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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 28, 2019 5:18:43 GMT
Ben wheatley REBECCA remake
Ben (DOWN TERRACE, KILL LIST, SIGHTSEERS, A FIELD IN ENGLAND, HIGH RISE, FREE FIRE) Wheatley is directing a remake of REBECCA.
Usually this kind of news fills me with dread ...or ennui at least...... but even if the 1940 classic seems very big shoes to fill, Wheatley has produced a handful of original and entertaining films that mark him out as one of the most interesting directors working today- and for me (unlike Hitchcock) he has yet to have an off day - although whether his track record will be as clean after 50 movies only time will tell...
Let's talk casting: Lily James seems a natural for the second Mrs DeWinter, although she lacks the innate gauche quality that Fontaine brought to the part that served it so well - must admit Armie Hammer wouldn't have been my first choice for Max, but he has been effective elsewhere so I'll wait and see - and he has scrubbed up well - see pic below - even gone brunette for his art!  (Domnhall Gleeson would maybe have been interesting - check out his buttoned up GP with ideas above his station in the excellent THE LITTLE STRANGER from last year)... but the cherry on the top must be Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers - If anyone could give Judith Anderson a run for her money it must be KST. As she has matured KST has cornered the market in frosty, scary bitches and Mrs Danvers must be one of the frostiest, scariest bitches on offer.....born for each other I'd say (although the age disparity between her and Max/Rebecca considerable here - KST nearly twice the age Hammer is - Anderson less than a decade older than Larry). It fills my heart with icicles just to think about it! Wonder whether the Sapphic aspect to Mrs Danvers' interest in Rebecca will be played up in these more liberal times... although possibly less is more on that one (not read novel so not sure what DuMaurier intended - also see point re age difference - that may work against it). Sam Riley, Lena Headey, Ann Dowd and Jane Lapotaire round out the cast.
Production due to finish in August. No release date.
Hatfield Hall in Hertfordshire is standing in for Manderlay
Lily, Armie & Ben
Hatfield House
and KST (definitely not in character!) 
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Post by marshamae on Jun 28, 2019 22:54:59 GMT
Surprised at Hatfield as the Manderley site. The sea is such an integral part of story. I’m surprised they did not look for something in Cornwall, etc
Also Hatfield is so well known .
Not sure about lily James. It will be a great test of her skills to see if she can convince us she knows nothing.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 28, 2019 23:11:30 GMT
Surprised at Hatfield as the Manderley site. The sea is such an integral part of story. I’m surprised they did not look for something in Cornwall, etc Also Hatfield is so well known . Not sure about lily James. It will be a great test of her skills to see if she can convince us she knows nothing. Yes - re Lily she is too established a star to be a natural fit like Fontaine - whose first A feature lead it was- but audiences like Lily- and I'm with them.......... It seems it is her - not Keira or Carey - who is poised to be the next big Brit GLOBAL star - I'm talking Liz or Audrey* or Julie Christie or Deborah Kerr level international stardom- and REBECCA might consolidate that for Lily if it clicks. The "British Julia Roberts" tag may not seem like much of a compliment.. but if the shoe fits....
Re Hatfield I imagine the sea will be CGI'd into it afterwards. Its quite the imposing country pile.
* yes I know she Belgian born but she became a star via UK apprenticeship so we can rightfully claim her as our own!
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Post by hi224 on Jun 28, 2019 23:35:14 GMT
shes a perfect choice.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 28, 2019 23:39:43 GMT
This might actually be something decent.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 28, 2019 23:42:21 GMT
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Post by hi224 on Jun 28, 2019 23:51:18 GMT
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Post by petrolino on Jun 29, 2019 0:46:54 GMT
Hope it turns out better than 'High-Rise' (2015).
