Coming into the new year fresh off the success of "Gone Girl," it looked like the trio of David Fincher, Ben Affleck and author/screenwriter Gillian Flynn were eager to team up again. And indeed, a new project was announced, "Strangers," a remake of Alfred Hitchcock‘s "Strangers On A Train," but with a bit of a twist. But in the months that have passed, everyone has gotten very busy. Flynn and Fincher and gearing up "Utopia" for HBO, while Affleck has "Live By Night" and a solo Batman movie on his directing plate. So perhaps it’s not a shock that Flynn has confirmed that "Strangers" is taking a back seat.
"We’re all so overcommitted right now that we’ll see on that one," she told Vulture about the potential project. And while our knee-jerk reaction to remakes is to lament the lack of originality in Hollywood, this one did have an interesting concept. The meta story would’ve seen Affleck play an actor in the midst of an Oscar campaign who crosses paths with a wealthy stranger when his private plane breaks down, which presumably leads to the deadly deal to murder each others wives being enacted.
But for now, it’ll rest on the shelf of possibilities for the duo, and frankly, I would’ve been surprised if everyone just takes a producing credit and finds some other talents to take it on. But let’s hope it isn’t long until this trio finds something else to sink their teeth into together.
