Who ordered this?
There have been many attempts in Hollywood to bring the classic Jimmy Stewart dramedy Harvey to the big screen, the latest being about nine years ago with Steven Spielberg (and Tom Hanks’ name being bandied about) under a Fox/DreamWorks machination. Now Netflix is readying to pull the 6 ft. rabbit out of its hat with writers J. David Stem and David N. Weiss who are set to adapt a remake of the 1950 film. Fábrica de Cine, which is in business with Netflix’s highly anticipated Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro mob film The Irishman, is also on board to produce this one.
Seriously. Who ordered this, who wanted this, who has been expending precious capital from his or her personal favor bank to make this happen? I can understand the urge to remake movies. Truly, I can. Hollywood has been trying for decades to make a proper version of I Am Legend, and I honor them for the attempts. But… Harvey?
Do not get me wrong. It’s a great movie. Specifically, it’s a great movie about a mad drunkard named Elwood who talks to an invisible and imaginary rabbit called Harvey all the time, and never mind that Harvey actually does exist and that Elwood is a perfectly amiable fellow who you’d happily share a car ride with. I just can’t see how a director could take the premise of the movie seriously. Or not get in trouble over it. Or both.
And who the hell do you get to star in it, anyway? If Tom Hanks is out, who else is there?
Gary Oldman.
Or, and don’t be too quick to say no, but … Ryan Reynolds.
The main twerp from the big band theory did it on stage in new York a year or so ago but he’s not a draw, personally I think David Morse would have been great at it but he’s too old now. Tom cruise could if he still did comedy. Eugenio Derbez would be an interesting spin. Hay Anderson did a remake in the90s for TV I’ve heard of but haven’t seen.
Also F*ck Tom Hanks and his fake Everyman routine. He’s just another dirty lefty whos friends hide his secrets.
That’s .. well, not the whole thing, but the broadway connection .. is probably “who ordered this?” ..
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Stage to screen has a long tradition .. as do remakes of “hits” and “classics”.
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Mew
I have it on good account that he’s a litigious (ahem) who managed to skate out of paying many of the contractors who built his Idaho mansion.
The audience is too jaded and cynical for a faithful remake to be a success. They would have to remove all of Elwood Dowd’s kindness and warmth, and Harvey would probably end up being a lot darker to make the audience happy. You couldn’t have a guy who is genuinely nice and sees the best in everybody as your main character. No one would buy it nowadays.
None of the A-List actors working now are even in Jimmy Stewart’s league.
Your last point is very *very* true.
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To the rest .. every now and then, Hollywood decides that “wholesome family entertainment” is an untapped or under-tapped market, and decides to try to profit off it. I could sorta see a “Harvey” remake trying to work that angle.
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Mew
They’ve already made “Donnie Darko” for the darker take. (Which I never saw but heard was a quality film)
I can think of a couple of actors who would be OK in the role.
They wouldn’t compare that well with the original, but let’s face it, the original has only been seen by a scant handful of people in the last FOUR generations. I know I saw a copy of it in video rental stores precisely once. I’ve never seen it for sale in a store. And while streaming has made it more accessible than ever, spending $3 on streaming it is in direct competition with free content, that’s in color.
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What I can’t see, is a director who would be willing to play the story straight and earnestly.
Heck, they couldn’t even find a director willing to do that for “Starship Troopers”.
To be fair, where is your proof they actually LOOKED for a director willing to do Starship Troopers right?
They didn’t. I’ve heard that Verhoeven wrote the script first, and then handed it off to some readers. Those readers noted that elements of it were similar to Starship Troopers, which Verhoeven had never read and wasn’t familiar with. So he decided to get the rights (which I’m guessing were pretty cheap) to draw in more people than he otherwise would have gotten.