With Johnny Depp as Nick? .... Maybe.... - but you better keep that cute ass lil' dog.
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(from some other blog)
I’ve reported on the Thin Man remake that Johnny Depp is attached to star in a couple times before. First, there was the news that “Permanent Midnight” author Jerry Stahl would be writing the new screenplay for the film. Then there was wordthat past Depp collaborator Rob Marshall would be stepping in to direct. A new round of updates on the development of this project seem to confirm that, yes, Marshall is still attached to sit in the director’s chair. However, it seems that Stahl never actually did any writing for the film, so the suits have gotten a new guy to start a script from scratch.
According to Deadline Rockland, veteran screenwriter David Koepp has now been charged with the duty of updating the exploits of married P.I. team Nick and Nora Charles.
Koepp’s name doesn’t really tell me much about what to expect from this movie. He’s responsible for completely acceptable literary adaptations like Jurassic Park, but he’s also responsible for completely unacceptable literary adaptations like Angels & Demons. I guess his involvement is going to be a bit of a crapshoot.
There’s also some news on what sort of a treatment Koepp will be shooting for, however. Apparently Koepp’s script will be combining elements of the first two Thin Man movies from the 30s, 1934’s The Thin Man and 1936’s After the Thin Man. Marshall is looking to do a stylized, modern looking take on the material, similar to what Guy Ritchie has done with the Sherlock Holmes franchise. That sort of makes me want to puke, but moving on.
Also, there’s word that Marshall wants to utilize some of his Chicago experience to do a couple musical numbers in the film. That might sound ridiculous to some people at first glance, but it doesn’t worry me much. First off, the original Dashiell Hammett source material has already been adapted into a Broadway musical called Nick & Nora, so there is a precedent for this happening, and maybe even some good music to mine for this new film. And also, a musical number could just mean something like a song and dance scene when a couple of the characters are sitting in a nightclub. That was a staple of old detective movies and wouldn’t feel out of place in this story at all. Not like, say, Sherlock Holmes style Matrix kung fu. That would feel really out of place. Do you hear me Rob Marshall?