Director David Cronenberg won critical praise and scared the pants off the audience with his 1986 reboot of “The Fly.” Now the director is looking to return the well again.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cronenberg is in discussion with 20th Century Fox to write and possibly direct a new version of “The Fly.”
In the past, the director stated he wasn’t interested in being involved in a reboot or remake of the film. It appears he’s changed his mind.
The 1986 title, itself a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi classic, starred Jeff Goldblum and became a huge hit for Fox, earning $40 million and turning into a phenomenon. It centered on Seth Brundle (Goldblum), an eccentric scientist who, after an experiment with teleportation goes awry, is transformed into a fly. Geena Davis starred as Goldblum’s love interest and partner, Veronica.
A sequel three years later with which Cronenberg was not involved — it was directed by Chris Walas, who did effects work on the 1986 version — did not fare as well, and was panned by critics and largely ignored by filmgoers.
If the director does revisit his own project, he would be the latest director to revisit his own works.
Michael Haneke last year remade his thriller “Funny Games” while Werner Herzog reimagined his doc “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” with the 2006 feature “Rescue Dawn.”
It would appear that the only real original writers are working for Pixar. Everyone else is writing remakes and movies that were once video games.
Another reboot….I would have so much rather had a Fly remake.
WHY… WHY…. WHY…. his first version was so good.
I like a lot of Cronenberg’s work. Unfortunately, he must have run out of ideas and needs to make a quick score to pay off some debts.