Well this is an interesting development. The LA Times are reporting that Andrew Dominik (“The Assassination Of Jesse James,” “Chopper”) is currently writing a draft of “Tell No One,” a remake of Guillaume Canet’s twisty French thriller that became a sensation at the arthouse box office a couple of years ago.
A film we called one of the best of 2008, the story revolves around “a doctor who, after believing his wife has been murdered years before (and in fact after being named as a suspect in the case), begins getting mysterious messages suggesting she may still be alive.” It was definitely a film that had a lot of people telling their friends to go see it, while doing their best not to reveal any of the story’s twists, and not surprisingly, the remake rights were acquired by Focus Features and Miramax after the film’s strong box office performance.
But since then news on the remake has been quiet — until now. Dominik is an interesting choice to write the thriller as it’s relatively unfamiliar territory for the writer/director. There’s no word yet on a director for the film, but certainly if he’s writing he must at least be in consideration to sit in the director’s chair. Last we heard, Dominik was readying a quasi-Marilyn Monroe biopic with Naomi Watts called “Blonde” with a January start date and a $20 million budget lined up so obviously, it would depend on when Focus (the Miramax that purchased the rights are now out of business, so Focus seem to hold the sole claim to remake rights) want to get “Tell No One” in front of cameras. The project is already running behind schedule as it was previously planned to shoot this spring and be in theaters next year.
Our guess is that any decisions on a production schedule and talent won’t even be considered until Focus has a script they like. However, with recent remakes like “Let Me In” and David Fincher’s “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” — titles with international appeal and loyal fanbases — earning deafening buzz (the latter hasn’t even begun shooting yet) Focus may be eager to jump into what is developing into a mini-trend while its hot. And an interesting note for Fincher buffs: producer Kathleen Kennedy once talked to him about directing the film.
But, if you aren’t opposed to reading subtitles, Guillaume Canet’s “Tell No One” is quite excellent and definitely worth adding to your Netflix queue.
i believed James Gray worked with Canet on the remake?!
Michael Apted (gorky park, the world is not enough) was originally meant to direct this before Canet's version.
I wonder if they will go back to the original novel for this as the french film differs a lot from the book.
T
Hopefully not…the original book is pretty standard airport thriller-type stuff. Then again so was Silence of the Lambs…
Count me as one who will miss this remake. I'm sure it will be on par with the remake of 'La Femme Nikita' and so many other French films remade in Hollywood.
However, the original script by Kurtzman and Orci (The Island, MI3, Star Trek) written in 2002 on which the French film is based is friggin awesome.. strange they're readapting it.
Why can't they just let foreign films be! I completely agree with the "La Femme Nikkita"reference, especially since they are making another television show out of it.