“An American Werewolf in London” remake official; script by “The Number 23” writer

A. Quinton — Aug. 6th 2010

As reported first in the LA Times (and then quickly picked up by a dozen other movie news sites), the Weinstein Co. division of Dimension Films is moving ahead with a remake of “An American Werewolf in London”. The script will be written by Fernley Phillips, whose only other writing credit seems to be “The Number 23” (yes, the movie where a “dark” Jim Carrey plays a saxophone). When AWIL’s original writer and director John Landis sold the rights to the remake last year, I was cautiously neutral. 13 months can change a lot in a man, and my current feelings on the matter are much more focused:

Dimension? Fernley Phillips? Do not fuck this up. Give Rick Baker a blank cheque and convince Edgar Wright to direct and you might have a shot. Otherwise, put the whole thing back on the shelf and back away slowly.

Image credit: Alex Proimos

  • B-Man

    They’re going to fuck this up aren’t they?

  • Mac

    I have an even better idea: don’t remake it at all!

  • zockereinstein

    I had the same thoughts some time ago. Then, I realized “What’s the problem?”. I mean, if they want to waste their money, it’s their problem. And nothing bad will happen with the original.
    If the new movie is better, then we have won a lot. If it is worse, we still have our classic.We don’t have anything to lose anyway. And for the future, the best master is a burnt hand.

  • Lucian

    I am not a fan of remakes either but werewolf films are so few and far between (especially with a budget and a good cast) that it is fine by me.

  • Doruk

    Eh, with luck, eventually they will manage to at least get a good-looking werewolf special effect in one of these movies. I am not holding my breath, though.

  • Mac

    @zockereinstein – While I agree that a remake in no way ruins the original, it would just be a shame for a bad version of it to be the first (and in some cases only) introduction of AWIL to some people. There have already been so many failures when it comes to werewolves in cinema, and adding one more to the pile will only make it less likely that we’ll see more werewolf flicks in the future. Sure, there will always be some, but it will be far less likely that any studio would sink real money into making a good werewolf film.

  • Ryan

  • This oddly reminds me of that South Park episode where they made fun of Spielberg and Lucas for “screwing around” with Indiana Jones.

    AWiL was an amazing movie that we all cherish dearly. Do not perverse our memories, Hollywood! Leave well enough alone!

  • Sr.Ramirex

    that was SO wrong

  • whitewolf

    no no no no no no no NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • MAKE MORE WEREWOLF MOVIES!~