One remake everyone was hoping was dead in the water appears to be taking flight once again as word is coming in via Variety that Platinum Dunes, Mandalay Pictures and Universal have brought in Dutch filmmaker Diederik Van Rooijento to direct the remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Michael Bay will produce along with his Platinum Dunes producing partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller with Guber and David Zelon also producing through Mandalay Pictures.
Talk of a remake to Hitchcock’s 1963 classic thriller has been swirling around for years, dating back to 2007 when Naomi Watts and director Martin Campbell were attached to the project. Obviously, that fell apart. But then, just a few years later in 2009, director Dennis Iliadis (The Last House on the Left) was tapped to bring the film to the big screen once again, but it eventually fell apart as well.
Love him or hate him, Michael Bay has been behind a few successful horror remakes over the years, which tells me that The Birds remake will certainly get off the ground this time. They are walking a very thin line with this one because on one hand you just shouldn’t touch anything that Hitchcock created because it will never live up to his brilliant direction and story telling. But on the other hand, the best remakes tend to be the ones that can really take advantage of today’s special effects and technology. And in my opinion, The Birds is one of the very few Hitchcock films that just didn’t age very well over the years. But just because they can improve the look of the film doesn’t mean it’s going to be better. I tend to be very optimistic towards remakes because sometimes they actually do get them right, but this one just feels wrong.
My only hope for this one is that they just tell a straight-forward thriller about a small town trying to survive a violent, unexplainable attack from birds. It doesn’t need to be anything more than that because that is exactly what makes Hitchcock’s thriller so great, he lets the suspense do the talking. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Do you think the film could benefit from a remake or should they just leave it alone?
Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren in HBO’s The Girl
I can’t believe it. The Birds is a classic horror film, why do they feel the need to remake it when the original is so revered?
Nothing is safe these days, man. I’m just hoping they don’t shit all over it.
The Birds is a classic, yes, but it was always the film of Hitch’s that I thought would get remade sooner than later. It’s not terrible news, but as most remakes go, it’s rather unnecessary.
Yea, pretty much. Updated fx isn’t going to hurt either. Like all remakes, we just have to wait and see.
Seeing as how I know that the producer of a film can influence the direction that a film takes almost as much as it’s director I can safely say that it is a good chance I will not be seeing this one as I don’t want to sit for two hours going “Is that a bird? Are those birds? I think I saw feathers; they’re so f*cking close to the camera!!” Just like I had to do with Transformers 2. Yes I saw that one. Don’t judge me; I was young and needed the money.
Lol don’t worry, Jmount. I saw it too! You’re right though, Bay certainly has a lot of say as to how this one is going to look. It’s probably going to be a mess.
My thoughts can only be summed up with one word: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Hahah! Pretty much everyone’s exact reaction!