Sure, the word remake tends to make people cringe, but with the right people behind it, said remake could be very good. That takes us to a remake of The Fly. According to new reports, a new version of the film is on the way from Sleight director J.D. Dillard and his writing partner Alex Theurer. More on the story below.

Deadline says Dillard will develop a new script with his writing partner Theurer. The new film would fly under the 20th Century Fox banner. Apparently, a remake was in the works over at the studio, and it was only a matter of time before news of it came about.

The Fly was first released in 1958, written and directed by Kurt Neumann and based on a short story by George Langelaan. It was then followed up by two sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly. But it is David Cronenberg’s cult horror classic film of the same name, which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, that is by far the most popular version of the title. That was followed up by a sequel, The Fly II. It, however, wasn’t well-received. In fact, it wasn’t approved of by Cronenberg, who swore he’d never work on the sequel.

Dillard and Theurer first popped into the scene at the Sundance Film Festival last year with Sleight. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, a street magician performs tricks in order to take care of her sister. However, when his sister is kidnapped, he is forced to use those same tricks to save her.

Dillard is currently working on Sweetheart for Blumhouse. He co-wrote the horror-thriller with Theurer as well as Alex Hyner. Dope‘s Kiersey Clemons will star in the film.

For those who don’t know, The Fly centers on a scientist who mutates into a grotesque bipedal fly after a teleportation experiment went wrong when a fly accidentally flew into his transportation machine and mixed their DNA.

As a fan of Cronenberg’s film, I think a remake was inevitable. I see this as a version of the film for a new generation. Of course, the remake will give others a reason to visit or revisit the original two. So it should be fun to see how Dillard sees this film and how it will compare to those that came before it.

[Source: Deadline]