In 1958, Jim Thompson wrote a crime novel called The Getaway, in which nearly every character was complete trash and those who weren’t didn’t fare very well. Director Sam Peckinpah brought the story to the screen with a 1972 film that is fully imbued with early ‘70s tough guy cool and gave some of the characters redeeming qualities they didn’t have in the book, and Roger Donaldson was at the helm of a solid remake in 1994. Now, The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that a new remake of The Getaway is in the works at the Netflix streaming service.
This take on the story will be directed by Philip Barantini, director of Netflix’s acclaimed mini-series Adolescence, from a script by Peter Craig, whose credits include The Town, The Batman, and Bad Boys for Life.
What is The Getaway about?
Here’s the synopsis: When convict Doc McCoy is refused parole, he enlists his wife, Carol, to strike a deal with crooked Texan Jack Benyon, who agrees to pull strings for Doc in return for his help on one last bank heist. The job is a success, but Benyon’s men betray Doc, and he and Carol must take off across Texas with the money, running from both the law and other criminals, aiming to get to Mexico before they’re caught, or worse, killed.
The ’72 film starred Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, who fell in love during the production even though MacGraw was married to legendary producer Robert Evans at the time. The ’94 remake starred another real-life couple, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger.
Walter Hill wrote the screenplay for the ’72 film and the ’94 version came about because he wanted to shoot his original, pre-Peckinpah draft of The Getaway. But Hill ended up leaving the project over budgetary issues, Donaldson took over, and Amy Holden Jones, fresh off the success of Indecent Proposal, did some work on the script.
The Netflix remake is being produced by Peter Craig and Bryan Unkeless through their company Night Owl Stories. Andrew Mittman is producing for 1.21, while Philip Barantini and Samantha Beddoe produce for It’s All Made Up. Kai Dolbashian of 1.21 serves as an executive producer with Rey Reyes and Night Owl’s Gregory Cohen.
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