I have always had a philosophy that if you are going to do a remake, remake a movie that didn’t work the first time like Howard the Duck , not a classic by a great filmmaker. Well, the latter is exactly what director Oliver Hermanus ( Moffie ) and Nobel Prize-winning screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro ( The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go ) have had the audacity to do in “reimagining” (the popular term for remakes today) iconic Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s highly praised 1952 drama Ikiru . And they haven’t even bothered to change the early ’50s era in which it takes place, only the location and language, moving from Japan to England. Despite my reservations I am happy to say Living , which has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, works very well and that is solely thanks to the loving care these filmmakers have put into a new version exactly 70 years after the first was released. Of course it helps to have a writer on the level of … [Read more...] about Sundance Review: Bill Nighy In ‘Living’, British Remake Of Akira Kurosawa’s Classic ‘Ikiru’
Ikiru
Sony Pictures Classics Closes Sundance Deal For Bill Nighy Starrer ‘Living’
UPDATE : SPC has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on the Living deal. Find the release below our original break. EXCLUSIVE : Living , one of the Sundance buzz titles since its January 21 premiere, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for around $5 million for North American and some international territories, Deadline hears. This after a brisk auction involving the likes of Neon, Bleecker Street, and Focus Features. The Oliver Hermanus-directed drama stars Bill Nighy , Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp and Tom Burke. Pic takes place in 1952 London, where veteran civil servant Williams has become a small cog in the bureaucracy of rebuilding England post WWII. As endless paperwork piles up on his desk, he learns he has a fatal illness. Coaxed by a vivacious colleague, he begins his quest to find some meaning in his life before it slips away. Scripted by Kazuo Ishiguro, the film is based on the Akira Kurosawa film Ikiru. CAA Media Finance brokered the deal. The … [Read more...] about Sony Pictures Classics Closes Sundance Deal For Bill Nighy Starrer ‘Living’