Another round of half-baked American remakes.
As if Hollywood wasn’t flooded with enough reboots, the Danish film “Another Round” — which won the 2021 Oscar for Best International Feature Film on Sunday night — could soon see an American version starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The English-language remake rights to director Thomas Vinterberg’s movie were recently won in an auction by DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson’s production company, Appian Way, according to Deadline. They reportedly beat out several other big-time bidders, including Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker’s Nine Stories, as well as Elizabeth Banks, who was working with Universal Pictures.
And while the competition was close, Vinterberg ultimately wanted to see DiCaprio in the role of an alcoholic high-school teacher facing midlife crises, as portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen in the Academy Award-winning production, which was honored at LA’s Union Station and Dolby Theatre.
Not everyone was welcoming of the concept, though, as social media vultures pounced on the idea of remaking a film that was so fresh in some folks’ minds.
“Man, Hollywood thinks removing the subtitles is enough of a concept that merits an adaptation,” tweeted one critic, who denounced the idea that subtitles could be a problem for stateside viewers. “I wanna pitch Amelie, but sans subtitles. GIVE ME MY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS PLEASE.”
Another naysayer slammed apparent greed in US-based producers jumping on a project still basking in an Oscar win, writing, “Let’s take this prestigious Danish film and remake it for profit.”
Meanwhile, filmmaker Jessica Ellis (“What Lies West”) suggested that, should the movie come to fruition, it might then be fair for a remake of one of DiCaprio’s biggest box-office success stories: “Fine but Mads Mikkelsen gets to remake Titanic,” she wrote.
Besides Appian Way, the new version also will be produced by Endeavor Content and Makeready, both of which will finance the project.