J.D. Dillard Wants The Fly Remake to Be an Emotional Journey
It was recently announced that Sleight director J.D. Dillard would be co-writing and directing a remake of David Cronenberg’s 1986 sci-fi/horror masterpiece The Fly, which itself is a remake of the 1958 Kurt Neumann film of the same name. Dillard recently spoke with /film about his hopes and thoughts for the project, which is still apparently in its infant stages.
Dillard states:
“For me – and this would be about The Fly, but this is also about [Sleight co-writer] Alex [Theurer] and my approach to remakes because post-Sleight that has been the conversation for what a lot of big flashy studio gigs are – no matter what, we want to start with character. I think if you look at a lot of remakes, and the ones that may have not been as successful as others, I think often times the wrong pieces are remade. Having this conversation about bigger projects and IP, we really want to make sure we are following a beating heart first and foremost.“
He’s adamant that the remake needs to make emotion take priority over action or spectacle, saying, “…I’ve started to realize my dream film experience is something with big scale that can also make me cry. And not cry for nostalgia, but to be emotionally moved.”
He explains this by making a rather interesting comparison. “I made the joke at a screening Q&A the other night but I want to take Mike Mills’ Beginners and match it with something like Guardians of the Galaxy,” Dillard says. “Now that technically makes no sense, but I want to be really gutted emotionally and feel something but also all the pieces from a blockbuster are there too. That’s the gap that I would love to find a way to close.”
No matter what, it’s going to be a while before Dillard can begin work on The Fly. Sleight comes out April 28th and he’s already going to be filming his next film Sweetheart at that time.
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