Dexter Fletcher, Patrick Wilson, The Saint: Weekly Round Up

2nd November 2020

Dexter Fletcher, Patrick Wilson, The Saint: Weekly Round Up – So, as England enters into a belated and arguably pointless lockdown, I’m sure many of you, assuming you’re anything like me anyway, are looking to the movies to provide us with some much needed cheer. The world of movie news, then, is happy to oblige, as there are plenty of interesting projects and developments headed our way.

But first, it’s not all roses. We’re still getting news even now of many highly anticipated projects that are either being delayed from release, rescheduled, or halted from production outright. And, to be frank, that’s all a bit shit, isn’t it?

Two such projects that have been placed on indefinite hold come from Rocketman and Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher. One of those films is the big-screen reboot of the classic Roger Moore starring television series, The Saint. Based on the book series by Leslie Charteris, The Saint focuses on the escapades of Simon Templar, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor and deserving (while keeping a bit of it for himself, of course). The show ran from 1962 through to 1969 and has since then had something of a rocky history.

A 1997 movie starring Val Kilmer and directed by Phillip Noyce failed to deliver on the promise of the premise, while a 2017 TV movie starring Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku did even worse in terms of recognition, despite involvement from Roger Moore himself.

I’ve always quite enjoys The Saint – at least I’ve enjoyed the TV series – so I was somewhat intrigued by what someone like Fletcher might bring to the project. As a result this news is a bit of a bummer as far as I’m concerned, but it’s nowhere near as frustrating as the news surrounding Fletcher’s other put-on-hold project, the incredibly highly anticipated Sherlock Holmes 3.

I appreciate I might be in the majority on this one (for reasons beyond my comprehension) but I actually really enjoyed Guy Ritchie’s reimagining of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic master of deduction. I thought the action-adventure tone, along with the brilliant performances and incredible double act chemistry of its two leads, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, fit in almost perfectly with what I imagined the characters of Holmes and Watson to be like when I read the books.

Full disclosure, I don’t really like the BBC update starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, so I was really holding out hope for the eventual third outing for RDJ and Law. The news this week that this project has not only been delayed but put on indefinite hold is really disappointing for me.

Anyway, enough of the miserable crap. Let’s look forward at what exciting movies we may one day actually get to see.

Despite Halloween being last week the horror genre, thankfully, shows no signs of slowing down. Out first big story about an upcoming horror project comes in the form of this week’s announcement that Get Out and Us director Jordan Peele has signed on to produce a remake of horror master Wes Craven’s underappreciate 1991 cult classic, The People Under The Stairs.

Despite flying somewhat under the radar, The People Under The Stairs is arguably one of my favorite Craven movies. It’s creepy, thought-provoking, and a hell of a lot of fun. I’m hoping that this new take captures the insanity of the original, which manages to be a non-stop rollercoaster of a movie despite its socio-political undertones and dark as fuck subject matter.

Of course, Peele already has for with remakes of classic movies – we’re still waiting on Nia DaCosta’s update of Clive Barker’s 1991 cult classic Candyman, which starred horror icon Tony Todd in the title role, which has been continuously delayed due to COVID-19 – so it’s not surprise that he might turn his attention to another movie from a similar time that deals with similar themes, albeit in an entirely different light.

Our other big horror-centric news this week comes in the form of Insidious. While the Insidious movies may not have been scientifically proven as the scariest movies of all time (apparently that’s Scott Dereckson’s Sinister which, while not a bad film, is a notion I feel like I need to take issue with) there’s no denying that it’s a mega successful franchise in its own right, and that all of the outings thus far have been, at the least, enjoyable ghost train rides.

It’s not surprising then that work would be going ahead of a fifth entry to the series, but what makes this more curious than it otherwise would be is that the story is centered once again around the original two movie’s main characters. Furthermore, star Patrick Wilson is set not only to return in front of the camera, but also to make the move behind the camera, as Insidious Chapter 5 will be his directorial debut.

Actors using franchises they have appeared in to make the jump to directing isn’t a new concept, but Wilson so obviously has a love for the horror genre itself that I can’t help but be sort of excited by this. He has appeared in plenty of horror movies over the years, and a lot of them have been pretty good, so I reckon it’s a safe bet to assume he at least has a genuine interest in the subject. – Dexter Fletcher, Patrick Wilson, The Saint: Weekly Round Up

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