Post by Patrick on Aug 3, 2009 22:56:25 GMT
Yet more "I can't think of anything original to do" Movie news, as none other than Stephen Spielberg sets out to remake the film.
Steven Spielberg's next project will be a remake of Harvey, the Oscar-winning 1950 film which starred James Stewart as a man whose best friend is an invisible giant rabbit. The original movie, an adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning play by Mary Chase, won Josephine Hull the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance as Stewart's long-suffering sister, Veta, while Stewart was himself nominated for the best actor prize.
The story centres on Elwood P Dowd (Stewart), a middle-aged, amiable eccentric whose friendship with an imaginary 6ft 3½in tall rabbit named Harvey results in a comedy of errors when his sister tries to have him committed. This is not the first time that a remake of Harvey has been mooted: John Travolta was attached to an update at one point, but the rights lapsed.
According to Variety, Spielberg aims to start shooting early next year, and is expected to approach A-list actors such as Tom Hanks and Will Smith for the film. The new screenplay is the first from novelist Jonathan Tropper, writer of The Book of Joe and How to Talk to a Widower.
Spielberg has not exactly been sitting on his hands – his collaboration with Peter Jackson, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, is deep in post-production and due to hit cinemas in 2011, and his Will Smith-starring remake of Old Boy is moving ahead despite a legal wrangle. He also has his long-gestating Abraham Lincoln biopic and children's adventure The 39 Clues on his potential slate, although neither has yet been given the final green light.
Variety reports that Harvey will be a co-production of Twentieth Century Fox and Spielberg's DreamWorks company, the first since the latter split with Universal last year. DreamWorks has since teamed up with India's Reliance ADA Group and arranged a new distribution deal with Disney in February after negotiations with Universal fell through just days earlier.
It's one of my favourites - and I'm rather disappointed. Remake after Remake after Remake! It's all getting very boring.
Steven Spielberg's next project will be a remake of Harvey, the Oscar-winning 1950 film which starred James Stewart as a man whose best friend is an invisible giant rabbit. The original movie, an adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning play by Mary Chase, won Josephine Hull the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance as Stewart's long-suffering sister, Veta, while Stewart was himself nominated for the best actor prize.
The story centres on Elwood P Dowd (Stewart), a middle-aged, amiable eccentric whose friendship with an imaginary 6ft 3½in tall rabbit named Harvey results in a comedy of errors when his sister tries to have him committed. This is not the first time that a remake of Harvey has been mooted: John Travolta was attached to an update at one point, but the rights lapsed.
According to Variety, Spielberg aims to start shooting early next year, and is expected to approach A-list actors such as Tom Hanks and Will Smith for the film. The new screenplay is the first from novelist Jonathan Tropper, writer of The Book of Joe and How to Talk to a Widower.
Spielberg has not exactly been sitting on his hands – his collaboration with Peter Jackson, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, is deep in post-production and due to hit cinemas in 2011, and his Will Smith-starring remake of Old Boy is moving ahead despite a legal wrangle. He also has his long-gestating Abraham Lincoln biopic and children's adventure The 39 Clues on his potential slate, although neither has yet been given the final green light.
Variety reports that Harvey will be a co-production of Twentieth Century Fox and Spielberg's DreamWorks company, the first since the latter split with Universal last year. DreamWorks has since teamed up with India's Reliance ADA Group and arranged a new distribution deal with Disney in February after negotiations with Universal fell through just days earlier.
It's one of my favourites - and I'm rather disappointed. Remake after Remake after Remake! It's all getting very boring.
