While we’re not entirely convinced that the cinematic world needs yet another twist on a classic Hitchcock plot, that’s not stopping the studios from developing them. And we have a little extra faith in Substitution now, since Harry Brown director Daniel Barber is entering negotiations to direct it.
Barber showed he had the skills to handle a story that included both tension and head-crunching violence and while we expect more of the former than the latter in this new movie, he’s also a solid pair of hands. Oh, and he scored the Best British Film prize at a certain prestigious ceremony*
As for the film, there are few plot details available at the moment, but Ian Shorr’s script takes the basic plot of **Strangers on a Train **and transplants it to a high school, where a substitute teacher (See? The title works on two levels!) convinces a student that they should swap murders. Warners-based Alcon Entertainment is the company developing it.
Though it has worked okay in some instances (Disturbia), squeezing Hitch material through the meat grinder of The Kids Today doesn’t always pan out. Here’s hoping this is one of the better examples.
*That would be ours.