At last, a remake to get excited about: Collider reports that David Cronenberg‘s Dead Ringers is getting a series adaptation over at Amazon, with Jeremy Irons’ characters to be played by none other than Rachel Weisz.
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In case you haven’t seen it, the original 1988 film starred Irons (recently seen masticating the scenery of HBO’s Watchmen as a delightfully horrid aging Ozymandias) as a pair of twin gynecologists, Elliot and Beverly Mantle. To say that they don’t take the Hippocratic Oath very seriously is a huge understatement: not only does Elliot seduce all of his patients, but he also passes his unsuspecting lovers off to Beverly, who impersonates his brother to keep up the charade. This being Cronenberg, things only get much weirder and darker from there.
While Amazon Studios and co-producer Annapurna Television have yet to release a synopsis, Annapurna COO Sue Naegle promised that it will be a “fresh take on the original, which will no doubt be even more twisted,” revealing in a press release (per Collider) that Weisz’s characters will keep the last name Mantle.
According to Collider, Weisz will executive produce alongside Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth, Hulu’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People), who will pen the script. There’s no word yet on other casting or crew details, or a tentative release date.
Photo of Rachel Weisz by Neil Grabowsky/Montclair Film, licensed under CC BY 2.0
And why remake this movie in the first place? Aside from gender switching the lead character what will be original about the story?
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According to Deadline, the doctors in this version “are on a mission to change the way women birth, starting with Manhattan”; the article also notes “while the series is expected to have a similar feel, it is said to have a different tone and explore themes like women’s health and the issues it faces, including underfunding, as it focuses on the two professional women, the Mantle twins, who are excellent at their jobs while also trying to navigate life outside of work. In the series, the Mantle twins share everything: drugs, lovers, and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes, including pushing the boundaries on medical ethics in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s healthcare to the forefront.”