The word from
The Hollywood Reporter today is that
David Ondaatje is set to direct a remake of
Alfred Hitchcock's classic silent movie
The Lodger. The news has caught like wildfire across the web, but of course the thing is we reported this news TEN MONTHS AGO. Here's a complete re-posting of the article from
August 28th 2006...
Production Weekly are reporting that writer/director
David Ondaatje is set to remake the early
Hitchcock silent movie
The Lodger. The movie was based on a novel by
Marie Adelaide Lowndes and was a fictional take on the
Jack The Ripper Killings. More info taken from
Cinematical..
the film will examine a series of mysterious, Ripper-esque killings from two different points of view. The first is that a of a detective who is both trying to solve the case and dealing with the fact that hes one of the prime suspects in the killings; the second comes from a landlady, who becomes increasingly convinced that one of her tenants is the killer.
For the most part, I hate remakes. I hate them with a vengeance. Im dredding seeing
The Wicker Man remake this week because everything I have seen from trailers etc, it looks like they have butchered the whole essence of the original. For some reason though I like the sound of this remake. I had never heard of the original silent movie until today, so I can see that their would be potential in remaking the movie in sound and in colour with a new take. It is possible for remakes to be good but they have to be both respectful and add something new to the original which is extremly hard to pull off, and only a few have managed it. Lets hope its better than
Gus Van Sants shot by shot remake of Hitchcocks classic
Psycho anyway.
Since August, I have indeed seen the original Hitchcock classic The Lodger and I gotta tell ya, I don't think it could be improved upon. It was eerie and suspenseful in Hitchcock's confident film-making way and the silent acting of Ivor Novello was just so intense. There are a couple of new tidbits in The Hollywood Reporter's article. The movie will be set in Los Angeles and will follow two different converging storylines and is now being imagined as an urban thriller! We await the next news story from one of the trades that we have already picked up!!!