Producer Brad Fuller Talks About ‘The Birds’ Remake

By  · Published on May 7th, 2010

A remake of a Hitchcock film? That’s ballsy. But a remake of a classic Hitchock film that is arguably one of the greatest films ever made? That’s even ballsier. We are of course talking about the remake of The Birds. This is a project that could see everyone breaking out their pitchforks for opening weekend. When will it actually come out? Still undecided. What we do know so far is that they’re currently looking for writers and Dennis Iliadis is set to direct. If you don’t know who Iliadis is, he delivered the very (surprisingly) good remake of The Last House on the Left. With Iliadis attached, don’t expect the same results we got with Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho. Platinum Dunes’s Brad Fuller was nice enough to give us a few updates.

If you recall a few years back the man who helped get the Bond series out of a rut, Martin Campbell, was spearheading this remake, but apparently he dropped out. After that, the reigns were handed down to Iliadis. Firstly, how did Iliadis get the job? The Last House on the Left certainly helped considering Fuller had nothing but good things to say about it. “I loved that movie. I thought that movie was so amazing. I think what he created with that terror in that house and the tension is what The Birds needs.” If you saw it, then you’ll know exactly what he’s talking about it. Fuller also isn’t the only one on-board with this choice, “The studio loves him obviously because he’s doing Jekyll for them now also. The first movie of his I saw was Hardcore and then I thought Last House was amazing. He’s just a really bright guy and has a sense of tension. That’s a hard thing to create.”

There’s undoubtedly one burning question on everyone’s mind: will the birds be done practically or with CGI? While that’s still undecided, Fuller did admit it could come off a bit silly having CG birds. “As a company we would also prefer the side of practical. We haven’t had those discussions yet. I’m not sure if we could make the movie all with live birds. If it were make-able… Since we don’t have a script I’m not sure what the birds are required to do. I’ll say though we would always try to use as much real birds as possible. I think if you saw CGI birds it would take you out of the movie and the threat wouldn’t feel too real.” I brought up how CG birds would most likely look a tad goofy, Fuller seemed to agree.

As for the rating and whether or not this we’ll be 3D, it’s still undecided. “I think we go back and forth. I don’t wanna say the movie is definitely going to be rated R because it could all change. I think it’s certainly hard showing people getting their eyes poked out in a PG-13 movie. Having said that, the studio might wanna go PG-13. I don’t know what they’re gonna wanna do at the end of the day. I don’t think there’s a movie getting made today that people aren’t having discussions about 3D. It comes down to economics.”

Personally, it’s difficult to imagine a modern day version of The Birds being PG-13. If you go back and revisit the original it is pretty damn graphic at times. Similar to Jaws, if you put it in front of the ratings board today I’m betting it would get an R-rating. Come on, people getting their eyes poked out? Not so sure you could do that scene total justice with a PG-13. When it comes down to 3D, if The Birds actually happens anytime in the near future it’s a bit hard to imagine the studio not wanting to go that route.

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Longtime FSR contributor Jack Giroux likes movies. He thinks they're swell.