One of the most surprising bits of news to come out of the Oscars aftermath is the report that Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company has secured the rights to an English-language remake of the Oscar-winning film, “Another Round.” As you might expect, the news was met with immediate WTF?! energy by Film Twitter. This movie has barely been released and just won an Oscar and Hollywood is already out to remake it? Yes, Hollywood is always going to Hollywood.
When asked about the new English-language remake by IndieWire, “Another Round” filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg seems to be as knowledgable as the general public, for now, and can’t offer many details. However, he’s expected to meet with DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, soon to find out details, though he isn’t expected to contribute in any major way.
“This is all new to me,” he said. “So I’ll discuss this with them, and we’ll see.”
Even though the general online sentiment is that remaking “Another Round” is a bad idea (though, to be fair, this is the same argument that is made for many international films that are given the Hollywood redo), Vinterberg isn’t concerned about the response and doesn’t think a remake is such a terrible thing.
“I’ve seen various interpretations of my work before,” Vinterberg said. “It’s an interesting artistic thing to see something grow into different versions. Now it’s in the hands of the finest actor you can get and besides being a brilliant actor, he’s made very intelligent choices throughout his career. I feel there’s a lot of integrity in the choices he’s made. I’m full of hope and curiosity about what they’re up to.”
One of the things being mentioned around social media since the surprising news that DiCaprio was involved as a producer and possible star in the English version of “Another Round” is the idea that perhaps the studio should just allow Mads Mikkelsen the opportunity to star in the new version, as well, considering he’s fluent in English and has starred in a number of incredibly popular English-language productions. When asked about this idea, Vinterberg understands the desire to have Mikkelsen keep his acclaimed role in the new version, but he’s not so sure it’s a solid idea.
“I’ll leave those kind of decisions to Appian Way and the dialogue I’ll have with them,” he replied. “I don’t know if Mads would do such a thing. My first thought would be to make a different interpretation. Asking the same actor to do a different interpretation could be a little bit confusing. But I won’t be the main creative force in this. That would have to be up to the people who end up doing it.”
As mentioned, the idea of English-language remakes has been a hot-button discussion amongst film fans for years now, especially when access to international films is easier now than ever before. However, it would appear that the man behind “Another Round” thinks everyone should give this remake a shot, especially considering who is involved (you know, DiCaprio and whatnot), so maybe we should just wait and see? Who am I kidding? The internet is not known for its patience.
