The last time we heard anything concrete about David Gordon Green’s long-planned remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria, it was 2009. Green planned to kick off filming on the project in 2010, but got stuck into comedy instead with Your Highness and The Sitter. Now, though, it appears the horror is back on and set to shoot later this year.
Green has written a script with Chris Gebert which will adapt Argento’s bizarro tale. It's all about a young American woman attending a famous European dance academy, only to learn it’s a front for a scary coven and witches. Cue psychotic madness!
We’re not sure exactly what tone the new version will take, but two of the producers involved in bringing it to the world seem excited: “We love the style and energy of the original film – and David’s script brilliantly updates the world, presenting a rare opportunity to create an elegant, classic horror film,” Crime Scene partners Adam Ripp and Rob Paris said in a statement picked up by Deadline. Green is pencilling in a September start.
Given that this is not the first time that a Suspiria re-do has been announced as really, truly, honestly getting ready to go into production, we’ll keep a pinch of salt handy (possibly a full circle of salt and some powerful herbs, given the subject matter). But with production and finance support from a variety of companies (plus long-time champion, producer Luca Guadagnino), and plans to sell off foreign rights at Cannes, it looks like this might finally be creeping on to our screens. Keep your chicken bones crossed.