Remake of "The Birds"
 

The Birds Take Flight Again
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
April 26, 2005


Universal is planning on remaking Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 horror classic The Birds with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes in talks to produce with Peter Guber through his Mandalay Pictures banner.

The Hollywood Reporter says the new version would be based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier, to which Universal owns the rights and which inspired Hitchcock's movie. Tippi Hedren starred in the original thriller about increasingly vicious birds that terrorize a small town.

Universal has previously remade Hitchcock's Psycho with director Gus Van Sant in 1998. A Strangers on a Train redo is also in the works at Warner Bros. Pictures, which released A Perfect Murder - based on the play that inspired Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder - in 1998.

Platinum Dunes has released succesful remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, and is working on a new version of The Hitcher.

Re: Remake of "The Birds"
 

hm.......what the fuck else is new?? NOT SHIT

This remake i can actually understand.

They should remake every single classic horror movie ever.

the origional doesnt hold up that well with time .. i have no problem with a remake .. as long as it isnt a bunch of teenagers trapped in a school.

that's what there doing

i heard the name of this movie will be called "The Turds"

flying turds on the attack is way more frightening than flying birds

LMFAO!!!!!

Then it would be a MUST-SEE for every horror fan, while Hitchcock would turn around in his grave screaming...:D

I'd hate to see that bit where the guy gets his eyes pecked out by a flying turd.
MESSY!!!

i only have 3 words to say about this remake




nnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooo, but yes

it could us a face lift

I'm sorry, but are you all out of your minds? You dont remake Hitchcock movies. You just don't. Hey, heres a farfetched idea...why doesn't a director...dare i say it...come up with a new idea for a horror movie? Or remake the fucking Poltergeist or something, but leave Hitchcock alone...that should be illegal.

hitchcock himself has remade hitchcock (the man who knew too much)

his films have been remade for ages ... just ask DePalma.

Re. the Birds its not like he wrote the thing, it was based on a story by Daphne DuMaurier.

if you watch it now it looks goofy - good for its time but not now.

(i never found the concept of grumpy pigeons that frightening on film anyway)

yes, this would be a reasonable remake. I wanna see it.

While this film could certainly stand to be remade more than say.... Oh I don't know, Pet Semetary.... It still would be better if they'd leave it alone and think of a fresh idea. And by fresh idea, I don't mean making another sequel in an existing franchise or remaking a foreign horror film... I mean actually thinking of their own fresh, original idea.




Remakes are the biggest fucking cop out for a studio to have a film that they KNOW will make a certain amount of money. But if no one is making anything original any more, what will the unoriginal directors and studios have left to remake in 20 years?

Whatever. I imagine you'd have to think pretty highly of yourself when you decide you're worthy enough to remake a Hitchcock. And Urg, I know your opinion is always right, but just because Hitchcock didn't come up with the idea, he sure as hell made it something. And it's ok that Hitchcock remade Hitchcock...but he's the only exception.

P.S. I'm also quite aware of the fact that others have remade Hitchcock movies, but why don't you think back. They all sucked ass.

body double didnt suck ass, dressed to kill didnt suck ass.

Brian De Palma seldom suck....I didnt like "Snake eyes" or "Mission to Mars"...but overall a exellent director...
I'm not that much of Hitchcock fan...maybe I'm to "young"....
I like "vertigo" and "Psycho" and a couple of others....when I saw "The Birds" as a kid(early 80's) I thought it allready looked outdatet....but birds isnt scary as sharks, pirahna, snakes and alligators...I just dont like the consept of the plot...:eek:

Yah they did. And it makes me sad that for a classic movie to be "good" it has to fit today's standards of special FX. I'm sorry, but you're all nuts. I guess whoever's making this one feels the way you do. Pity.

Hitchcock nearly invented the slasher genre cause of "Psycho"...you cant expect people not to use the genre :confused:

Look, I'm not against people using the slasher genre. I never once said that. I hate:

1. When people try to remake a Hitchcock movie...by remaking I mean taking a movie he created, like Psycho, and trying to "modernize" it, therefore trying to replace it with what they think is a better version, and

2. When people refuse to like or don't consider older movies like "The Birds" good horror movies just because it doesn't scare them or the FX aren't good.

I pretty much agree with you...but you have to differ between a remake, movie based on the same book and a tribut....
Like "The Shining" movies..they are more based on the book than remakes and the best is of course the Kubrick version..Stephen King didnt like it because it was to much Kubrick and to little King..

And some of those Brian De Palma movies are more like tributes to Hitchcock than cynical copies...

