Beaks here...
After years of false starts and near-misses (with everything from TOYER to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 to THE UNTOUCHABLES: CAPONE RISING), it looks like Brian De Palma's next project could be headed into production.
Producer Said Ben Said has tapped the master filmmaker to direct the English-language remake of the late Alain Corneau's business thriller LOVE CRIME. The narrative centers on a nasty competition between an older female executive (Kristen Scott Thomas in the original) and her protege (Ludivine Sagnier). I've not seen the film, but I do like what De Palma had to say about tackling the remake...
"Not since DRESSED TO KILL have I had a chance to combine eroticism, suspense, mystery and murder into one spell-binding cinematic experience."
Although I'm a bit puzzled by his omission of the equally great erotic thriller BODY DOUBLE, if De Palma feels reenergized, let the man loose. Few filmmakers working today possess his talent for visual storytelling (or his ability to craft a bravura suspense set piece without coverage), and as his peers Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski proved last year, the old cinema brats still have plenty of vigor left in them. Nothing would make me happier than to know De Palma is out there in the world doing his virtuoso, voyeuristic thing.
Since the original barely screened in America, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Thomas and Sagnier reprise their roles. I hope De Palma gets this cast quickly, so the $30 million production can get underway in August as planned (in Germany, per Variety).
