The Princess Bride remake rumours: prepare to die!
Because it seems that the frenzy Twitter has got itself into this morning may just be a case of crossed internet wires.
The Princess Bride is trending, following a link to this article doing the rounds. Posted on the internet on 19 January, it says:
"More than 24 years after its release, The Princess Bride remains one of the most beloved cult classics in movie history, so filming a remake is no small task. However, director Jason Reitman recently announced the cast for his planned project and they are certainly up to the challenge, Paste magazine reports."
All that Paste magazine seems to have reported, however, was an announcement on 15 December that Jason Reitman was organising a public table-reading of The Princess Bride.
Which he did. Back mid-December, at Los Angeles County Museum Of Art - with a live cast that included Paul Rudd, Mindy Kaling and Patton Oswalt (see pic above, and below). Geek Tyrant were there, and gave their thumbs-up, saying "the whole evening was pretty damn magical":
"This audience clearly loved The Princess Bride, laughing and clapping in all the right places and giving huge applause at all of the most classic lines. In the epic swordfight sequence between Inigo and the Man in Black, Patton Oswalt produced two spoons and clinked them repeatedly, hilariously mimicking the noise of an actual fight as Reitman read the stage directions aloud to the crowd."
In fact, the read-through of The Princess Bride was Reitman's third such event in his 'Live Read' series at LACMA. It kicked off with a script reading of The Breakfast Club, 'starring' Jennifer Garner, followed by Billy Wilder's The Apartment, with Steve Carell in Jack Lemmon's role and Natalie Portman in Shirley MacLaine's.
So it seems that today's rumour is simply a misunderstanding, that there's no remake in the works, and The Princess Bride devotees can relax. In the meantime, Reitman's next Live Read will take place on 16 February. No news yet as to which script he's chosen - but whichever it is, if you hear a rumour the next day that film's being remade: don't panic. Because it probably isn't.
