It’s all but quiet on the Hollywood remark front. This afternoon, CB received word over the movie war wire that ex-“Washington Post” managing editor Ian Stokell and Lesley Paterson have optioned the classic novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front” to blow it up into a Hollywood light show. The two will use the novel as a starting point for a bombastic Hollywood remake, says Dark Horizons.
"By creating new storylines ourselves, we believe this modern rendition will encompass greater depth and historical context, but still remain congruent with the spirit of Erich Maria Remarque's work," said Paterson in a press release. "We plan on recreating the spectacular visual ambience of trench warfare - miles and miles of desolate, bombed out and cratered landscape - we also intend to add more texture and emotional layering to the overall story."
That’s a lot of angles up in the air – historical context, spirit of the original novel, spectacular visual ambience. It seems that Hollywood can hardly create a movie that doesn’t completely insult the audience, so it seems likely that more than one of those aspects will hit the floor with a thud. Did I mention that Paterson also wants to “add substantially to the development of the main characters?”
To add to the realism of the horrors of war, the military advisor from Saving Private Ryan and Platoon, Ex-U.S. Marine captain Dale Dye, has signed onto the film to update the film from its humble 1930s, Academy Award winning origins. The film will be produced through Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment Inc.
