Universal Pictures has announced plans for a contemporary version of the iconic 1955 film “The Night of the Hunter”.
The original film was an adaptation of the Davis Grubb novel and followed a religious fanatic, con man and murderer (Robert Mitchum) who marries a widow (Shelley Winters), knowing that her deceased husband had hid $10,000 from authorities following a bank robbery.
The widow’s young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the money as the man plots more sinister ways to find where to find the cash.
The only directorial effort of celebrated “Witness for the Prosecution” and “Spartacus” actor Charles Laughton, the film was controversial and received mixed reviews at the time, but with age it has been reconsidered as a true cinema classic and has been added to the National Film Registry.
Matt Orton (“Operation Finale”) is penning the script for the new take which will reportedly be set in modern times. Peter Gethers and Amy Pascal will produce.
Source: Variety
