ROTTEN TOMATOES: WB Signs David Ayer to Direct a Remake of "The Wild Bunch"

WB Signs David Ayer to Direct a Remake of "The Wild Bunch"

by Scott Weinberg | November 04, 2005

Don't ask me why Warner Bros. has decided to mount a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1969 classic "The Wild Bunch," because I just don't know. True, they hired a pretty solid filmmaker (David Ayer) to get the thing onto the screen, but get this: It's not only a remake, but a modernization, too.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, ""Wild Bunch," originally directed by Sam Peckinpah in 1969, followed an aging group of outlaws looking for a last score in the fading American West. Ayer's update is described as a thriller involving heists, drug cartels and the CIA, set in contemporary Mexico."

Mr. Ayer is best known for writing "The Fast and the Furious," "U-571," "Training Day," "S.W.A.T.," and "Dark Blue." He also wrote and made his directorial debut on "Harsh Times," which will be released early next year.

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(1-12 of 12 posts) | Reply

dracus writes:
on Nov 04 2005 05:24 AM

Hey Scott, you're making this up, right???

(Reply to this)

Sadistik writes:
on Nov 04 2005 06:10 AM

this is ludicrous. You can't update the film, because the time and setting IS the film! It's an elegy to the dying frontier, and the myth of the west. Bullshit.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Nov 04 2005 06:44 AM

So, essentially what it is is a completely different movie with the title Wild Bunch. It's not a remake so much as it's identity theft.

(Reply to this)

Prosper761 writes:
on Nov 04 2005 08:06 AM

[b]Stop all remakes[/b]
Remake-itis has reached epidemic proportions. Are there no excutives in Hollywood who are willing to listen to new ideas?

(Reply to this)

sassywino writes:
on Nov 04 2005 10:27 AM

[b]Teach Your Children Well[/b]
What saddens me is that younger generations with no background in film history and no mentors to set them on the right path will go through life believing that the re-made "Flight of the Phoenix," "Rollerball," "Sabrina," "Thomas Crown Affair," "Wild Bunch" and so many others are the only versions out there. My plea to parents and guardians: Give your children the original movie to see or the original novel to read before you irresponsibly hand them twenty bucks and drop them off in front of the mall's mega-plex; or else we might have to endure an entirely new generation of brainless morons running Hollywood.

(Reply to this)

Scott Weinberg writes:
on Nov 04 2005 11:25 AM

In reply to this comment (#827396)
I don't know if that's entirely true, though.

Say a 14-year-old movie geek rrrrrreally enjoys "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Flight of the Phoenix," or even the new "Wild Bunch."

He/she will most likely want to search out the original film (or book) to get the full experience. C'mon, how many RT readers even KNEW there was a movie called "Flight of the Phoenix" before the remake came out?

I think a quality remake can act as an advertisement for the original, and I think that's a very good thing. If a remake gets a lot of new people to rent the original "Wild Bunch," then it's already doing some good.

And if it sucks, we can just stick with the original.

Also: One of the earlier posts nailed it right on the head. The era and the setting of "The Wild Bunch" is as integral to the film as the cast and the script. "Modernizing" it seems even sillier than remaking it.

(Reply to this)

ejlone writes:
on Nov 04 2005 05:58 PM

Who's left from the original to pull in for a 'guest appearence'? Ernie Borgnine? Is that it? We await the remake of STRAW DOGS with Jake Gyllenhall and Reese Witherspoon.

(Reply to this)

Dave Bowman writes:
on Nov 04 2005 07:27 PM

In reply to this comment (#827397)
C'mon, how many RT readers even KNEW there was a movie called "Flight of the Phoenix" before the remake came out?
...

I did. I was in 4th grade & watched it on a "Sunday Movie Matinee" when there were still only 6 channels to watch. The next day in school, I discovered that nearly every boy in class had also watched it. We played "Flight of the Phoenix" for a few weeks afterwards. Everyone wanted to be Jimmy Stewart or the German (I forget the actor's name). No one wanted to be the Richard Attenborough character. Heh. Go figure.

I was pretty surprised they even tried a remake (and glad that it tanked.) There's no actor today that can even come close to Jimmy Stewart. Or William Holden, ftm....

(Reply to this)

Scott Weinberg writes:
on Nov 05 2005 01:34 AM

In reply to this comment (#827399)
I wasn't knocking the RT readers with that comment; just that the original "Flight" is a semi-obscurish title is all.

And you're correct, obviously. I didn't hate the remake, but the original is a damn good film.

(Reply to this)

speedy13 writes:
on Nov 05 2005 02:12 AM

This remake smells like a disaster already. I agree completely that modernizing it just completely takes everything away from the film. I am a movie buff and I hadn't heard of the original "Flight of the Phoenix" until the remake came out.

(Reply to this)

Now it's dark writes:
on Nov 05 2005 08:58 AM

Now we know the truth. In Hollywood, nothing is sacred.

(Reply to this)

oldpompous writes:
on Nov 06 2005 02:30 PM

[b]The reason why they're modernizing it[/b]
The original Wild Bunch is one of the greatest movies of all time--simply remaking it would be career suicide. By updating it, retaining the plot mechanics, and refocusing the thematic elements, David Ayers has a prayer of making a film that could stand on it's own and not be totally embarassing. Actually, a de facto update of Wild Bunch has already been done. It's called Extreme Prejudice, directed by Walter Hill, I believe.

(Reply to this)

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