With CBS All Access rebranding itself as Paramount+ on March 4, the studio has announced a number of high profile projects that should lure potential audiences to the streaming platform, namely a new Pet Sematary film and a number of TV series based on Paramount’s vast collection of classic films, including Love Story, Fatal Attraction and The Italian Job.
“My job is to find Paramount+ The Handmaid’s Tale, the Mad Men, The Walking Dead — the show that helps define them,” President of Paramount Studios Nicole Clemens told THR. “It’s really ambitious and it’s an offering that is going to be incredibly appealing and compelling to people who are in the market for another streamer.”
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Here’s a rundown of the films coming out:
Pet Sematary will serve as an origin story to the popular Stephen King story that was made into a 1989 film starring Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne and Denise Crosby. A remake released in 2019 starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow. Per Slashfilm, Jeff Buhler, who wrote the 2019 film, is set to pen the script, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who produced the 2019 film, is producing. In fact, di Bonaventura said at the time: “I think if there’s anything here, there’s a prequel. I think if you look at the book, we didn’t cover all that stuff that happens before the Creed family moves in. So, I think there’s a movie there, and I think I’d be particularly interested in doing that, because, again, it’s the source material and you are going toward something that also has a lot of crazy, creepy feelings about it.”
Fatal Attraction, which received a script to series commitment, is a reimagining of the 1987 thriller starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. The series will be “told through the lens of modern attitudes when it comes to strong women, personality disorders, victim shaming and coercive control.” Alexandra Cunningham and Kevin Hynes (Dirty John) will write the script and executive produce alongside Amblin Television’s Justic Falvey and Darryl Frank.
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The Italian Job, which was given a script to pilot order, is based on the 1969 action pic starring Michael Caine that was remade into the 2003 Mark Wahlberg/Charlize Theron flick of the same name. The new series, from writer Matt Wheeler (Hawaii Five-0), “revolves around the grandchildren of the legendary Charlie Croker (Cain in the original) who inherit his old safety deposit box and reignite the quest for the infamous Italian bullion.” The original film’s producer, Donald De Line, will serve as producer on the series, which Clemens describes as a “big, fun, international show.”
Love Story, which received a script to series commitment, is based on the beloved 1970 feature film many consider one of the great romantic films of all time. The new TV series will be executive produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl).”From the main title theme to the class conflict and classic American style, Love Story is truly iconic,” Schwartz and Savage said in a joint statement to THR. “We’re beyond excited to update it for the next generation, and to be working again with Nicole and the Paramount Television Studios team as well our friends at CBS Television Studios.”
Flashdance is based on the 1983 feature of the same name that starred Jennifer Beals. The new series, which was put in development in October with a script to pilot commitment, will focus on “a Black woman struggling to maker her mark in the ballet world” and will serve as a sequel to the original film, albeit in present day. Angela Robinson (The L Word) will executive produce and direct the pilot. And Beals, according to the trade, is not involved.
The Parallax View is a new take on the 1974 film that starred Warren Beatty, Hume Cronym and William Daniels and served as the second of Alan J. Pakula’s “Political Paranoia Trilogy” that also included Klute (1971) and All the President’s Men (1976). The plot revolved around a reporter’s investigation into a mysterious organization known as the Parallax Corp., whose specialty just happens to be political assassination. The new take, which is currently searching for a writer, will be executive produced by Paula Wagner (Mission: Impossible).
Per the trade, these projects join previously announced series The Offer, which is series based on the making of The Godfather and Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.
