A remake of The Birds has been kicking around for some time now. As Platinum Dunes’ Brad Fuller tells us, the project won’t happen until it’s “cracked.” Remaking such a beloved film is a challenge, but finding new and original ways of showing birds attacking, and in a 21st Century environment, must make for an even bigger problem.
As Fuller puts it, it’s a part of the reason why we have yet to see the remake get made. When I asked about the status of the film in a recent interview, Fuller said, “It’s interesting, because we have been developing that movie for five or seven years, and we haven’t cracked. You know, we’re not going to go out and just make a movie because we have a great title. We’re only going to make it if we feel like we thought of something that doesn’t exist. It’s a daunting and ongoing process. Frankly, I don’t even know what will happen with that. I hope we can crack it.”
But just what does Fuller consider the essential element of “cracking it”?
When asked what the problem has been in terms of finding a way to approach the remake, Fuller said, “At the end of the day, birds peck and they poke, and it’s hard to have those kills be different [Laughs]. If the birds could pick up machine guns, knives, and machetes, then that would be great! But it’s not that. It has to be a movie about the birds, but also something else. That’s always been our challenge: what’s the other thing going on in the world, and the havoc that’s being created by it? The birds themselves cannot be the sole source of tension and fear.”