Caffeinated Clint
A few days back on the Hole Cast we chatted to good mate and writer/director Josh Stolberg about co-scripting – with regular screenwriting partner Bobby Florsheim – the upcoming remake of “To Catch a Thief”.
Naturally, being that “Thief” is quite the classic, a few people sooked, sighed and shrieked at the suggestion of Paramount and producer Neil Moritz redoing the film.
In the comments section of a Movieline news item in which the outlet talk about the impending film (with a link back to us, of course – thanks guys!), Florsheim has left a post, and within it talks aplenty about the plans for the new “To Catch a Thief”.
Here’s Florsheim’s post :
Hi Brian,
Josh and I read your article today and wanted to let you and your readers know our take on things with the script. First off, you should know we LOVE the original film and the last thing we want to do is desecrate a classic. When I was in 9th grade in 1984, I saw a re-release of Rear Window and it remains my favorite film of all time. On my way home from school for the next 2 weeks, I rented a different Hitchcock film each night and had 2 of the best weeks of my life. To Catch A Thief remains in my top 3 Hitch movies.
Addressing your notes, I don’t know how much we’re allowed to talk about the script, so I’ll err on the side of discretion.
1) Locations. Santorini is one of the bigger set pieces, but we’re all over the coolest most romantic places in Europe. Including Monte Carlo and the Riviera from the original. No Miami in sight.
2) Casting. Obviously, we have little say here. But rest assured the studio isn’t going to make it with two unknowns. Like the orignal, the leads need to be dashing and cool — but it’s also the closest movie Hitch made to a romantic (almost screwball) comedy, with razor fast witty banter. This is definately a film for actors with a handle on both angles.
3) Josh mispoke somewhat when he called the film “gagety” — it came off the cuff in an hour+ phone interview. What he meant to say is: We’ve tried to update the setpieces to make them cool and modern. If you look at the original, it’s people tiptoeing on rooftops with no alarms in sight. While John Robie is still “The Cat” — and one hell of an acrobat — he’s up against much more formidable defenses in 2011. So, yes, there’s some very cool tech in it. But no, it’s never at the expense of very cool, physically intense heists.
4) Action vs. Banter. As I said above, this movie is very much a two-hander. Our approach of script is always characters first. If you make the coolest action movie in the world and don’t care about the characters, what’s the point? The movie fails. Doubly so in TCAT, which is equal parts romantic comedy.
5. Again, not my department. However, if we could get Brian De Palma at 26 years old, I’d be with you in a heart beat. He was one of my favorite directors growing up. Scarface? Done. That said, he hasn’t made a great movie in 15-20 years in my opinion (Black Dahlia Fun Club, flame away). Not that he doesn’t have it in him to do a killer job, I just don’t know if the studios give directors a chance after a certain time. For better or worse, the hottest kid on the block gets to pick first. And so on.
I hope this was helpful.
We loved writing the script, and we’re very proud of how it turned out. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see it made soon!
Best,
Bobby Florsheim
Does that settle the nerves a bit, fans?
