"Vertigo" was directed by the famed English Alfred Hitchcock and released to cinemas in 1958. The movie is based on the novel "The Living and the Dead". Originally titled "D'entre les morts", it was by French authors Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.
The reception to "Vertigo" was rather lukewarm upon its initial release. But as time has gone on, opinions about the film have gotten more positive, considerably so.
It has become widely considered one of the greatest Movies ever made. Paramount Pictures served as the distributor for the original movie. And now they seem poised to try to take another crack at it.
A remake is evidently in the early stages
The A.V. Club and Variety report that Paramount has given the go-ahead for a new take on "Vertigo". The project is apparently still at the very early stages and a script has yet to be completed. Screenwriter Steven Knight has been tapped to craft said script. News about Knight's "Vertigo" assignment comes fresh off reports that he's been hired to write a "Star Wars" installment.
Robert Downey Jr. is set to serve as a producer of the new movie. It also seems to be generally expected that he will also star in it. But that is not official and likewise no other casting announcements have been made.
The estate of Alfred Hitchcock has given the stamp of approval for the new project. How close it would or would not stick to the original is unclear. Speculation has already begun on whether it would take place in the 1950s or in a more modern setting. The latter has been the trend to this point in terms of Hitchcock remakes. Perhaps the most 'modernized' version being the 2007 hit "Disturbia", which took its inspiration from "Rear Window".
"Vertigo" is a psychological thriller starring James Stewart and Kim Novak.
Stewart played a retired detective named Scottie Ferguson. Ferguson suffers from a deep fear of heights which causes a debilitating sensation of spinning - or vertigo.
An old college friend of Scottie's approaches him, telling him he wants him to tail his wife. She has supposedly been acting strange and considered to be in a fragile mental state. It leads to a disturbing and dangerous level of obsession.
Not the only Hitchcock remake reportedly in the works at Paramount
Paramount Pictures has also apparently been working on a new take on another of Alfred Hitchcock's works. Last year, it was reported that they were doing a new version of "To Catch a Thief". With Gal Gadot featured in a starring role.
Cary Grant and Grace Kelly led the cast of the original.
The movie was inspired by the novel of the same name by American author David Dodge. In it, a reformed cat burglar works to try to catch a copycat that's bringing suspicion his way. "To Catch a Thief" was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning for Best Cinematography.