Movie News
David Gordon Green to Remake Argento’s Suspiria?
Posted by Chris Beaumont (chrisbeaumont@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 6, 2008
Make of this news what you will, but it does not appear that the remake mania that has swept through Hollywood will be going away anytime soon. I am not one to automatically dismiss a remake, but I have to wonder what will come of this proposed Suspiria remake. I admit, it is an intriguing idea, and the original could possibly be improved upon, assuming the team brought in has genuine vision. Could David Gordon Green be that man to inject new life into the Dario Argento classic?
Green has been branching out as of late, so it would seem likely that a horror film could be a natural fit for someone looking to try other genres. The writer/director is known for his character driven films such as All the Real Girls and Undertow. He recently wrapped work on his first genre film, the comedy Pineapple Express, produced by Judd Apatow and starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Time will tell if he can handle comedy as deftly as drama, but I am leaning towards giving him the benefit of the doubt. Having Apatow helping out cannot hurt matters in my mind.
As for Suspiria? The film is a fantastic film with some gruesome intensity and beautiful use of color (I believe it was the last film ever shot in Technicolor). I suspect that should David Gordon Green actually sign on, he will be able to improve the character driven elements, I just hope that he can deliver on the visual side of the coin as well.
This project could go wither way, but signing a talented director is the first step in making the project a worthy undertaking.
Read more articles by Chris Beaumont
4 Comments
March 6th, 2008 at 8:02 am
This is just terrible. How could anyone who loves film ever even THINK to remake such classics? I don’t think there is any excuse good enough. Leave them alone!!
Christ doesn’t anyone in Hollywood have any original ideas anymore?? This massive surge of remakes in the past 10 years is completely discouraging.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:43 am
this is all juno’s fault
March 6th, 2008 at 11:03 am
How does Juno have anything to do with this?
As for the resurgence in remakes, well, it is after all a business and remakes have proven to be quite profitable. There are original thoughts and it has been provem that, by and large, people will go to the remake over an original, so business dictates that remakes will continue to be made.
Also, remakes have been a part of Hollywood since the dawn of film. The beloved Wizard of Oz was a remake, and many of the early stars remade their own films as talkies with the advent of sound. Then there are also films like The Thing which is gnereally highly regarded, and also happens to be a remake, not to mention last year’s best picture winner which was, gasp, a remake.
It is not going away anytime soon. The best thing would be to encourage everyone to support the original films as often as possible and prove they are a viable option to the remake/regurgitation machine.
March 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I’m not against remakes, but I am against remaking such iconic films. Believing that you can handle the same level of beauty as Argento is just plain hubris in my book.
It’s a no-win situation. The few cult followers of Argento love Suspiria and will automatically hate the remake. And the film isn’t mainstream or commercial enough for the rest of the movie-going universe.
By that math, zero human beings will see this film. And my math is never wrong. Except this one time that I’d rather not talk about without a lawyer present.