JOHNNY DEPP TO REMAKE "THE THIN MAN" (from Cinema Retro)
Johnny Depp and director Rob Marshall will team for a remake of the classic mystery film The Thin Man. The original 1934 film starred William Powell and Myrna Loy as a married couple who dabble in solving murders and mysteries. The witty byplay between the two stars proved to be a sensation with audiences and spawned several sequels. It is not known who will be cast in the role of Nora Charles in the remake. (to see the original trailer go here and scroll down http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php
Ed here: As much as I respect and admire Johnny Depp's enormous talents I have grave doubts about trying to duplicate or best a masterpiece that owes its legend not just to its talented writer, director and stars but to the era in which it was created. That time was several planets removed from our contemporary world. If nothing else today we would look at Nick as an alcoholic and Nora as his winsome enabler. And the mugs and thugs who appear throughout the film...after The Sopranos (if not The Godfather) mugs and thugs aren't so much fun any more.
I think this is a real bad call.
12 comments:
Agreed. And no one can replace Myrna Loy in my book.
Didn't he already do this as a drinking pirate?
I guess this will be after he plays Barnabus Collins in DARK SHADOWS.
RJR
I don't know. Depp used to be a good actor--consider Donnie Brasco. Maybe he can pull it off.
Bad news indeed. No one can recapture the effervescence of the actors and the period. And she had a drink her hand too often for out standards today.
Looks like the networks are populating next fall's TV season with MAD MEN copycats celebrating '50s and '60s martini culture, so maybe these guys figured it was time to celebrate '30s bar hoppers. Hey, Hollywood, how about taking on a real challenge and tackling the John Guild version of THIN MAN.
You hit it, Ed. Everything works against this idea. But you know Hollywood. They'll rape any corpse if they think they can make a dollar.
I'm wondering what the intended audience for this would be. Probably not more than 1% of Hollywood's prized demographic has even heard of these movies, much less seen them. So not only does it sound like a bad idea, it sounds like an unprofitable one.
THE THIN MAN does indeed seem a product of its time that really can't be replicated in a modern context (the alcoholic/enabler aspect you mention)...at least, not replicated and keep true to the spirit of Hammett's tale.
~ Ron C.
Depp has channelled Charlie Chaplin and did a pretty good job. His Don Marco was great and so was his Mad Hatter. If anyone can do it, he can. Although I wish the Cohen brothers were directing; that would be awesome.
However, I heard a strange rumour that James Franco might be directing Blood Meridian. Uck.
Iwritehorror.blogspot.com
Depp is an incredible actor, but no one can replace Powell in THE THIN MAN. Hell, no one can replace Loy, either. In order to make this work for modern audiences, they'd have to do a complete overhaul, so they might as well NOT call it THE THIN MAN. Why sully a perfectly good title?
I don't admire Depp's capacity for self-regard, and haven't been too impressed by him in anything I've seen him in, so I suspect we have a pretty close approximation to THE GREEN HORNET here.
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