In 2002, French filmmaker and actor Patrice Leconte brought us Man on the Train -- the story of a teacher and thief who meet and befriend each other. As their friendship develops, they realize that they wish they had the other's life. The award-winning film is one that inspired Roger Ebert to say: "I have seen The Man on the Train twice, will see it again, cannot find a flaw." Of course, you know what that means! Stomach your groans and prepare yourself -- a remake is coming.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Miramax is whipping up an English remake of the film. As of now, the only person signed on to the project is screenwriter Daniel Taplitz, the man who just brought us Chaos Theory. Thomas Bezucha (The Family Stone) is in negotiations to direct, and THR says that Billy Bob Thornton "is said to be circling the project."

I really enjoyed Chaos Theory, but I wasn't too much of a fan of The Family Stone. I'm sure, however, that they can make an enjoyable movie. But will it be one worthy of the original? I'm not convinced. Leconte excels at creating really excellent and dynamic friendships on-screen (think Mon Meilleur Ami), and while the films have mainstream comedy aspects, there's a depth to them that makes them more than just a normal comedy. But maybe they'll all surprise me and make it more than just your everyday comedy. Production is scheduled to begin later this year.

My latest starting point is DVD Talk; their list is not comprehensive, but I appreciate the simplicity. Looking over what's out this week, I realized I need to watch more movies in theaters! I haven't seen any of these releases yet, but I plan to do some catching up. My rental picks begin with Patrice Leconte's My Best Friend. Monika Bartyzel called it "an entertaining, solid comedy." Daniel Auteuil plays "a completely conceited art dealer who is stunned to learn that none of his so-called friends like him" and is inspired to gamble on himself. The DVD from IFC includes a "making of" feature and the trailer.

The Trials of Darryl Hunt "tells the story of ... a black man who was tried and convicted for the rape and murder of [a] white newspaper reporter," according to Christopher Campbell. "Hunt was sentenced despite there being no physical evidence, simply off a testimonial given by a former Ku Klux Klan member." ThinkFilm's DVD includes bonus interviews and an "exclusive HBO featurette."

Another doc, Crazy Love, about a long-term relationship with, shall we say, questionable elements, made James Rocchi wonder: "What movie didn't get in to Sundance because this horrible, clammy, grim and pathetic tale of co-dependent madness did?" But Kim Voynar had a very different view, describing it as "an engaging, intelligent" film. Magnolia's DVD features an audio commentary by co-director Dan Klores and the couple, deleted scenes and other extras.

Other titles that sound intriguing include documentary Girl 27 (a woman hired as a movie extra in the 1930s is instead raped at an MGM party) and the box set Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy (including Blood Wedding, Carmen and El Amor Brujo) from Criterion.

One of my favorite films from TIFF last year -- Patrice Leconte's Mon Meilleur Ami -- just hit theaters a few days ago, and somehow I missed it. Luckily, it's not too late to go on about why you should see this movie. Why do I care? Beyond the fact that it is an entertaining, solid comedy, we've got a chance here to patronize a great foreign language film and show that North America can handle a non-English film that isn't directed by Mel Gibson or Clint Eastwood. In February, I posted about how Brian Grazer and Universal were already gearing up for an English-language remake. But why bother when the film is now on the big screen?

Mon Meilluer Ami, which is titled My Best Friend for North American audiences, is about François Coste (Daniel Auteuil), a completely conceited art dealer who is stunned to learn that none of his so-called friends like him. Of course, he denies the accusation, and his business partner makes a bet with him -- he can keep an expensive Greek vase he picked up with their business' money if he can produce a genuine best friend. If he can't, the vase is hers. After stumbling upon an eternally-jovial cabbie a few times, he hires the man to teach him how to find a friend.

You can check out the trailer over at the film's website. The film is only in limited release now, but hopefully all of you lovely cinemagoers will patronize the available screenings like mad and inspire IFC to send the film to more theaters.

Michael Moore is not as popular a magician as Harry Potter, but he can still draw a crowd. Sicko made an estimated $2.6 million over the weekend, according to Variety, reflecting a downturn of just 26% from the previous weekend. In view of the expansion by distributor The Weinstein Co. to 756 screens, the relatively small percentage drop-off in box office indicates that word of mouth is good. So far, Sicko has earned $15.8 million, which puts it on pace to overtake Moore's earlier Bowling for Columbine and last year's Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

My Best Friend, the latest from French director Patrice Leconte, had the highest per-screen average among indie releases, chalking up $15,508 each at three screens. Not far behind was Talk to Me, which had an average take of $11,841 from 33 screens in its opening weekend. Also in its first weekend of release on six screens, Interview made an estimated $41,620, while Rescue Dawn averaged more than $9,000 on 38 screens. Introducing the Dwights sank to $2,600 per screen. The weekend's financial stars include You Kill Me ($620,288; cumulative total $1.5 million), La Vie en Rose ($545,693; $6.9 million) and Once ($325,000; $5.0 million). All of these films -- except one -- have been covered at Cinematical, either with reviews or an interview, and I've linked to our coverage so you can have a look at what our critics had to say.

More on Sicko: Kim Voynar just posted her Film Clips column this morning, in which she puts the earnings of Sicko in broader perspective, among other things. As a further point for discussion, Variety notes that The Weinstein Co. avoids box office comparisons to Fahrenheit 9/11 -- and rightly so, as that film was a phenomenon not likely to be repeated -- but then adds its own opinion that Fahrenheit had a topic "much broader in appeal." Is that true for you? Did you see Fahrenheit 9/11 but decide to skip Sicko because its topic isn't as appealing?

Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank has begun developing a remake of French director Patrice Leconte's 2004 film Intimate Strangers, a mystery drama about a woman who is seeing a man she thinks is a psychiatrist, but he isn't. I haven't seen the film, but Roger Ebert gave it a glowing three and a half stars, and gushed over the psycho-sexual setup. I can't top the master, so here's his take: "She thinks he is a psychiatrist. He is not, but doesn't tell her that, and as she continues her visits he ignores the withering stares of Madame Mulon and sits sphinx-like behind his desk, hardly moving a muscle, listening to her story as it grows steadily more strange, and it must be said, more erotic."

Okay, someone sign De Palma up for this immediately -- this is the movie he should be casting Hilary Swank in, not The Black Dahlia, where she was supposed to look exactly like Mia Kirshner, even though she, um, doesn't. The remake of Strangers is being scripted by a writer named Kelly Fremon, and Variety says Swank "has an eye" to star in the picture, as well as produce alongside Frederic Golchan and Ted Field. Swank is currently in post-production on a film for Warner Bros. called P.S., I Love You, and has her named attached to a project called Labyrinth about a woman with multiple personalities, and one of those personalities knows the identity of a serial killer -- that sounds more like a Halle Berry type of role, doesn't it?