Jay Roach To Remake Vertigo As A Comedy?!

Unlike most people, I see the value of modern day remakes. Kids these days don't want to watch an old classic in black and white. The dialogue, the stars, it just doesn't connect. And there have been quite a few to do it right, for example remaking a literary classic like Taming of the Shrew (10 Things I Hate About You) or a cinematic classic like Rear Window (Disturbia). And I've always believed in the hight of the M. Night Shyamalan craze of twists and turn plot points, that Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo was ripe for a modern day remake. But I always imagined it as a Thriller, like the original. And while the headline to this story might be a bit deceptive (the movie is not an official remake of Vertigo, but conveniently borrows a lot of plot ideas), I have to admit that for once I think this whole thing sounds like a horrible idea.Okay, THR describes the pitch from Ken Kaufman as "an off-center comedy" that "follows two party-loving male friends who are as close as brothers. When one of them dies in a fluke accident, the other succumbs to grief, until he meets a stranger who eerily resembles his dead friend, only shorter and nerdier. He then sets out to corrupt him and refashion him (a la "Vertigo") into his lost buddy."

Is there any way this could be made into a fun popcorn comedy? May-be, you never know. Who would have thought a teen romcom remake of a Shakespeare classic would come out as good as it did? But that said, I'm doubtful and here's why.

Kaufman's screenwriting credits include a couple really bad movies including the Paully Shore comedy In The Army Now (rated a 4.1 on imdb). Sure, he worked on the Ron Howard's The Missing which was mildly accepted, or the big screen adaptation of Curious George. But do you really think that the guy who wrote Muppets from Space can write a good Hitchcock comedy remake?

But then you also must consider Jay Roach, who has directed more than his fair share of successful comedy films including the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents series. He was even a producer on Borat. So may-be Roach sees something in this idea that I don't. But again, I doubt it.