Bond Director Set for THE BIRDS Remake

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Friday, October 19, 2007
Source: Variety

Martin Campbell directed GOLDEN EYE, the first film starring Pierce Brosnan as the title character. He directed CASINO ROYALE, the first film starring Daniel Craig as the title character. Now, he may be remaking a Hitchcock classic that has stalled out in development hell over the past year, says Variety. The trade is reporting Campbell is in final negotiations to direct THE BIRDS for Universal Pictures, a reimagining of Daphne Du Maurier's short story which inspired Hitchcock's 1963 film. Naomi Watts (King Kong) is still attached to star in the lead role. Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller are producing alongside Mandalay's Peter Guber and Cathy Schulman.

Normally, I'd put up a plot concept relating to the classic Hitchcock film or the original short story by Du Maurier but the plot details may change. A few months back, it was reported that the early script draft, created by Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, delved into the world of a environment revenge story with the birds attacking as revenge for Global Warming related events. That same plot concept may not hold true now because Variety reports new writers may be brought on board while the story is being developed.

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Comments/Responses

NotAFan • Oct 19, 2007, 02:08am •

OK, they've officially run out of remakes! Coming next summer to a theater near you "Flying Fish The Movie"! Enough stop already, you're driving me mad!

lister • Oct 19, 2007, 02:37am •

As long as he goes his own way, I'm fine with the remake. But the idea of a "re-imagining" makes me a little worried. Hopefully he won't call Rob Zombie to help him flesh out the backstory on the seagulls.

Whiskeymovie • Oct 19, 2007, 07:22am •

Cool,,,,the original os very good, so it will be cool t see what they can do withh this....I have always loved Campbells movies,,,,,always fun, so I say bring it on Hollywood.

AlpineWoods • Oct 19, 2007, 07:55am •

I have to agree with NotAFan. I think they're making too many remakes of these already good movies. But as long as people go to see them, whether they're good or bad, they'll continue to make them. All kinds of remakes are on the way. We can now add The Birds to that list. But I've always been a fan of The Birds. It's my favorite Hitchcock movie.

rgtchtiger • Oct 19, 2007, 08:40am •

You know, why don't studios remake bad movies, or at least movies that could've been good but flopped? Remaking good movies has some good business sense since they would likely have a built-in audience, but I would like to see some movies remade that aren't all that well-known or remembered. For instance, how many people know that Ransom with Mel Gibson was a remake?

monkeyfoot • Oct 19, 2007, 09:15am •

Rgtchtiger, you make a great point. Remake movies that NEED to be remade.
I personally hate the plethora of recent remakes because they come across as execs and producers solely wanting to make money off of a branded concept with extremely little regard to artistry or vision or putting on a good show for the moviegoer. My general rule of thumb for a remake is if the original is obscure or advances in technology might make it better, or if it originated from another medium (novel,etc.) where different material can be tapped from it that previously wasn't.
But this is a rule of thumb. You shouldn't remake Gone With The Wind because the first version has reached such a level of excellence no new version could never compete. It would always be regarded as that bad version. I feel the same about The Birds. Leave it alone.
But they won't, so I'm talking to myself.

lister • Oct 19, 2007, 10:29am •

If we didn't have remakes, we wouldn't have His Girl Friday or 1941's The Maltese Falcon. Or 1959's Ben-Hur. Or 1956's Ten Commandments. Or the Magnificent Seven. Or Forbidden Planet.

It's not remakes that are bad, per se. Hollywood has been doing them all along.

galaga51 • Oct 19, 2007, 10:40am •

As has been pointed out, some remakes are very unnecessary, and I agree this may be one of them; re-releases in many cases would be sufficient if not preferrable. If you can't make it better or significantly different but just as good, why bother? Oh yeah, money. But also consider, there are people who do not even know who Hitchcock is - amazing, I know. At least this might introduce some folks to the classics.

20105 • Oct 19, 2007, 10:43am •

galaga51, you are right. The question is "Can you make it better/new?" If the answer is an emphatic "YES!", then put your money where your mouth is and we'll see.

LittleNell • Oct 19, 2007, 12:49pm •

The problem with really trying to do Hitchcock is that they miss the subtleties. Hitchcock inserted everyday horror into his thrillers. Those little horrors would often involve minor characters in brief scenes: ignorance, alchoholism, abuse, rape, suffocating jealousy. We get a hint of a darker reality and then it's back to the main thriller plot. It made you feel nervous and added to the feel of the film without overpowering it. It was an amazing technique and came from his own POV. I'm sure if he had his way, his films would have been even darker, but he had to work within the studio system.

Hopefully, they'll just borrow the premise like they did with Disturbia and make something entertaining. I'm not expecting great.

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