The head, the tail, the whole damn The Thing remake - and what it could mean for Jaws
As a new version of The Thing looms, can Jaws the film of the novel be far behind?
With the failure of the Dark Universe with its opening film, Tom Cruise's The Mummy, Universal didn't give up the ghost on its classic horror reboots, handing the new version of The Invisible Man to Blumhouse.
It now appears to be doing a similar thing with other highly prized horror themed films from its archives.
With the news that Universal and Blumhouse are developing a new version of The Thing, based on a long thought lost version of the novel, does that open the door to a faithful adaptation of Jaws the novel by Peter Benchley?
We've already had the Jaws remake wagon trundle out with its squeaky, wobbly wheel from We Got It Covered, but that 'news' seems as credible as anything that comes from the mouth of Harry Meadows.
So what about a new version of Jaws, closely based on the novel?
The case for...
Think of it as a different timeline, this wouldnt be the Brody, Quint or Hooper of the film, so no one would have to worry about emulating the performances of Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw or Richard Dreyfuss. Hell, even Amity would be different. If Star Trek can have a new Kelvin timeline, this can the Kintner one.
We'd get to see more shark attacks, Hooper and Ellen Brody getting drunk and fooling around, Hooper and his city hands ending up as fish fodder and the mafia subplot. This would be a very different beast of a film.
If it was a success we could get the darker version of Jaws 2 as depicted in the Hank Searls novelisation.
It's another version of Jaws that doesn't impact on the original, it isn't a remake or a reboot, it's the version that replicates the book. And let's face it, lightning like the elements that helped create Jaws as the classic we know and love, could never strike twice like that again.
It isn't a shot for shot remake like Psycho. Thank Christ.
The cast of The Thing (1982) is on par with the perfect casting of Jaws
Go on, admit it, as a Jaws fan and fan of the book you'd be intrigued just to see how it all turned out. It's win win, if it's terrible you still have the original Steven Spielberg classic, if it is good, you have a nice alternative.
After all, we've all quite happily seen and enjoyed different versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles or A Christmas Carol. An alternate Jaws could be a good thing.
The case against...
Why mess with perfection? We have the version of Jaws we all know and love, anything else would pale into insignificance. And Universal haven't exactly treated Jaws with love, just ook how Universal handled the Jaws sequels and took away the Jaws Ride.
John Carpenter's The Thing may be concidered a classic but it was a remake of a Howard Hawks classic, The Thing From Another World. We also, rather confusingly, had a prequel to the Carpenter remake, called er The Thing.
Hollywood actor Tom Hardy is often named as a popular choice for a starring role in a jaws remake
Remaking the The Thing is no different to remaking Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it's had four versions hit the big screen so far. None were cultural phenomenons like Jaws.
Remember when Stephen King got The Shining remade so it was more like the book and his original vision? Not the greatest move by the King of horror.
It might not retain the classic Jaws theme by John Williams, the Superman reworking, Man of Steel, didn't
Don't forget the Richard Dreyfuss gambit, keep the same film and just replace the shark with CGI: https://thedailyjaws.com/news/2019/2/25/spruce-bruce-up-with-cgi-says-dreyfuss
So, the big 25 foot question is, would you like to see a Jaws film that stuck close to the Peter Benchley book? Not a remake, nor a reboot, just another version from the original text?
By Dean Newman
If you would like to contribute a guest blog, please visit our ‘work with us’ page
THE THING ARTBOOK
Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of director John Carpenter's sci-fi/horror classic film, THE THING, this 400-page collection features over 375 brand-new pieces of artwork created specifically for this volume. Bringing together artists from the worlds of comics, fine arts, animation and illustration. Over 350 artists contributed to this comprehensive collection which features, literally, something for everyone. No matter what your taste in art. Including an introduction by director/actor/producer ELI ROTH and an all-new afterword from the Master of Horror himself, JOHN CARPENTER.