daniel auteil Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just last week we got news that Martin Campbell was possibly going to direct a movie called Unstoppable for 20th Century Fox. Now there's another report that says Campbell is already attached to helm 36, the remake of Olivier Marchal's 36 Quai des Orfèvres, which we told you about back in January. The original, which stars French superstars Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu, is about two detectives investigating a series of armored car robberies. The remake was set to cast George Clooney and Robert DeNiro (who is still producing through Tribeca Films) in place of Auteuil and Depardieu, but a new rewrite from Richard Price (Clockers) has the detectives' ages lowered, so younger actors will now be required.

According to Variety, Campbell is currently prepping for Unstoppable, so his attachment to 36 won't be conflicting with that film. But unfortunately for many James Bond films, these two projects seem to indicate further that Campbell will not be directing the next 007 feature, despite his acclaim for and success with Casino Royale. One thing I find interesting is that previously 36 was being reported with Marc Forster set to direct. Forster was also rumored to have been offered "Bond 22" last month. If he was to take it, there would have to be a petition from Campbell's fans to call for another switcheroo. Meanwhile, I'll be circulating a petition calling for somebody in America to put out a Region 1 DVD of the original 36.

He may not be a great director -- perhaps not even worthy of his Oscar -- but Ron Howard is good enough at making the kind of movies he makes. His films are sufficient in quality for the masses who might not see a film by Michael Haneke, for instance. Therefore, Howard should be the one of the most suitable directors to strike a compromise between the demands of Hollywood and international cinema by successfully remaking a foreign film. Unfortunately, he's tried this before and failed miserably, with EdTV, which was a redo of Louis 19, Le Roi des Ondes (Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves).

Now Variety is reporting that he may attempt to redeem himself by doing another remake, this time of Haneke's Caché. The original film stars Daniel Auteil and Juliette Binoche as a married couple who are terrorized by a series of mysterious videotapes, the first of which appears to be a surveillance tape of their home. It is a fairly slow, open-ended film that lacks the conventions that many Americans expect from a thriller, and obviously Universal, the studio releasing the remake, will want to amp up the suspense and consequences. This would be a silly approach, though, since Haneke's version is more suspenseful because it has few consequences.

As long as Haneke is going to be doing remakes of his own work, I have no reason to complain about other people redoing his films. And if those people who can't be bothered with the original Caché are interested in seeing a Hollywood translation, they are better off with Howard directing than most. They may even get to see it with Binoche reprising her role -- if producer Brian Grazer is smart, he'll ask for her. Now, if only Auteil could finally be recognized by the majority of Americans. Of course, he'll probably be replaced by either Russell Crowe or Tom Hanks. There is no timetable set up for the Caché remake, and if Howard is definitely interested, he'll have to sort out his future projects, which so far include Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons, The Look of Real and East of Eden.