Twilight Producer Wants Kristen Stewart For Martyrs Remake?

Cue a whole lot of irritated groans. A couple weeks back we updated on the remake of the extreme French horror film Martyrs, basically noting that (a) Mark L. Smith had penned a script and (b) the remake sounds, on the surface, like a terrible idea.

What I didn't note at the time is that Twilight producer Wyck Godfrey is one of the producers. This weekend, while doing junket press for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Godfrey said a couple of things about Martyrs. The headline getting statement: he'd love to have Kristen Stewart star.

FEAR.net talked to the producer, who said "I would love for Kristen to do it." But take into consideration that FEAR.net doesn't provide any context for that statement. We don't know if the site asked, "would you hire any Twilight actors?" or if the question was "who do you have in mind for the cast?"

Getting beyond the casting comment, what else does Godfrey have to say? He praises Smith's script (surprise) and says they're doing it for an American audience with an American cast. (More surprise.) Beyond that...

I love that movie...[although] I think it's not remake-able in its form for an American audience. But the core elements of it are fascinating. I love the cult and what it's about, and I'm also obsessed with the nature of childhood friends — growing up when one doesn't believe the other one and the corruption between that. I'm excited.

I've already seen other disgusted reactions to the 'not remake-able' comment, but the fact is, he's right. There's no way that a studio is going to finance and release a straight remake of Martyrs. What I get out of this comment is that the script deviates in some notable fashion from the original — we'll have the basic setup of the two girls and the cult seeking transcendence, but beyond that probably something quite different from the original film. (If you've got Smith's script and care to share, definitely send it along.) At which point this becomes an 'inspired by' scenario, as the resulting film will probably be little like the original.

Recapping the plot of the original, Martyrs follows a pair of girls, who became friends in an orphanage after one escaped a history of horrific abuse, as they visit a house to try and punish the people behind the abuse. There one of the girls finds an even deeper level of horror and insanity.