Here’s some news that’s bound to piss off those who already thought remaking Hitchcock’s The Birds was a bad idea. While the film was announced quite a while ago, with Casino Royale director Martin Campbell attached, and Naomi Watts set for the Tippi Hedren role, things have gone quiet for the last few months, with the only murmurings being that Platinum Dunes, the production company behind the project, might be about to give up on the whole thing.
However Pajiba has some news from their Hollywood insider that suggests Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes isn’t ready to just admit remaking such an idiosycratic movies as The Birds is a bad idea. However, while they still want to make the movie, it look like they’ll have to do it without Martin Campbell, who of course has now got his work cut out for him making Green Lantern. As he was the only thing about the reboot that gave anyone any hope, his leaving is bad news.
So who’s going to replace him? Well, if you’re ready to start ranting about how Hollywood has no regard for its classics and will destroy anything for a quick buck, the person Pajiba says is being lined up to take over from Campbell is Dennis Iliades, director of the recent remake of The Last House On The Left.
Yet another version of the script has apparently now been commissioned to fit Iliades’ vision, which is apparent more gory than what Campbell was planning and therefore even less like what The Birds was originally about (to read our Movie-A-Day section’s take on what The Birds was really about, CLICK HERE). However if you’re a middle-tier director like Iliades, who knows he’s never going to match Hitchcock in terms of suspense, maybe blood and guts is the only way to go.