Naomi Watts says THE BIRDS is unlikely to fly this year
KING KONG actress says the movie is "a work-in-progress" and isn't likely to be filmed until at least 2009 when a new draft is turned in.
The more Platinum Dunes' remake to Alfred Hitchcock's crowd pleasing masterpiece The Birds is put off, the more unlikely it will ever happen. Which is good news because absolutely none of Hitchcock's works post Shadow of a Doubt should even be thought of as a remake. Each one of them is such a personal directorial vision and so masterfully crafted that you really are playing with fire when you attempt to remake one of them. Just ask Gus Van Sant, he will tell you all about it.
Speaking to Shock Till You Drop whilst promoting her new movie Funny Games (also a remake, and so soon after King Kong... that will give a girl a reputation) actress Naomi Watts who will star in the role made famous by Tippi Hedren in the original gave us the good news..."It's a work-in-progress at this point," she says. "I think it's a wonderful film. There are great things in it that interest me. The script isn't completely there yet, it probably won't happen until next year.""Work-in-progress" is a term I most definitely wanna hear every time this remake is mentioned. It basically translates as "It's not good enough to film". Though I will be honest with you guys. Although I don't think The Birds should be remade, I DO THINK that if a studio was absolutely intent on remaking a Hitchcock classic then this would be the one to do. I mean you simply can't remake Vertigo, Psycho or North By Northwest... but if you took on The Birds I think you could probably make a decent adaptation out of it with the right man on board and some seriously good CGI. Like, really really good CGI. I'm not saying it should be remade because it shouldn't but if it had to be a Hitchcock... then The Birds is the one that sticks right out at ya. Martin Campbell, a decent studio director who gave us the last Bond movie and the two Antonio Banderas-Zorro movies is still attached to helm from a script whose last known draft came from Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, two of the writers behind one of the worst horror's in recent memory with Boogeyman. Naomi Watts is expected to have a big input in the film's creative progression, as it was rumored to be one of the dealbreakers in getting her on board.