The Fly remake: 20th Century Studios might be hoping to cast Zendaya

Back in 1986, David Cronenberg directed a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi horror classic The Fly (which was based on George Langelaan’s short story) – and the result is considered to be one of the best remakes of all time. 20th Century Fox (now the Disney subsidiary 20th Century Studios) has been wanting to replicate that success with another remake for a couple decades now… but the project has never managed to escape from development hell. Cronenberg wanted to come back and make another Fly movie, but it fell apart over budgetary issues. Screenwriter Todd Lincoln wrote a remake of The Fly that he described as a “dark, twisted, grounded re- imagining… Part Val-Lewton, part J.G. Ballard, part Neal Stephenson with, some Horror Manga touches.” The studio wasn’t into it. J.D. Dillard was attached to direct a new version of The Fly for years, but recently stepped away from it. But 20th Century Studios isn’t giving up. And film journalist Jeff Sneider says he’s heard a rumor that they’ve been hoping to cast Zendaya in the new remake.

On the podcast The Hot Mic, Sneider said, “There were rumors that 20th Century Studios really has been talking to Zendaya’s team about The Fly. … I think it would be the main role. You don’t just cast someone like her as the love interest or whatever. It’d be interesting to have a female Fly. That project, though… When you look at the level of talent they got for the Alien movie, and that’s a bigger franchise than The Fly, if this is a 20th Century Studios thing and maybe they’re eyeing it for Hulu, I don’t think they’re gonna get Zendaya. It’s actually an interesting role for her. It involves this physical transformation, she gets to ugly herself up. I would like to see her do it, it would be cool for her, but if it’s just this Hulu movie that Fox is producing, I just don’t think that’s big enough.“

It would make sense if 20th Century Studios does want Zendaya in The Fly, as she’s one of the biggest stars around right now. She stars in the HBO series Euphoria, she was in the three most recent Spider-Man movies, she’s in the Dune films. But, as Sneider notes, it doesn’t seem like something she would do.

Would you like to see Zendaya in a new version of The Fly? Share your thoughts on this rumor by leaving a comment below.