I hate to write this article, but according to
Deadline, the
TimeCrimes remake is still in development. Some people may have no idea what TimeCrimes is, and that is indeed a crime in itself (had to do it). The Spanish science fiction time travel film became a hit at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and subsequently, like the destiny of most foreign-language spectacles, it was of course commissioned for an English language remake. I say
still because three years the ago the remake was backed by United Artists and with their ties to the struggling MGM the project never took off and I had hoped that it would be left that way. This unfortunately appears not to be the case.
Steve Zaillian was only originally going to just produce the film for UA but has moved along with the project to Dreamworks where he will now produce as well as rewrite previous drafts by Tim Sexton. Some of Zaillians upcoming writing projects include The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, and The Irishman (adaptation for Scorsese of I Heard You Paint Houses). So I guess if anyone is going to do it, Zaillian should be the one as he has been with the project from its beginnings and in terms of remaking films (Finchers Dragon Tattoo) he is obviously not a terrible choice. This news however still rubs me the wrong way as it is another entry in the long line of unnecessary English languages remakes that are plaguing our filmic landscape. Nacho Vigalando (writer and director) crafted a smart and well executed time travel film in the form of TimeCrimes and it is completely ridiculous that a film of this caliber really needs another take when audiences should just learn to read subtitles.
This is a great time travel film especially in recent years, along with Primer, that need to be left alone and have these remake efforts and resources put into more original science fiction projects. Why cant Zaillian come up with his own take on time travel or how about they go with Primers writer/director/star Shane Carruths new science fiction screenplay A Topiary? TimeCrimes intricacies seem like they will need to be boiled down for a remake that will play well with American audiences which means this remake has no chance of procuring money from my wallet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrzI3lVzQnM I wont go into the detail of the plot, besides that a man continually loops back one hour in time. Everyone should take a look at the original film and just appreciated it for the great film that it is. Watch the trailer above that doesnt give away too much and seek out the film if you can and dont waste your time on this remake.