Gone Girl was one of the biggest hits of 2014, setting up a story of twisted expectations that was almost Hitchcock-esque in scope. Perhaps it’s only appropriate then that the film’s creative minds – writer Gillian Flynn, director David Fincher, and actor Ben Affleck – will team up once again to remake Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 classic Strangers On A Train.
The original Strangers On A Train stars Farley Granger as Guy Haines, an amateur tennis star who finds himself unable to divorce his promiscuous wife. While riding a train, Haines meets Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who proposes a movie idea: Two strangers who want someone killed swap victims to confound the police. But where Haines thinks the concept is a joke, Anthony was being completely serious, and proves it by hunting and strangling his wife. As the police investigation unfolds, Anthony pressures Haines to keep his end of the “bargain” by committing the murder he needs completed.
The new Fincher version (currently titled Strangers) would be a contemporary reimagining that takes 21st Century conventions into account. Affleck would take on Granger’s role, playing as a movie star who hitches a ride to LA with a wealthy socialite when his plane breaks down. Gone Girl‘s Flynn would write the script, while Fincher would direct.
It’s pretty early to tell whether Gone Girl‘s lightning can strike twice, but Strangers could easily come up with news twists on the Hitchcock original. Either way, it should make for an exciting film dealing in similar themes. Affleck is currently planning to shoot Strangers sometime between Live By Night in 2015 and Justice League in 2016.
