Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10

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20th Century Fox is set to press ahead with a new remake of The Fly, using David Cronenberg’s 1986 take on the material as its template. His film in turn was a remake of the 1958 film of the same name.

The new film has a director attached now, with J D Dillard – who has sprung to attention this year off the back of his debut feature, Sleight – set to call the shots. He’s also going to co-write the screenplay to the movie with Alex Theurer, his usual writing partner.

This is not a new project for Fox, with the studio having been working on a new take on The Fly for quite some time. At one stage, Cronenberg himself was involved in talks, but budget issues led to it falling apart at that stage.

There’s no word as of yet as to when to expect this new take on The Fly, but it does appear to be Dillard’s next project.


The trailer for the 1986 movie.....







and the 1958 original.....



 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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The Fly is a 1986 American science fiction horror film directed and co-written by David Cronenberg. Produced by Brooksfilms and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. Loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story of the same name.

The score was composed by Howard Shore and the make-up effects were created by Chris Walas, along with makeup artist Stephan Dupuis.

The film was released on August 15, 1986 to massive acclaim by critics and audiences, with praise mainly regarding the special effects and Goldblum's performance. It grossed $60.6 million at the box office against its nine-million-dollar budget, becoming the largest commercial success of Cronenberg's career. Walas and Dupuis' work on the film resulted in their winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup, the only film directed by Cronenberg to win an Oscar.

A sequel, directed by Walas himself, was released in 1989.


 

Carol

Member: Rank 5
Is it just me? The original black and white version was terrifying - as befits anything featuring Vincent Price. OK Jeff Goldblum's version had zappier sci-fi effects but, given both versions exist, who really needs a third?
I don't need Matrix # 4 and I'm very doubtful about a new Blade Runner; who shares the rallying cry "enough with the remakes already"?
 

duzit

Member: Rank 6
Is it just me? The original black and white version was terrifying - as befits anything featuring Vincent Price. OK Jeff Goldblum's version had zappier sci-fi effects but, given both versions exist, who really needs a third?
I don't need Matrix # 4 and I'm very doubtful about a new Blade Runner; who shares the rallying cry "enough with the remakes already"?
I share everything you said. In some other thread that is at the moment lost to me amongst our sea of threads I stated that the reason for all the remakes & remakes of remarks is that they
- the creative geniuses - cannot think of anything original. Songs are also made over & over.
Granted that each generation puts their own spin on them, but it's still the same good-old songs from
yesteryear. The only remake and I'm not even sure to call it that, that I'm interested in is
the new "Beauty and the Beast." All the others can end up on the cutting room floor...
 

Carol

Member: Rank 5
Big YES to all you say - songs might be the clue to what I'm figuring out here - a classic song: there are performers who can interpret and remake traditional versions, but maybe there are specific performances you can't or shouldn't attempt to mimic.
This might be coming from a very English folk/rock perspective (anyone has a perfect right to flaunt their own Tam Lin and I'll be there cheering them on), but back right off if you think I'm interested in YOUR Bat Out of Hell - unless you're Meatloaf.
 

alpha128

Member: Rank 3
To be honest, I generally hate the films of David Cronenberg. I go to a science fiction marathon every year and have been forced to sit through the following films of his and hated them all:
That said however, The Fly (1986) is by far the best Cronenberg film I've seen. I also thought Scanners (1981) was pretty decent.

I own the original 1953 "The Fly" on DVD, and I have to admit that the 1986 remake is excellent.
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
UPDATE: April 6th, 2017

Director J.D. Dillard on his plans for the remake....

Dillard says that the project is still in the “early days” of development and that the deal to make the film is still in negotiations, but he seems very excited about the prospect of making it.

For me – and this would be about The Fly, but this is also about Alex and my approach to remakes because post-Sleight that has been the conversation for what a lot of big flashy studio gigs are – no matter what, we want to start with character. I think if you look at a lot of remakes, and the ones that may have not been as successful as others, I think often times the wrong pieces are remade. Having this conversation about bigger projects and IP, we really want to make sure we are following a beating heart first and foremost.

Dillard points to Fox’s new Planet of the Apes series as an example of when it’s done right.

We talk about Apes as one of our favorite franchise remakes because its incredible to see what pieces of those films are being remade. It’s technically the broad conceit that’s being remade, but its a deeply emotional story that carries you through the franchise. It’s so weird: even watching the trailer for the new movie that’s coming out, I can look into Caesar’s eyes and remember the first movie, and that sensation is unparalleled for a franchise reboot for me. It’s like, man this planet is like fucked and everything is wrong and there is war but I can look into Caesar’s eyes and remember the emotion of the James Franco story and that’s important to me. Anywhere we go it’s coming from that point of view, just that we want the beating heart of the story be our North star. And then action, fun and scale can be piled on, but I’ve started to realize my dream film experience is something with big scale that can also make me cry. And not cry for nostalgia, but to be emotionally moved.

Dillard has been thinking long and hard about the movie experience he most wants to experience as a filmgoer and would love to be able to create as a filmmaker:

I made the joke at a screening Q&A the other night but I want to take Mike Mills’ Beginners and match it with something like Guardians of the Galaxy. Now that technically makes no sense, but I want to be really gutted emotionally and feel something but also all the pieces from a blockbuster are there too. That’s the gap that I would love to find a way to close.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
BRUNDLEFLY CONCEPT ART AS THE FLY REMAKE RAMPS UP


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David Cronenberg's The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum, celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.

