Nikolaj Arcel’s career really seems to be taking off after getting nominated for an Academy Award for the Danish costume drama, A ROYAL AFFAIR. Now it looks like he is ready to take the reigns of his first true Hollywood film, a Dreamworks produced version of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel, REBECCA, best known for having been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940. It has however been described as more of an adaptation of the book rather than a straight up remake of Hitchcock’s version, although it will undoubtedly be compared to his version which was very well received. The plot of the novel is as folows:
Working as a lady’s companion, our heroine’s outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the brooding house Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is for ever kept alive by the forbidding housekeeper Mrs Danvers.
Being Danish myself (WOOHOO!) it’s always brilliant to see more Danish directors make the jump to the international stage. This will undoubtedly bring moans of ‘OH MY GOD! WHY REMAKE HITCHCOCK!’, but in all honesty, the book is a classic and has already been revisited in many different formats including TV, radio and theatre, so I personally don’t think this is that bad. We’ll bring you any casting news as they come, and please do let us know what your thought are in the comments below.
Source: Deadline
