The team behind the 2014 hit Gone Girl are looking to reunite for a contemporary update of the Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train (1951), according to Deadline.
Star Ben Affleck (the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) is again joining forces with Gone Girl helmer David Fincher on the update. Gillian Flynn, who adapted her own novel for the screen last time around, is reportedly in talks to pen the script for this new edition of Strangers on a Train. The film, currently titled Strangers, will follow the plot of the original, with some modern twists. Affleck steps into a variation of the lead role, played by Farley Granger in the 1951 original, but instead of Granger’s tennis pro, Affleck will portray a movie star focused on an Oscar campaign – which is not really a stretch for him, after all. The action will move from a train to a plane, but the central theme of two strangers who agree to a ‘social contract’ to commit murder on the other’s behalf, looks to remain intact.
The original Hitchcock thriller, an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel, is part of the Warner Bros. library, and the remake will be produced at Warner Bros. under Affleck’s Pearl Street banner. Production and release dates have yet to be confirmed.