The sci-fi horror flick has some of the most stomach-churning special effects ever seen on the silver screen, and now Sleight's J.D. Dillard has been tapped to direct a reboot of the property for 20th Century Fox.

Inspired by the 1986 remake and hopeful for the 21st century rehatch, digital artist Calvin AKA Stormbrush designed a modernized version of the horrifying Brundlefly back in 2015 as his amateur contribution to the creative process, perhaps influencing the new movie's preproduction team.

Through the infinite upheaval of the interweb, we're just seeing this awesome art now. It features an eight-stage reinterpretation of the fly-human hybrid in gory detail, yet still attempts to retain a certain sympathy for the Seth Brundle character.

"I watched The Fly 1986 recently and still love it very much," explains Calvin. "This is more than just a monster movie, it has depth to the story and character. So I decided to redesign the creature.

"The challenge to design this monster is that it is crossing species quite drastically, and you get to see the development," he continued. "It starts from flesh and skin infection to deformation, and then slowly the parasite reveals itself, and it is taking control of the host. Stage 4 and Stage 5 is the biggest challenge and the most fun part, because it is at its turning point, that you want audience terrified but also sympathize with Brundle. At this stage the percentage of how much human feature being revealed is critical.

"The full body Brundlefly uses the basic structure and poses of an insect, but with distorted and infected flesh, cross over with insect patterns, hairs and leg parts. The middle legs only revealed at the end of the transformation, which affects the pose and walk cycle, making it completely non-human."

Buzz on in and inspect the disturbing Brundlefly images below, and tell us if The Fly still ranks high on your horror honor roll.


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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Other projects

Renny Harlin's alternate sequel

In the 1990s, Geena Davis was reportedly involved with an alternate sequel to The Fly, to be directed by her then-husband, Renny Harlin, titled Flies. The script by Richard Jefferieswas said to feature a story where Veronica gives birth to twin boys, and herself survives the ordeal.

Todd Lincoln's second remake

In 2003, it was announced that a second remake of The Fly was being developed, to be directed by Todd Lincoln, produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and released in 2006, but this did not happen.

David Cronenberg's sequel

In 2009, it was rumored that David Cronenberg himself was preparing to direct a second remake of The Fly,[30] but it was not until 2011 that the director addressed the rumors. Cronenberg stated that he had written not a remake, but rather a "sort of" sequel script to his 1986 version, and would film it if 20th Century Fox gave the project the go-ahead:

I have written a script that is more of a strange lateral, let's say oblique sequel than it is a true sequel, and it's certainly not a remake of the original. It's financed by Fox, and whether it will get made or not, I cannot say at the moment because there are a lot of up-in-the-air factors that deal with internal studio politics and a bunch of other things that I'm not in control of. But I would make it if they greenlight it, let's put it that way.

Cronenberg elaborated further when interviewed by Empire in 2012:

Well, I did talk to Fox, because my agent found out that they were approaching people to do a remake of my film. He sort of said, "Well, you know, what about David?" And they said, "Well, we never thought of that!" I think they'd been to Guillermo del Toro and Michael Bay. I said, "Long ago I proposed a sequel to Mel Brooks when he said he wanted to make a sequel." He didn't like what I proposed because he said it wasn't the same as the original movie. "A sequel," he said, "should be more of the same." And I said, "Well, Mel, then I'm not interested." And he went off and did his sequels [sic] and they had nothing to do with me and they weren't very successful. But I still had this idea in mind—which no, I won't tell you—and I said to Fox, "I'll write that idea up because, as I think of it, it could be interesting." And they were excited about it enough to pay me to write a script. And then for various reasons it kind of got bogged down. I don't know exactly why. It seems now that it's not going to happen. But it's a script that I like and would do. It's not exactly a sequel, and it's certainly not a remake. More a meditation [...] it involves teleportation.[31]

In a late 2012 interview, Cronenberg provided additional details on why the project had stalled, citing

Budget constraints and other things. I think maybe the script that I wrote was a little too radical for Fox, and they felt it really needed to be a very low-budget film at that point. However, what was in it that attracted them could not be done low-budget. So I think that was the problem.[32]

He also described the project as "more of a sequel or a sidebar. It was a meditation on fly-ness. None of the same characters or anything and, of course, with an understanding of modern technology."

Despite Cronenberg's prior assertions that he does not make sequels to his films, he returned to The Fly for the opera The Fly in 2008, and his proposed sequel film project would mark a second return to the material, as well as his first sequel to one of his previous movies.However, the film is not moving forward
 

Simian Jack

Member: Rank 1
To be honest, I generally hate the films of David Cronenberg. (...)
That said however, The Fly (1986) is by far the best Cronenberg film I've seen. I also thought Scanners (1981) was pretty decent.
Understandable. There's a lot that could put anyone off his work. His stuff is depressing, his aesthetic can be grungy or icky, his psychological landscapes are uncomfortable to say the least and his approach is sometimes no warmer than observational. He's one of my favorite directors but I can't take much of him at any one go. It's a serious downer.

The Fly might be his most fun in that it'a his closest to the gloppy 80's aesthetic for horror movies. The audience I saw it with ate it up, laughing one moment and screaming in shock or revulsion the next. It's also got some of his most sympathetic characters and a touching love story.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I actually quite like the idea of them updating this, but am fairly certain that they would miss the point - miscasting it - and covering the whole thing in c.g.i. nonsense.
 
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