Looks like David Fincher enjoyed working with Ben Affleck and Gillian Flynn on GONE GIRL as the trio are contemplating working on a remake of Alfred Hitchcock‘s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN at Warner Bros. Now, at first glance, the prospect of anyone, even David Fincher, remaking a Hitchcock classic sounds like a bad idea. But, Hitchcock’s film was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith (THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY). Fincher and Affleck are looking to see if GONE GIRL author/screenwriter Gillian Flynn may be willing to come on board to script the new film.
Deadline says the studio has been looking for a way to remake STRANGERS ON A TRAIN for a while and this new idea seems to be the best fit. Affleck will produce the film which will be updated in an intriguing way.
Affleck will play a variation of the role played by Farley Granger of a tennis pro who is bored with his marriage and wants to get divorced, but instead gets entwined with a wealthy socialite psycho who proposes the notion of exchanging murders. The twist here is a compelling one. Affleck will play a movie star–in the middle of a campaign for an Oscar during awards season–whose private plane breaks down and is given a ride to LA on another plane by a wealthy stranger. In Fincher’s hands, who knows how that goes, but it sure does seem like fertile ground.
While the stuck on a plane trope may seem a little cliche by this point, I have total faith in Fincher to make this something special. David Fincher doesn’t need to resort to tricks like making the film in real time to try and make it unique. His visual style, editing, and musical inspiration should make this a remake worth seeing. As for Affleck, it seems like he plans to fit in starring in the movie between his directorial work on LIVE BY NIGHT and returning as Batman for Zack Snyder‘s JUSTICE LEAGUE. That means his reunion with Fincher will shoot in 2016 and likely hit screens by 2017.
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