But movies like "Psycho"(1998) by Gus Van Sant feels more like a cynical remake...and where is Perkins ?

Yah. Psycho (1998) was embarrassing, in my opinion. Haha and I agree...you can't have Psycho without Perkins. But do you think The Birds is a good idea? I just sure as hell don't.

Didnt like the "The Bird" very much...think I saw it to late(early 80's)...and it allready felt outdated.....
Movies like "Jaws" and "Alligator" seemed to catch my attention more than this old flick....but now in retrospect I understand the impact it had in film history....
To me a remake do not threaten the existence of the orginale....but some movies I hope never will or can be remade like "2001: A Space Odyssey"...When it comes to remaking of "The Bird" I'm neutral...:)

As long as Van Sant doesn't touch this and they don't try to do it frame for frmae I have no problem with it.

Sometimes you need a retelling of the same story.

He died of AIDS in 92. (Actually he died of pneumonia as a result of AIDS.)

12:00 AM, 26-MAY-05
Bay Backs Away From The Birds
Producer/director Michael Bay appeared to back away from reports that he was mulling a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller film The Birds in comments to SCI FI Wire and other reporters on May 25. "I don't want to talk about The Birds, because that's so far down the line, and I have misgivings about even trying to even do that, you know what I'm saying?" Bay said at a news conference to promote his upcoming SF action film The Island.

Scarlett Johansson, Bay's Island star, was sitting next to him when she learned of the potential remake and reacted with shock. "You're remaking The Birds?" she asked with incredulity. "The one with Tippi Hedren?"

Bay responded: "You can't believe everything you read. It doesn't mean it's going to happen."

Last month, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story saying that Bay's Platinum Dunes production label was in talks to remake the 1963 thriller with producer Peter Guber, though his Mandalay Pictures banner. The new version would reportedly be based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier, to which Universal owns the rights and which inspired Hitchcock's original movie, the trade paper reported. (Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)

At the news conference, Bay tried to change the subject to his upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, called The Origin, and a remake of The Hitcher when Johansson again registered her protest against remaking The Birds.

"You can't remake a Hitchcock movie!" Johansson said.

Bay again responded: "I know, it doesn't feel right. That's why you can't believe everything you read."

When Johansson seemed to realize that the interchange was being monitored by a roomful of reporters, she teased: "Yeah, look, now I'm going to be starring in it, and it's going to be some $180 million blockbuster."

"Yeah, it's a slippery slope when you do remakes," Bay said. "The movie I think that should never be remade is The Shining. I love Kubrick, and the scariest shot in any movie is that scene of the twins down at the end of the hallway." The Island opens July 22.

A remake of Hitchcock's The Birds: one hell of a bad idea.

I agree , come on who is the remake hurting( excactly, no-one) if you dont fancy the film dont watch it. I have enjoyed a lot of remakes like house on haunted hill, the blob, the thing etc. As long as they try to do something a little different but keep the base plot, i would give any movie a chance
Must add though that i cant see the point in a frame by frame remake, psycho just seemed strange and unwatchable

eek.. Michael Bay?


If he redoes it, expect a huge budget, big name actors, sweeping camera pans for EVERYTHING, and a slight sepia tone throughout the movie....


And fuck any thoughts of character developement or plot. it will be "Sterotypes caught in action situation. turn off your brain and enjoy the ride"

Not that i hate everything he has done (I rather like the rock), but he is an ex music video director... they dont have a fantastic track record of producing very watchable movies...

i think he blew his whole load with The Rock ..

Yeah.. Armageddon was fun, but pretty stupid.
He did bad boys, which was good, then the rock, then started a downhill slide...

i didnt care for armageddon and i didnt like bad boys at all ...

i really liked the rock though - but mainly because of Cage and Harris ..

what about mr connery

he didnt make or break the film for me ..

i'm not a huge fan of him in his post bond years ..

Dont give me that... WHo didnt like the Avengers? Cmon! He was a TEDDYBEAR!

that was one of the touches that was like the origional series (the teddy bears)

that and the bees.

with a few twists and turns that could have been a really good movie ...

sean connery was a huge mistake - or the writing concerning the villian - or both

It's called fucking originality
 

Totally agree. But Hollyweird doesn't want original; it wants proven commodities with just a slightly new twist. God forbid they should do something groundbreaking. But all they end up doing is fucking it up.

The Amityville remake is a perfect example. The original was a great movie, but then they came along this year and smash-cutted the shit out of it, going for cheap scares at the expense of story.

Spike Jonze = former music video director

hell, even Scorsese directed a music video