Martin Campbell is joining Michael Bay and Naomi Watts as a name that is floating around the remake of the Hitchcock classic.  Campbell, who directed the impressive Bond relaunch Casino Royale (2006), is in talks to helm The Birds.  But this remake may hardly represent an entirely “new” version since reportedly the script will closely follow the original Daphne du Maurier short story.  That work is much closer throughout to the “siege” horror film that the Hitchcock movie becomes in its final reel, and it lacks the romantic subplot and supporting characters that feature heavily in the 1963 film.

  I seem to recall that its point-of-view character is an isolated coastal fisherman who must survive the onslaught of the title characters.

Which makes it interesting that Naomi Watts has long been attached to the project—there’s hardly a role in the du Maurier story for an attractive blonde, but perhaps the screenwriters will split the difference in terms of the source material, borrowing key elements from the original Evan Hunter screenplay.  Watts’s participation, by the way, hinges on the final script that’s developed.  And one of the production companies that will produce the film is Platinum Dunes, the Michael Bay outfit that is also involved in the Friday the 13^th remake.

(Source:  Reuters/Hollywood Reporter)