Earlier this month producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form took part in a press conference to promote the 2007 remake of the horror/thriller, The Hitcher. Amidst questions about The Hitcher, starring Sean Bean, Sophia Bush, and Zachary Knighton, Fuller and Form were able to provide an update on a couple of films they’re in the process of getting into production which include a remake of the classic Hitchcock film, The Birds and the remake (or is it a sequel?) of Friday the 13th.
Form said about the upcoming Friday the 13th film: “We are working on a script right now. And I think that next year, it’s not in the first two quarters for us, that movie, maybe at the end of the year next year. But right now we are still working on the screenplay.”
According to Form, there is a director tentatively attached to the project. “Jonathan Liebesman is attached to the movie right now, the director of Chainsaw.” Producing partner Fuller added, “But it really depends on his schedule. He’s got a lot of things rolling around right now. So if he’s available when we have a script, we’d love to work with him again. We had a great experience with him.”
Form also confirmed Friday the 13th is very much a work in progress right now. “We’re still working on the script for Friday the 13th.”
The producing team is also at work on another film for Rogue Pictures (the studio that’s putting out The Hitcher). “We are trying to put another picture for Rogue called Alone,” revealed Fuller. Alone is going to be different than their other recent and upcoming projects. “It’s an original script,” said Form who added jokingly, “Can you believe it?”
Also somewhere on the horizon is Horseman. Form describes Horseman as being “in the vein of Seven.” Form expects Dennis Quaid (American Dreamz) and Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha) to have starring roles in that thriller.
But the big project that’s on everyone’s minds is the remake of The Birds, a film which Fuller believes is absolutely going to happen. “In the next two weeks, or the next week or so, I think they’ll announce it because they’re starting to talk about a new writer to come on and write that. It definitely feels like it’s moving,” said Fuller.
As to the rumor Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts has been hired to take over the role made famous by Tippi Hedren in the original Hitchcock film, Fuller had this to say: “No actor or actress is going to commit to everything with a script. We’ve sat down with her and conceptually I think we all want to make the same movie. But until we have a script and a director, I think it’s a little premature. But, we’ll all talking and she’s who we’d like to have as the lead.”
However the news of a remake didn’t sit well with Hedren when she was asked about it at the 2006 Palm Springs Film Festival. Hedren is totally against the idea. “With the animation that they have now, it's not going to have the same affect. I don't like it. I don't like it when they take a classic and do it over again. They should just leave it to be precious and revered."
