David Cronenberg and Todd Lincoln discuss their aborted Fly remakes

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Remember when a remake of THE FLY was in the works at 20th Century Fox? What about when THE APPARITION director Todd Lincoln was set to helm it? And when he got shot down in favor of David Cronenberg himself? Only for Cronenberg to have his script rejected by 20th Century Fox, thus bringing us back to square one? Well, before we file these stories away in the “movies that could have been” bin, let’s hear what the would-be re-remakers have to say about their aborted plans.

In an interview promoting the upcoming release of COSMOPOLIS onto home video, Cronenberg discussed how his latest version of Seth Brundle’s tale melted into development hell:

“It wasn’t really a remake, it was more of a sequel or a sidebar. It was a meditation on fly-ness. None of the same characters or anything and, of course, with an understanding of modern technology. It was something I was very pleased with and it was a disappointment not to get it made… it was a budget problem, basically.”

Yet the story isn’t over there. Todd Lincoln heard this news and was all like, “Hey guys, I had a FLY remake, too. Remember me?” So in another interview, Lincoln told of his proposed take on the tale, which stuck closer to the Vincent Price original:

“My version of The Fly was a dark, twisted, grounded re- imagining… Part Val-Lewton, part J.G Ballard, part Neal Stephenson with some Horror Manga touches. This had nothing to do with the Cronenberg version and it would absolutely not have had the same color palette. This was an all new vision and direction, but still done with complete respect for all five other Fly films and the original short story published in Playboy magazine that started it all… I would have done it almost entirely with practical FX. Anyway, at the time I developed my take, it was too far out for the studio and they ended up deciding to do more of a straight remake.”

Both projects sound super keen, but I gotta say that I would have went with Cronenberg’s tale. I mean, he’s Cronenberg and it would’ve been a sort-of sequel. That couldn’t fail! Which would you guys have greenlit if you had all the powers of 20th Century Fox? Talk back with your choice below!