After working together in one of 2014’s best films, Gone Girl, David Fincher and Ben Affleck are reuniting to breathe new life into a classic thriller. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is fast-tracking a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, with Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn in talks to adapt the script.
While Hitchcock’s original film will serve as the framework, the concept will be updated to a modern setting. In this version, which is simply being called Strangers, Affleck will play a film star whose private plane breaks down in the middle of an Oscar campaign, forcing him to accept a ride to Los Angeles from a wealthy, enigmatic stranger.
Apparently Warner Bros. has been trying to get this remake off the ground for awhile, and they’re hoping Fincher, Affleck and Flynn can duplicate the success of Gone Girl, which was shot for a modest $60 million and has grossed over $350 million worldwide.
Hitchcock’s original film centered on a professional tennis player who encounters a socialite while traveling on a train, resulting in an agreement for each man to commit murder on behalf of the other. We can expect a similar scenario from the updated version – but in Fincher’s hands, there will likely be more than a few twists along the way.
That being said, Warner Bros. needs to get all their ducks in a row in order to lock down the increasingly busy Affleck, who will be directing and starring in an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Live By Night this spring, before moving on to shoot Justice League in 2016. The studio is hoping to squeeze Strangers into the window between those two projects, but time will tell if everything lines up accordingly.
Affleck, meanwhile, has a high profile role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that fans are eagerly anticipating, and Fincher will continue to develop some projects at HBO. We’ll keep you posted on this as we learn more.
ben affleck david fincher gillian flynn strangers strangers on a train