” to quote a new film character talking about strudel in France, but the question for a new Fly is, Why?
Starring Viggo, presumably.
Are you sure it’s not an adaptation of the opera? That would justify it.
The only reason I can see to do this otherwise is that the effects of the original are somewhat dated. Which isn’t much of a reason at all — the kids won’t watch “old movies” regardless. The camera isn’t shaky enough to keep them awake.
Maybe he got sick of seeing everyone else making money off his old ideas. (Aren’t there a whole slew of remakes of his films in the works?) Maybe he’s just burned-out and wants to stash some cash before he retires. The Cruise spy movie would point in this direction. Or is that even still on?
Hitchcock did it. Ozu did it.
Do I sound like I’m trying really hard to find that silver lining? In any case, you just know that we’ll all go if he does it.
Clicked on the link and read the story. Suppose I should have done that first. It does not appear to be a film of the opera.
But 1986 Fly screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue does make an amusing appearance in the article’s comments section. He is, and always has been, one prickly pear. Maybe he’ll materialize here because I evoked his name, like Beetlejuice.
You have to say it 3 times in a row, frank. :D
I remain mystified, but like I said I’m giving the guy the benefit of a doubt. He hasn’t steered me wrong yet.
I haven’t seen it for a few years, but the original effects have held up pretty well, haven’t they?
I’ve got the special edition, which I recommend if you’re fan of the movie or of D.C. in general. It’s a very good 2-disc set, with deleted scenes, docs, the script, and even the original short story. Anyway, I have seen it recently, and the effects look fine. Not The Thing fine, but pretty good, especially considering the scope of what they did and the time limitations they were under. Of course, the best effect of all — Jeff Goldblum — is still terrific.
Since it apparently is gonna happen — how about Michael Shannon as Brundlefly? Mr. Painted-On Eyeballs was born to be a Cronenberg leading, um, man. I think it’s all but inevitable that they’ll work eventually together.
Yeah, Spout posted an article noting 5 great remakes by the same director, but two of these five are silent films being converted to talkies. Remaking your own film isn’t very common, even if Haneke just did it last year (to some effect, mind you).
I’m happy to buy into the idea that there’s a good reason for this, beyond a fat paycheck, but I’d prefer to see Cronenberg leave his original classic alone and move on to something new.
By the way, has this been a season of off-the-wall production news from directors we admire or what? Fincher doing the Facebook movie, Cronenberg remaking his own film, The Coens remaking Rooster Cogburn, Zhang Yimou remaking Blood Simple, Soderbergh doing an action film…next thing you know Scorsese will be directing a Shrek spin-off starring Donkey.
Not to mention Bad Lieutenant.