Remake of An American Werewolf in London?

What’s funny is that basically, there are no updates, and the whole rumor circulating about a remake of An American Werewolf in London, was never really established as fact. But finally, in the middle of a discussion about a different film (Some Guy Who Kills People), John Landis reveals not just facts about the new movie, but also gives some insight into the situation regarding the remake for American Werewolf. Just in case you’re wondering, the first film, ‘Some Guy’ didn’t really involve a lot of Landis, –he was an executive producer, and claims they gave him too much credit for the production of the black comedy.

But later on, when questioned about the possibility of a remake of American Werewolf, Landis was a lot more insightful, and DreadCentral caught the scoop to news we desperately need in on:

“Fango also asked about the long-rumored remake of AMERICAN WEREWOLF, which the director doesn’t have any updates on—but did have this to say: “I have no idea what’s happening. We optioned the rights to Dimension and I think the option is almost up very soon, so I don’t know what’s happening. People gave me a lot of grief for that. They said, ‘How could you do that?’ but what they didn’t understand is that for me, it’s a no-lose situation. If they make the film and it’s a tremendous success, I’ll make a lot of money, and if they make the film and it stinks, then I look like a genius. And the thing is, there have always been remakes and sequels. MALTESE FALCON’s a remake, A STAR IS BORN is a remake and I can point to two wonderful examples of great reimaginings of movies. One is John Carpenter’s THE THING, where the original version is a great film and John made another great film, and David Cronenberg’s THE FLY, where the original’s a silly film, it’s fun, and David’s is a great film. It can happen. There’s an old expression I’ll misquote: ‘You keep your expectations very low, and then you’re rarely disappointed and often pleasantly surprised.’

If Landis is right about the WEREWOLF situation, and knowing Dimension’s distaste for letting their rights expire, we may just hear more about the new version sooner rather than later…”

I love Landis’s perspective on remakes; especially since I love the movies he’s talking about, and agree, that the remakes are way better than the originals; well, maybe not better, but more watchable. I can get into the remakes, and they’re horror, not ‘silly’ movies. So maybe Dimension will remake American Werewolf, and I can probably get into any bigger budget werewolf movie, as long as it isn’t Wolfman, or doesn’t have Anthony Hopkins in it. Or any other old werewolves, that are all… crotchety and lame. The thing is, people have been really freaking over the possible remake of American Werewolf, but I just don’t get the anxiety; it’s like Landis says, –if it sucks, people will love him more and even sympathize, and if it doesn’t suck, they’ll love him for selling the rights to Dimension. So, I’m just going to sit back and watch the movie, –if it ever happens. And it may not, considering the rights are about to expire.