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Steven Spielberg to direct Harvey update next
Of all the films Steven Spielberg is rumored to direct next—Lincoln, Matt Helm—did anyone see this coming?
DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox announced on Sunday that Spielberg will direct a contemporary adaptation of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Harvey, about a dotty man and his friend, a 6-foot invisible rabbit, as his next movie.
Harvey is the first screenplay by the best-selling novelist Jonathan Tropper. ...Harvey is the story of an amiable eccentric, Elwood P. Dowd, and his friendship with a 6-and-a-half-feet tall invisible rabbit and how this affects every member of his family and his community. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 and played on Broadway for 1,775 performances between 1944 and 1949. It later was adapted for the 1950 Universal film that starred Jimmy Stewart and Josephine Hull. ...
Tropper is the author of The Book of Joe, Everything Changes, Plan B, How to Talk to a Widower and his newest book, This is Where I Leave You, which will be published this month.
The twitterverse is already alive with calls for Tom Hanks to take on the role Stewart made famous. Or Zach Galifianakis?
By ecgordon at 6:48 PM ON 08/02/09
The original is a classic, and I don't care how good Tom Hanks is, he can't replace Jimmy Stewart. Please stop these remakes, I am sure there are plenty of original scripts floating around plus hundreds of books that have not been adapted yet.
By uberZen at 6:53 PM ON 08/02/09
@ ecgordon - settle in and get comfy . Hollywood has always relied heavily on remakes and always will.
By captainfish at 8:17 PM ON 08/02/09
I agree.. stop with the remakes. However, I can't see Hanks in the role. I could see Jim Carrey. Jim G is too fat and hairy and.... bit too odd.
Now, if you want to remake a movie Steven... how about The Black Hole. Now that is a special effects movie waiting to happen.
By S.W. at 10:51 PM ON 08/02/09
Man. I was hoping that I misread the header of this article. A remake of Harvey? Surely you must be joking. Le sigh... I'm only 24 years of age, born in '85, and was introduced to the original Jimmy Stewart classic when I was 12. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite movies, but it definitely ranks up there in terms of creativity and acting talent.
When I picture an update like the one Spielberg is talking about I can't help but dread another atrocity like the Shaggy Dog reboot staring Tim Allen. A CGI **** fest with lots of substance but absolutely no plot to back it up. Eye candy can only go so far; you need an actual STORY to back it up.
By Spaceman Spiff at 11:12 PM ON 08/02/09
Round and round and round we go let's remake every movie and show!
By sean at 12:10 AM ON 08/03/09
Mr. Spielberg,
Please skip this. Your talents are too great to be doing remakes of this type. I know you probably love the original as much as the rest of us, but why not work to introduce the 'original' to young people instead of mashing one together.
Please just go ahead and make your piece about Lincoln. I was really looking forward to that one.
By jbs780 at 11:03 AM ON 08/03/09
Due to yet another CAPTCHA failure, I am having to recompose this post. REALLY ANNOYING!!!
You folks are looking at this the wrong way. Think of this as a Broadway revival, not just a remake. I have often thought Tom Hanks would be marvalous in the roll of Elwood P. Dowd. Now it may actually happen? This is a good thing.
Harvey is a great movie/play, but I know young people who would not sit down and watch the movie...because it is BLACK & WHITE rather than color! If they see the new one, maybe they will open themselves up to see the original. This would be a GOOD THING.
I thought I had an original idea when I first thought of Tom Hanks as the "modern day Jimmy Stewart". Then I found that this was a common idea. So why not see Hanks essay some of Mr. Stewart's great roles? That we cannot see Mr. Stewart as any of the characters Hanks has played is sad...Mr. Stewart as Captain Miller? That woudl be interesting!
Again, think of this as a revival, not a remake. A great actor getting a chance to play a great part. It's all Good!
By sketchRtist at 1:58 PM ON 08/03/09
Captain Fish, what are you talking about. Carrey is completely wrong for this role. He would play it wayyyy over the top and this character is sincere and eccentric. Tom Hanks is also a bad choice, Twitterfans back off. Jim G could work but a no name might be the best or a well known 'Character actor' No more Carrey, why is everything a little eccentric got to have Carrey in it.
By M at 5:08 PM ON 08/03/09
I agree with the sentiment "no more remakes" there are giant vaults filled to overflowing with scripts in Hollywood untouched plus so many good sci-fi/fantasy books waiting for smart creative people to turn into movies (unfortunately Hollywood is deeply lacking in smart creative people)
By Tarc at 8:38 PM ON 08/03/09
Know the movie, saw the play several times; this is a *terrible* idea. It's too much of a period piece, and it's really, really dull for modern audiences. And, honestly, with all the thousands of potential projects that Spielberg could do, why on Earth would he even look twice at Harvey? Ugh. I'd much rather see Goonies 2: The Next Generation.
By wadoko at 11:56 AM ON 08/04/09
Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
By scifivxn at 12:55 PM ON 08/04/09
It'll probably end up a sad version of Donnie Darko, (I'm ducking to avoid the slings and arrows, now) which was utterly lame anyway.
Hollywood's barrell is pretty empty. They keep scraping the bottom like this and they're gonna end up in China...which may not be a bad thing. A lot of Chinese cinema is pretty good.
By Dave at 4:18 PM ON 08/04/09
Someone was talking about a Harvey remake years ago. Among the people they discussed to play Elwood P. Dowd: Tom Hanks and Adam Sandler. As long as they keep Sandler as far away as possible, I'll refrain from trashing the remake before it's out.
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Dave:
Someone was talking about a Harvey remake years ago. Among the people they discussed to play Elwood P. Dowd: Tom Ha...More »