THE FLY Remake is Being Developed as a Big Scale Film That Will Emotionally Move Audiences
About a month ago news broke that a new remake of The Fly was in development with Sleight director J.D. Dillard. As much as a enjoyed Sleight and think the director has some talent, It's hard to get behind another remake of The Fly, especially after what David Cronenberg did with it.
The film is still in the early stages of development, but Dillard recently talked to /Flim about the remake and he seems pretty excited about it. He starts out be explaining that his approach and how he's starting with the character:
"For me – and this would be about The Fly, but this is also about Alex and my approach to remakes because post-Sleight that has been the conversation for what a lot of big flashy studio gigs are – no matter what, we want to start with character. I think if you look at a lot of remakes, and the ones that may have not been as successful as others, I think often times the wrong pieces are remade. Having this conversation about bigger projects and IP, we really want to make sure we are following a beating heart first and foremost.
He goes on to say that the Planet of the Apes reboot is a good example of a using the right pieces to make a good remake and how it's important for him to find the beating heart of the story, saying:
We talk about Apes as one of our favorite franchise remakes because its incredible to see what pieces of those films are being remade. It’s technically the broad conceit that’s being remade, but its a deeply emotional story that carries you through the franchise. It’s so weird: even watching the trailer for the new movie that’s coming out, I can look into Caesar’s eyes and remember the first movie, and that sensation is unparalleled for a franchise reboot for me. It’s like, man this planet is like fucked and everything is wrong and there is war but I can look into Caesar’s eyes and remember the emotion of the James Franco story and that’s important to me. Anywhere we go it’s coming from that point of view, just that we want the beating heart of the story be our North star. And then action, fun and scale can be piled on, but I’ve started to realize my dream film experience is something with big scale that can also make me cry. And not cry for nostalgia, but to be emotionally moved.
I think it's great he wants to hit the emotional aspect of this story hard, but at the same time, why can't he take those same desires to make a great movie and put it into another original project? I loved what he did with Sleight and I'm sure he'll make a decent remake of The Fly. If it turns out to be an unexpectedly great film... awesome! I just wish the time energy and money would've been put into something unique and original. Not another rehash of a film that has already been done twice.
What do you all think about Dillard's approach to his remake of The Fly?