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 29, 2019 7:33:37 GMT
Hope it turns out better than 'High-Rise' (2015). Yes reviews were decidedly mixed on that, his first big budget effort with major names. It certainly got a lot of attention. I quite enjoyed it - less than the 4 that preceded it by some margin - and I think I'm a Hiddleston naysayer - but I though it captured a world of encroaching chaos well. Not read the book though so can't comment on it as adaptation.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 29, 2019 10:28:32 GMT
Two Weddings and a Funeral
Delighted to report that the Daily Mail is now referring to the imminent remake as "TWO WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL"   
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on Jun 29, 2019 17:33:59 GMT
I love KST, so that's a big YAY from me!  |
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Post by fangirl1975 on Jun 30, 2019 18:33:26 GMT
A Rebecca adaptation strikes me as being more Kenneth Branagh's forte than Ben Wheatley's. KST is an intriguing choice for Mrs. Danvers though.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jun 30, 2019 19:42:43 GMT
A Rebecca adaptation strikes me as being more Kenneth Branagh's forte than Ben Wheatley's. KST is an intriguing choice for Mrs. Danvers though. Wheatley has done well by not doing what is expected of him though - He followed his hitman/sacrificial cult KILL LIST hit with a black comedy SIGHTSEERS about a couple invigorated by meting out capital punishment to those that violate the countryside code.... and followed that with a hallucinogenic look at the English civil war in the 1700s. A full on heritage classic mystery could be so right for him (and us) because it sounds so wrong.... Wheatley can certainly do mounting dread, psychological unease and out and out goosebumps, all of which REBECCA requires.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Jul 1, 2019 4:54:39 GMT
Ben wheatley REBECCA remake but the cherry on the top must be Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers - If anyone could give Judith Anderson a run for her money it must be KST. As she has matured KST has cornered the market in frosty, scary bitches and Mrs Danvers must be one of the frostiest, scariest bitches on offer.....born for each other I'd say (although the age disparity between her and Max/Rebecca considerable here - KST nearly twice the age Hammer is - Anderson less than a decade older than Larry). It fills my heart with icicles just to think about it! Wonder whether the Sapphic aspect to Mrs Danvers' interest in Rebecca will be played up in these more liberal times... although possibly less is more on that one (not read novel so not sure what DuMaurier intended - also see point re age difference - that may work against it). Sam Riley, Lena Headey, Ann Dowd and Jane Lapotaire round out the cast.
Production due to finish in August. No release date.
Hatfield Hall in Hertfordshire is standing in for Manderlay
Lily, Armie & Ben
Hatfield House
and KST (definitely not in character!)
Can't say I share your enthusiasm for KST in the role, Tilda Swinton must have said no, the obvious choice for me.
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Post by OldAussie on Jul 1, 2019 5:11:25 GMT
well, it's going to be better (I hope) than the recent remakes of My Cousin Rachel - although Rachel Weiss was good - and Far From the Madding Crowd - which played like a highlights reel of the original.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 1, 2019 6:35:37 GMT
Can't say I share your enthusiasm for KST in the role, Tilda Swinton must have said no, the obvious choice for me.Tilda is a magnificent suggestion  I can only assume her schedule was too full! Can't wait for her Miss Havisham.....
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 1, 2019 6:43:45 GMT
well, it's going to be better (I hope) than the recent remakes of My Cousin Rachel - although Rachel Weiss was good - and Far From the Madding Crowd - which played like a highlights reel of the original.
I'm with you on RACHEL (although I didn't much care for the Olivia version- there was a Geraldine Chaplin TV effort from 1980 something that I think better than both).
I quite liked the MADDING CROWD remake- obviously nowhere near as good as the Schlesinger (a huge favourite of mine) and yes somewhat truncated (Sgt Troy suffering the most from the telescoping)... but it looked handsome - although the farming never looked as hard work as it did in the earlier one - and I liked the remake score. At the risk of being ungallant - with Carey I was left wondering why all these eligible men were throwing themselves at her - something one never questions with Christie. And I thought Schoenaerts made a solid Oak - too much so really - there was never any doubt re which suitor would claim her in this version - Schlesinger was far more equivocal.
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Post by london777 on Jul 1, 2019 16:49:35 GMT
Hatfield is far too grand a setting. DeWinter was not a royal duke, just a local squire. And a building a touch more gothic would help. Looks like an attempt to appeal to the Downtown Abbey fanbase, namely Brits who wished they were not skint and Americans who wished they had class.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 1, 2019 17:12:54 GMT
Hatfield is far too grand a setting. DeWinter was not a royal duke, just a local squire. And a building a touch more gothic would help. Looks like an attempt to appeal to the Downtown Abbey fanbase, namely Brits who wished they were not skint and Americans who wished they had class. Yes - here is something more likely - no idea where it is
There are plenty of skint Brits who wish the Yanks had class too!   - but nice take on the DOWNTON fanbase ..... Lily not in the DOWNTON Movie though
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Jul 1, 2019 17:15:27 GMT
Hatfield is far too grand a setting. DeWinter was not a royal duke, just a local squire. And a building a touch more gothic would help. Looks like an attempt to appeal to the Downtown Abbey fanbase, namely Brits who wished they were not skint and Americans who wished they had class. 
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