I struggle to imagine an eight-and-up member of the western world who’s not yet been told the story of A Christmas Carol, and it’s strange to think anybody with so much as a passing interest in movies hasn’t encountered an interpretation, from the many black-and-white English pictures, a Muppet rendition, Robert Zemeckis’ quickly forgotten adaptation, or, as is now something of a standard, Scrooged. Or all four, for that matter.
That won’t stop Bennett Miller, Tom Stoppard, and Annapurna Pictures, who have settled upon (respectively) directing, writing, and producing a new adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ classic. Their angle is uncertain, though THR‘s notice that the 19th-century setting will be retained might point towards a straight-ahead rendition. Although one immediately asks, “Well, why,” an exacting (or at least obsessive) filmmaker of Miller’s sort tackling material so deeply well-known is a great source of curiosity — if nothing else.
Here’s another retelling, albeit of material that’s a little less plundered: Variety tell us sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary) are planning to remake David Cronenberg’s 1977 feature Rabid, which Somerville House Releasing are hoping to update in the form of both a feature and television series. The connections between those iterations remains unclear — Cronenberg’s original has a climax that could (not necessarily should) open towards a longer story about zombie infestation — yet here we are.
Production will begin this summer. Here’s hoping the directors’ citing of Schrader’s Cat People and Carpenter’s The Thing — along with, for what it’s worth, Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes — add up to something.