Vertigo remake in development with Robert Downey Jr looking to star

Deadline has reported that Paramount Pictures is developing a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The psychological thriller is considered by many to be not only one of Hitchcock’s finest movies, but one of the best of all time. The project does have some star power behind it, as Robert Downey Jr. is eyeing the leading role of the former police detective forced to retire after an incident in the line of duty causes him to develop acrophobia and vertigo.

The Vertigo remake is set to be scripted by Steven Knight, the Peaky Blinders creator who recently signed on to write the new Star Wars movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey will produce the remake through their Team Downey banner, alongside John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment. The original 1958 film starred Jimmy Stewart as John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, a former detective obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he was hired to investigate. In addition to Jimmy Stewart, Vertigo also starred Kim Novack, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Tom Helmore.

We all know that Hollywood loves a remake, but… come on, does Vertigo really need to be remade? The chances of it being superior to the original — hell, the chances of it even being equal to the original — are so slim in my eyes. Of course, we don’t know what Steven Knight and Robert Downey Jr. have planned for the Vertigo remake; perhaps they have a fresh take that will set it apart from what Alfred Hitchcock did. One can dream.

Robert Downey Jr. will next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s star-studded Oppenheimer. The thriller will “thrust audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.” Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer alongside Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. Matt Damon portrays General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey, Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Florence Pugh plays psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie plays theoretical physicist Edward Teller, Michael Angarano plays Robert Serber, and Josh Hartnett plays pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence. The film is set to be released on July 21st.

What are your thoughts on a Vertigo remake (possibly) starring Robert Downey Jr.?