Red Riding Ridley

No, filmmaker Ridley Scott isn’t bringing us a new version of the classic Grimm’s fairy tale (although that would be kinda cool), but instead an Americanized remake of the Brit miniseries THE RED RIDING TRILOGY.

Based on writer David Peace’s books (actually a Quartet), the three films gave fictionalized accounts of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, a brutal serial killer that stalked the Yorkshire area of England in the 1970s and 80s. The telefilms, each handled by a different director, featured stars like Sean Bean, Mark Addy and Paddy Considine.

Oscar-winning writer Steve Zaillian (SCHINDLER’S LIST) will work on condensing the sprawling story into a feature length (as well as figuring out how to change the setting to the US) for Columbia. He’s also collaborated with Scott on HANNIBAL and AMERICAN GANGSTER.

The real question is — does Ridley Scott really plan on directing this? He’s already got an ALIEN prequel lined up, a vampire project, MONOPOLY, and at least a dozen other things he’s supposedly set to produce or direct. And he’s still turning the screws on ROBIN HOOD. He’s pretty ambitious in his eighth decade, but he’ll need replacement parts if he’s going to get all these things done…