Because it’s always worked out so well in the past (the maligned Psycho remake; the still-stalled latest peck at The Birds), someone is going to have a crack at re-doing another Alfred Hitchcock film. Yup, DreamWorks and Working Title are teaming up to bring the world a new Rebecca.
But before we all rush to judgement, the news about who’ll have the first stab at writing the script should bring a little bit of comfort: **Eastern Promises **/ Dirty Pretty Things’ Steven Knight.
According to Variety, he’ll go back to the Daphne du Maurier novel, which sees a naive young woman getting hitched to a rich widower and moving into his mansion. Sadly for her, the housekeeper and the rest of the staff remained devoted to his departed first wife (the titular Rebecca) and constantly try to undermine the new arrival. Soon, there are major revelations, a cold case investigation and all manner of psychological trouble.
Knight has been busy recently: he worked on Dan Brown adaptation The Lost Symbol for Sony and is getting set to direct his first film, Hummingbird, which features Jason Statham in the lead.
So what do you think of the studios looking to take a new pass at the novel? Could it go without a hitch (sorry), or will it be a load of old… rubbish?