Do they jive with an American take?
The Orphanage creative team are rather blithe about the subject of an impending Americanized take on their Spanish ghost yarn (opening in theaters this December 28th from Picturehouse). In September New Line announced they would be partnering with producer Guillermo Del Toro to translate “Orphanage” for U.S. audiences and, as Del Toro revealed here, a new director will be involved.
“I was the first person offered to direct the [remake],” reveals “Orphanage” helmer Juan Bayona during a recent interview with ShockTillYouDrop.com. “But for me it was too much ‘Orphanage.’ What I know is that Guillermo wants to do a re-telling in a different way. He doesn’t want to do the same thing in English with an American director, he wants to re-imagine the story.”
Some writers and directors might feel affronted that their work was being so promptly remade, as if the message or story they set out to convey wasn’t interpreted correctly the first time around. Bayona and screenwriter Sergio Sanchez welcome the idea, however. “In theater that happens all of the time,” posits Sanchez. “One play can be done a thousand times and nobody complains about that. It’s not an insult, I think it’s a compliment,” then, heaping in a dose of reality he adds, “I suspect the reasons for doing it have to do with money more than anything else. I just hope the remake will be very different. If I had [directed] the film it would’ve been different. It’s wonderful to get somebody to take a shot at it.”
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
