Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo is considered one of the finest movies ever made, but Hollywood has never turned down the chance to remake something that doesn’t need to be remade. It’s been two years since we first heard of the Vertigo remake, which will tentatively star Robert Downey Jr., but screenwriter Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) told The Direct that the project is still in the works.
“It’s swirling around in my head as we speak,” Knight said. “I’m having flashbacks to about an hour ago when I was writing. It’s an interesting—I mean, of course, people consider it the best film ever made. So you’d have to be an idiot to adapt it, and so that’s what I am.“
Knight is an accomplished screenwriter, and he’s all too aware that getting Vertigo right (and justifying why it should even be made) will take some time. To his credit, it doesn’t sound like he’s half-assing it. “Taking that plot apart is like diffusing a second World War time bomb,” he said. “It’s all over. It’s very complex, but it’s what’s occupying my waking hours.“
Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey will produce the remake through their Team Downey banner alongside John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment. Downey Jr. isn’t officially attached to star, but he is said to be eyeing the leading role of a former police detective who is forced to retire after an incident in the line of duty causes him to develop acrophobia and vertigo. The original 1958 film starred Jimmy Stewart as John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, a former detective obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he was hired to investigate. In addition to Stewart, Vertigo starred Kim Novack, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Tom Helmore.
It remains to be seen if the Vertigo remake will actually happen, but again, is this a movie that needs to be remade? There’s not a chance in hell that it could be superior to Hitchcock’s movie, and I very much doubt it could even come close. That said, perhaps Downey Jr. and Knight will have a fresh approach to the story.
