'Rebecca' Remake: Alfred Hitchcock's Only Oscar Winner Gets Re-Commissioned By DreamWorks

Rebecca

First Posted: 02/10/2012 12:15 pm Updated: 02/10/2012 1:03 pm

At least it isn't "Psycho" "Rear Window." According to Variety, DreamWorks has begun plans to remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rebecca" with "History of Violence" screenwriter Steven Knight.

Knight -- Oscar nominated for writing "Dirty Pretty Things" in 2002, and also responsible for the David Cronenberg film "Eastern Promises" -- will apparently go back to the Daphne DuMaurier source novel for his adaptation, and not work directly off Hitchcock's moody thriller.

The original 1940 film followed Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine), a "naive young woman" who marries a rich widower (Laurence Olivier) and moves into his mansion -- which just so happens to be haunted by his previous wife, Rebecca.

"Rebecca" was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1941, and earned nine other nominations, including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director. Of course, Hitchcock famously never won the award for Best Director, instead earning an honorary Oscar from the Academy in 1968. "Rebecca" was his first nomination in the category.

Hitchcock was a long-time fan of DuMaurier's work, having adapted "Jamaica Inn" for the screen in 1939; he also based "The Birds" on one of her short stories.

[via Variety]

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At least it isn't "Psycho" "Rear Window." According to Variety, DreamWorks has begun plans to remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rebecca" with "History of Violence" screenwriter Steven Knight. Kn...
At least it isn't "Psycho" "Rear Window." According to Variety, DreamWorks has begun plans to remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rebecca" with "History of Violence" screenwriter Steven Knight. Kn...
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05:23 PM on 02/13/2012
OK here's the first stupid thing they'll do..cast Rebecca and show her re enacting her antics throughout the flick.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Gronkie
Radical Independent
12:13 PM on 02/13/2012
Let's not rush to judgement, maybe it will be good. It all depends on the cast. I'm thinking David Hasselhoff and Mylie Cyrus.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
meleagrid
09:26 PM on 02/11/2012
booooooooo...
09:25 PM on 02/11/2012
Hard to believe Hitchcock has been dead over 31 years. I think all his work was brilliant, and sometimes it's better to leave the classics alone.
09:30 PM on 02/11/2012
Thanks, now I really feel old!
09:24 PM on 02/11/2012
These classics cannot be "remade"! Leave them alone, or bring back this 1941 movie in it's original format. Can't you see the movie industry trying to "remake" "Gone With the Wind"? Never!
09:24 PM on 02/11/2012
I`d love to see "wild ones" get remade
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
knightie2008
08:57 PM on 02/11/2012
I believe Joan Fontaine is still alive, maybe they could airbrush her to make her young again and redo the movie with her in it. I mean after all, if the writers in Hollywood aren't talented enough to make write something new, why try to find new talent to take over the characters? Next thing you know they will be wanting to remake Gone with the Wind (and we all know how well that worked with "Scarlett")...
09:31 PM on 02/11/2012
Joan is still alive and is the sister of Olivia de Havilland. Olivia is alive and living in France, she is 96. Joan is 95 and lives in the USA. Both were born in Tokyo Japan. Joan and Olivia haven't spoken with each other since their Mom passed away in 1975. Both are fantastic actresses, just saw Olivia in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte - a great movie.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Gronkie
Radical Independent
12:11 PM on 02/13/2012
Imagine the first phone call since 1975:

Why haven't you called?

I thought you were dead! Why didn't YOU call?

I thought YOU were dead.

Well, I'm not.

Me neither.

G'bye.

Bye.
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hollyann1963
United we STAND, Divided we FALL
08:45 PM on 02/11/2012
Reality TV shows, Remakes of songs, Remakes of Movies. Get someone with a brain and alittle creativity to make a movie all by themselves, with fresh ideas and themes with real actors and actresses. PLEASE stop destroying original memories!
08:36 PM on 02/11/2012
Hollywood makes remakes when they have no fresh ideas for new stories , realize that their few bankable "stars" are rapidly aging, then have less than a handful of talented young people to carry a really meaty role.
08:32 PM on 02/11/2012
Someone tell Crow his 15 minutes of fame are about up...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
decaturdog
Gentleman living in Atlanta
08:16 PM on 02/11/2012
Rebecca is one of the all-time best novels ever written, and the movie with Sir Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontain is memorable but didn't' follow the novel particularly well. Who could play Mrs. Danvers other than maybe Meryl Streep.
05:25 PM on 02/13/2012
sorry.. not even meryl could capture that lingerie scene ..not even meryl.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
azOutlawz44
Not A Republican-Not A Democrat-im independnt;I vo
07:59 PM on 02/11/2012
Yeah i say some off the waall stuff..But only because im not afraid to speak out on what looks just a bit unordinary at times..
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knute9
Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
07:57 PM on 02/11/2012
...and I thought it was going to be Reefer Madness.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
syds180turn
Independent and Proud of It!
07:55 PM on 02/11/2012
Good grief...Hollywood has just completely run out of ideas. What....they're going to take the latest "it" girl and foist her off on us as the second coming. Rebecca is a classic movie for a reason. I wish they would find diverse people with great stories and make movies out of that. Period pieces almost assures us that there will be absolutely no diversity. I guess with all of Hollywood's pseudo-liberalism, they don't practice what they preach. I'm tired of seeing the same people over and over again. Julia Roberts, Charlize Theron, George Clooney and the list can go on, haven't had hits in years. Why not give other people a shot at it. Being nominated for an Academy Award or winning an Academy Award doesn't automatically mean they're putting butts in the theaters. But getting back to Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock must be flipping in his grave.
07:54 PM on 02/11/2012
There was a truly excellent BBC mini-series of Rebecca starring Jeremy Brett. It was shown on PBS in 1980. I wish they showed that one again.