One gets the distinct impression that the Scott brothers, Ridley and Tony, are making it a point to collect as many potential film projects as they possibly can, seemingly out of some bizarre, competitive desire to have the most projects "in the works." With the news yesterday that Ridley plans to jump back into the world of Blade Runner for his next project (presuming he skips over the nine other movies he's supposed to be directing, as well), Tony has now fired a return shot, proclaiming his interest in being the man to direct the long-rumored remake of The Wild Bunch that absolutely, positively nobody wants.
Deadline's report is depressingly light on details, only citing that this Wild Bunch redo ranks among Scott's "top three" projects, which also includes Hell's Angels, a biker flick that Scott's been courting Jeff Bridges for, and that Top Gun sequel that also nobody really wants because seriously, a Top Gun sequel?
Scott is, at the very least, a higher pedigree of director than the typical sort to get a remake assignment, but I still maintain my steadfast belief that The Wild Bunch, being one of the absolute top-tier films of the Western genre, does not need to be remade. It is perfect as it is, and does not require hyperactive editing and the presence of Denzel Washington to somehow be "improved." Deadline's report makes it sound like Hell's Angels is number one on Scott's list anyway, so with any luck, he'll just go do that and forget any of this Wild Bunch talk ever happened.
<bangs head on desk>
Goddammit Hollywood. Stop it!
<more forehead smashing commences>
Seems as though Hollywood is misreading this and continually chucking out remake after remake.
That said, everyone probably has a film that is untouchable in their eyes. I, for example, would love to see a new "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". Because, while I liked Total Recall, I thought it was only... okay... but I do recall some squawking about the prospect that that might happen (though, this is the internet, which means that anything and everything gets whined about)...
But, you'd think there should be some sort of consensus on a small(ish) group of films that just shouldn't get remade.
It's already one of the most violent movies of all time, it already has two of the greatest shootout scenes in movie history. It's a freaking western, so it can't be made into something more modern. A remake of this is completely useless.
It's kind of ridiculous how many of my favorite movie have been directed by one of the Scott brothers.