While my attitude towards movie remakes has mellowed somewhat over the years, one redo I have been not looking forward to at all is Johnny Depp’s announced new version of the 1934 mystery-comedy classic The Thin Man. I’ve always held that the chemistry between the original’s stars William Powell and Myrna Loy would be impossible to duplicate. And now it is looking like Depp may not even get his chance to try.
According to reports, studio Warner Brothers has put the project on hold. Depp wanting to take a bit of time off between projects, attached director Rob Marshall appearing to be moving on to an adaption of the Broadway musical Into The Woods and a projected budget that runs over $100 million are among the culprits being held responsible for the project stalling.
While the first two reasons seem reasonable enough, it is the budgetary concerns that leaves me scratching my head. Even though the story is set in the 1930s, a projected cost of over $100 million strikes me as fairly outrageous. Other films have successfully and convincingly recreated that era for a small fraction of that budget. So what in David Koepp’s script could have driven such a high cost? Or is this just Depp’s paycheck? If that’s the case then he should be careful about pricing himself right out of work.
Via Deadline.
