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David Fincher to Direct Remake of "Strangers on a Train" for Netflix (FOR REAL THIS TIME?)

posted 10 months ago by roger1 (4046)
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I found an internet article of THIS WEEK(the first week of April 2024) which says that David Fincher is going to DIRECT(not just produce) a remake of Hitchocck's Strangers on a Train, to be called only "Strangers."

Funny thing that I know: A remake of "Strangers on a Train" has been in development hell for so long that I swear at one time it was going to be called '"Train." I think "Strangers" is the better way to go, but actually I think "Strangers on a Train" would have been better, still.

Back in the 90s, we got some real, actual Hitchcock remakes: Psycho. A Perfect Murder(from Dial M for Murder, this time with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow.) Rear Window(on TV with Christopher Reeve.)

But since then, we've had a few PROPOSED remakes still lost IN development hell. Michael Bay's The Birds(with Naomi Watts and George Clooney.) A "To Catch a Thief" remake set in Miami, with Gal Gadot.

And Strangers on a Train.

The Strangers on a Train remake idea goes back to at least 2003, when Denzel Washington and his director pal Antoine Fuqua were set to make it. But Denzel went for a (bad) Manchurian Candidate remake instead.

My question at the time was: is Denzel gonna play the bad guy?(he could -- see: Training Day) or the good guy? We never found out.

Ben Affleck is attached to this Fincher "Strangers." So, same question: is Ben gonna play the good guy or the bad guy?

Evidently, we shall soon...really, for real this time, no lie, not kidding...find out.

One comment:

If they do remake Strangers on a Train, it BETTER STILL END with the berserk carousel sequence.

For all the brilliance of the plot, and Robert Walker's compelling performance as psycho Bruno Anthony -- Strangers on a Train is really ABOUT that carousel climax. Just like North by Northwest or 8 years later is really ABOUT its Mount Rushmore climax.

You see, Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest each served the same role in Hitchcock.

Strangers on a Train followed four rather sedate Hitchcock films with little action and poor box office: The Paradine Case, Rope, Under Capricorn and Stage Fright. Hitch decided to "play the part of an action entertainer" and built Strangers on a Train for maximum 1951 impact: hero and villain duking it out to the death on a carousel spinning out of control and off its axis. BIG THRILLS. And his biggest hit in years -- Number Three at the box office for 1951.

North by Northwest followed two rather sedate, rather depressing Hitchcock films with little action and poor box office: The Wrong Man and Vertigo. Hitch decided (again) to "play the role of an action entertainer" and built North by Northwest for maximum 1959 impact: an opening drunken car drive; a midpoint crop duster vs man chase and then Mount Rushmore for the finale. BIG THRILLS..especially with Bernard Herrmann's music thundering away. And his biggest hit in a few years -- Number 6 or so for 1959.

I don't think they will ever remake North by Northwest for a lot of reasons but two are (1) that Cary Grant was the perfect star for that perfect movie and (2) it would have to have a Mount Rushmore climax and you can't film there anymore.

I think they CAN remake Strangers on a Train but...it better have the carousel climax.

[–] ElizabethJoestar (946) 10 months ago

At the very least, Fincher is no slouch as a director, so I'm confident it won't be a shot for shot debacle. I'd certainly rather watch it than that proposed Vertigo remake from RDJ.

[–] roger1 (4046) 10 months ago

At the very least, Fincher is no slouch as a director, so I'm confident it won't be a shot for shot debacle.

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If it is not a "shot by shot debacle"(ha) -- One question to ponder: will they try to "go back to the book" This has no carousel climax and earlier on(I"ve read) Guy REALLY DOES kill Bruno's father, compromising the whole thing. (Purists DON'T LIKE that Guy won't kill the father in Hitchcock's film but...c'mon...he's a GOOD GUY.) So if Fincher elects to have Guy kill the father, we will have a "faithful" treatment in which "the bad guys win." Depressing.

One way that moviemakers try to get out of criticism for remaking movies is to say "well, we are really filming the book as originally written." The Coens said this about their True Grit and indeed, the remake followed the book to a VERY anticlimactic ending...whereas the Wayne original ADDED two great back-to-back scenes at the end. The Wayne film ends much more emotionally involved than the Coen version.

If they filmed "Jaws as the book was written" -- the shark wouldn't eat Quint and get blown up(far-fetched year, but its the Star Wars Death Star two years early.) Rather the shark tires out from harpoons and drowns, dragging Quint down with him -- Quint is caught in the harpoon ropes. Bleah.

CONT

[–] roger1 (4046) 10 months ago

I'd certainly rather watch it than the proposed Vertigo remake from RDJ.

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RDJ HAS to know that Vertigo held that 2012 "Greatest Movie Ever Made" Sight and Sound slot. (To which he could reply "And who reads that? And have you HEARD what Sight and Sound picked THIS time for 2022?")

I remained convinced of this:

RDJ seems to have a TECHNICAL desire to use modern camerawork to make the Vertigo scenes in Vertigo REALLY vertiginous. Like a Spiderman sequence in one of the recent iterations, atop the Washington monument that made me as scared as I REALLY am from heights, and like a recent IMAX film about a walk on a tightrope between the Twin Towers, mentioned, if THIS Vertigo REALLY gives viewers Vertigo...the whole famous tragic love story and deep themes and beautiful photography and great music won't matter. For entertainment value, at least.

I'm reminded that while Vertigo lacks the "entertaining thriller" reputation of Strangers on A Train, NXNW and Psycho, it DOES have some great set-pieces, and HITCHCOCK's version of the "vertigo" sensation was incredibly creative for its time -- he invented(I guess) the "zoom in, dolly out" effect that Spielberg most famously used on Roy Scheider seeing the boy get ate at the beach in Jaws.

Vertigo also cleverly opens with a bang-up action/cliffhanger/death sequence which launches Vertigo with FAR more action that NXNW and Psycho open. Hitchcock's plan seems clear: "Grab the audience early with this chase cliffhanger suspense scene, and they will sit still for over an hour of just driving around and watching a woman."

I'm guessing that even if RDJ cannot overcome the history of Vertigo as a story, if he wins on making us all dizzy in the movie theaters, his Vertigo will win over doubters.

[–] roger1 (4046) 4 months ago

Update, October 2024:

Announced in the trades: David Fincher has given up on his "Strangers on a Train" remake. Again.

Shall we just agree that after 20 plus years in development hell , the remake of Strangers on a Train will NEVER be made? (Along with Michael Bay's remake of The Birds...).

However: now David Fincher says he is to remake instead...Alfred Hitchcock's Rope.