The Last of Sheila to be remade

[Jay Lerner-Z]

...with Charlize Theron.

Was the original any good?


Comingsoon.net

[PalJoey]

Yes but this won't be. It was of its time.

[After Eight]

"Was the original any good?"

Can't say it was. Forced, fatuous, and with a bad case of the nasties.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Hm, guess I'll have to make my own mind up, perish the thought.

[PalJoey]

Ignore After Eight.

He claims to hate everything Sondheimian but he's really just a Broadway-Baby-loving troll who likes to get Sondheim fans upset.

[ljay889]

^ Exactly. His shtick is getting so old.

[tazber]

Getting old?

His schtick is Methuselah old.

[romantico]

The Last of Sheila is a classic. A near perfect murder mystery and the thought of them remaking it somehow cheapens it in my opinion. Having said that,I have to ask. What audience is New Line/The Producers looking for? If they want it to be a commercial success and appeal to a mass audience then they will have to dumb this down. The Last of Sheila is not for everyone.

However,if Sondheim is somehow involved then my opinion may change a little. I'm not talking having Sondheim be executive producer but have him co write the script.I love these murder mystery films of the 70's and 80's. SLEUTH,LAST OF SHEILA,and DEATHTRAP come to mind as being cleverly written and fun films of the day. If Sondheim were to revive Last of Sheila and got someone like Kenneth Branaugh to direct and co write the script(DEAD AGAIN is one of my favorite Branaugh films) or even Robert Towne or a very good screenwriter (Julian Fellows???)then maybe it will work. My fear is the film will be cast and geared for a younger audience.(an audience who has never even heard of the film and would not understand it or have the patience with it if they were to see it)

Still, LAST OF SHEILA has always been in y opinion a cult film. Not too many people have ever seen it or heard of it so why are they are remaking a film like this is odd.I am very skeptical about this one.

[After Eight]

It was a flop in its day, and was not well received.

It shows what a paucity of inspiration there is nowadays to have to go back forty years to disinter bombs of that era.

Maybe that's why you get perhaps two or three worthwhile movies a year.

But come to think of it, there aren't many more worthwhile plays than that either.

[romantico]

Bad movies always make a ton of money. Are you saying. A film Has to make a lot in order for it to be good? I suggest anyone who is curious to go read the forums on IMDB regarding this film. It was clever and a head of it's time.

[After Eight]

"Bad movies always make a ton of money. Are you saying. A film Has to make a lot in order for it to be good? "

No. I'm saying this film did not make a lot of money and it was not good.

Its prospects as a remake seem no better to me.

[doodlenyc]

I love the original, and saw if first as a teenager on television, before I knew who Sondheim was. It's a great puzzle and such a fun cast. LOVE Dyan Cannon.

[tazber]

What an odd and obscure film to remake.

And if I'm reading it correctly, Charlize is going to be in a similar film called Murder Mystery produced by the same guy, but not in Sheila.

[romantico]

After Eight, you didn't like the movie. I'm sure you have your reasons. I however did like the film and am sad to see a classic like this which I feel is fine as is be remade for a new audience. I just hope it is not being catered to a younger crowd who I feel would be bored.I never understood why they made a remake of 'Death at a Funeral' or 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. A film does not have to be a box office smash or the years best reviewed in order to be remade. There are no rules when remaking a film,although I feel the filmmakers think they can make it better than the original.

[Gothampc]

Do remakes ever really work?

[JoeKv99]

I love how Sondheim and Perkins wrote this to be about a group of people snowed in at a mountain cabin and Herbert Ross said "Can you re-write it so that they are all on a yacht in the Caribbean? That way we could all go to the Caribbean!" And Sondheim marveled "It never occurred to me you might make a movie because you wanted to go to that location."

[PalJoey]

I loved Joan Hackett in this movie.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Yeah, as Tazber as noted, that link doesn't say Charlize Theron is going to be in it.

[doodlenyc]

I love Joan Hackett...period!

[Plum]

I remember Rob Thomas (the Veronica Mars showrunner) talking about doing a remake of this years ago. I guess the idea is still circulating.

ETA - Yep, he wrote a script for it with fellow VM writer Diane Ruggiero in 2006.

[romantico]

It would be interesting if Ian McShane,Raquel Walsh,Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin could somehow play their characters and were written into the mystery. Sondheim REALLY should be asked to contribute to this in some way.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Oops, sorry if I mislead anyone regarding Charlize - I should read more carefully.

[justoldbill]

All they have to do is reinstate the "I have never..." game scene and the trimmed footage at the monastery, and there would be no reason to reinvent the wheel. EVERYTHING would have to be changed to make it a mystery-thriller again. These days, any "update" to the genre, be it Holmes or Marple, etc., has to do with a new style, not a change in the story. No matter what, the last of Sheila is still A.

[tazber]

The original is now available at Warner Archive for those interested.
Link

[Roscoe]

A faintly amusing little movie, I guess, that manages to be over-elaborate and actually pretty simple. I knew who the killer was when they showed the image in PalJoey's posting.

[Gothampc]

Deb Messing as Lee. Her acting in the bathtub scene would be brilliant.