IRISH DIRECTOR JOHN Butler’s 2014 comedy hit The Stag is going to be remade for American audiences.
Warner Brothers, one of the ‘Big Six’ US film studios, has acquired the remake rights for the film, which starred Sherlock’s Andrew Scott and co-writer Peter McDonald.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie from London tonight, Butler confirmed the deal, which was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter this afternoon.
It’s great. It’ll be really interesting to see what they make of it.
I think it’s the first Irish Film Board funded film, and maybe the first Irish film full-stop, to be acquired for remake by an American studio, so it’s new ground.
The Stag was released in the US under the title The Bachelor Weekend, a change that hinted at the balance to be struck when exporting a familiar theme (male bonding) from one cultural context to another.
Butler, who starts filming his new movie Handsome Devil in Ireland in August, says he’s not worried.
We always wanted to make a universal story. We were so thrilled when it did as well as it did in Ireland, but we always hoped to make something that would resonate universally.
So it’s really cool to hear the news today, because it seems to confirm that.
There’s no word yet on which Hollywood stars might sign on for roles originally played by Irish actors like Brian Gleeson and Amy Huberman.
Butler says he’s “heard some rumours,” but was unwilling to share them with TheJournal.ie.
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