James Woods Sets 'Straw Dogs' on Fire
Filed under: Thrillers, Casting, Remakes and Sequels
Some more cast members have been revealed for Rod Lurie's "re-imagining" of Sam Peckinpah's controversial '70s thriller Straw Dogs, which is good because it just started filming in Shreveport, LA. Like, yesterday. James Woods (one of my favorite creeps) has joined the cast, as have Willa Holland and Dominic Purcell; however, there's no real info on who they will be playing, as the three leads have already been cast. Kate Bosworth is taking on the complicated character of Amy Sumner, who was played by Susan George in the original; James Marsden is her husband, David, originally played by Dustin Hoffman, and Alexander Skarsgård is her ex-boyfriend Charlie, Susan's ex and the ringleader of the escalating violence against the couple.
In Lurie's version, the Sumners relocate to Amy's hometown in Mississippi instead of Cornwall, and David is a screenwriter from Los Angeles rather than a milquetoast mathematician. I'm very curious to see how Lurie plans to handle the ambiguities of the original, especially the rape scene that had many critics leveling charges of misogyny against Peckinpah.
Did this movie really need a "re-imagining?" Can we please think of a new term of directors and writers who take pre-existing characters and put them in almost the same circumstances but in different locations? How will the cast hold up to the original? And let's not forget the iconic poster from the original -- that will be hard to top.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-18-2009 @ 12:22PM
Slappy said...
"Re-imagining" is completely the wrong term for this project...other than the locale change and a couple minor character bio changes Lurie's screenplay follows the original virtually story beat-for-beat. It adheres extremely closely to the original.
As an admirer of Lurie's work I really don't know what possessed him to literally remake the film almost scene for scene.
The cast is what makes this an attractive prospect in my eyes at least...Marsden as Sumner alone interests me greatly and Woods as Heddon is inspired. Straw Dogs is one of my favorite films so I'm hoping to enjoy this retread...
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8-18-2009 @ 3:11AM
LAETIZZIA said...
JAMES WOODS back to movies is a very good prospect. Great american actor will do his part in the best outstanding way.
Laetizzia, Los Angeles
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8-20-2009 @ 2:16AM
SALMA WELLS said...
We love and admire actor James Woods. What happened to the movie 'an american girl' Woods was going to produce and direct ?
= Salma, Beverly Hills
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8-18-2009 @ 12:11PM
Brandon said...
"I'm very curious to see how Lurie plans to handle the ambiguities of the original..."
Knowing his track record, he will be going for a more politically correct version. And that's why he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a project like this. Can't we leave a classic like this alone?
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