It seems as though every classic gothic horror tale is being thrown into the “reboot” machine – see: WOLFMAN, FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, etc. – and today The Hollywood Reporter brings news of yet another one: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, which Paramount just bought a pitch for. Although, of course, this one will be given a modern, ass-kicking twist that I’m confidant is unnecessary, but what can you do?
While the details are vague, this new take will evidently be an original high-concept action-adventure story with the framework of the traditional Hunchback of Notre Dame tale. It’s also going to be in the vein of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies… Is that you snoring, or me?
Willie Block and Jake Emanuel wrote the pitch for Paramount; the duo, as far as I can tell, only have a short called GIZOR AND GORM to their credit. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA) is producing, so you get an idea of what this thing is going to look like: Quasimodo is going to be about 25-years-old, with a knack for spitting witty quips at villains and romancing busty hotties. He’ll probably be adept at parkour too…
Here’s the original synopsis for Victor Hugo’s novel, not that it will really matter: For though he was gentle and kind, it was Quasimodo’s crime to have been born hideously deformed. But one day his heart would prove to be a thing of rare beauty. She was Esmeralda. The victim of a coward’s jealous rage, she is unjustly convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. Her sentence is death by hanging. Only one man can save her–Quasimodo.
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