Mike Nichols, who has shown his filmmaking prowess with movies like Charlie Wilson’s War and Closer, is heading into remake territory, with an announced project set to remake High and Low from classic filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The 1963 picture was a detective story adapted from Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom which involved a kidnapping plot that led to a businessman’s ruin.
The new version of the movie will be directed by Nichols, who will use a David Mamet script that was originally commissioned by Martin Scorsese in 1999. The news comes from Variety, who announced casting hasn’t started on the movie yet.
While we’re usually quick to leap on bad remake ideas, this one probably isn’t that bad. As remarkable a filmmaker as he is, Kurosawa’s work isn’t known by the average filmgoer, so the movie will look pretty original to a lot of people. Remaking Kurosawa’s work has proven successful in remake form as well, leading to The Magnificent Seven, among others. As far as remakes go, Nichols appears to be starting with a pretty good foundation.
