Fresh off the Sundance success of his directorial debut Sleight, J.D. Dillard is in talks to direct – and co-write with his writing partner, Alex Theurer – a remake of classic horror, The Fly.
Following news of a Matrix reboot being in the works, it would be easy to throw your hands up in the air at Hollywood churning out old ideas instead of creating new ones and swear off big budget films for good. Until you remember that David Cronenberg‘s 1986 classic was itself a remake of 1958’s The Fly, albeit with a lot more originality and Cronenberg-ness.
The 1986 version starred Jeff Goldblum and Gina Davis in the tale of an ambitious scientist designing a teleportation machine who mutates into a grotesque insect after an experiment gone wrong. This would be a huge coup for Dillard and Theuer who generated a lot of buzz for Sleight, with Blumhouse acquiring it for release alongside the duo’s next project, horror-thriller, Sweetheart, starring Kiersy Clemons (Dope).
It’s worth noting that the second remake of The Fly might be tied to the release of Alien: Covenant. If Fox’s film performs at the box office, they might feel extremely good about mining their other R-Rated 80s horrors.
Cronenberg was originally attached to direct a remake himself way back in 2009, before he and the studio fell out over budgetary disagreements, and instead Cronenberg took his version to the stage with an opera adaptation (yup).
It would be hard to top Cronenberg’s Fly, it’s pretty much the quintessential body horror film and one of the purest Cronenberg films ever. Just watch a scene and it’s instantly recognisable. Horror has always been a favourite genre to mine, so it’s no surprise Fox is intrigued not only by the possibilities of a Fly remake in a CGI-heavy world, but also how much money it could make.
#Peace.Love.TheFly
