Ben Affleck and David Fincher Sign on to Remake Hitchcocks Strangers

The Gone Girlteam of director David Fincher, screenwriter Gillian Flynnand actor Ben Affleck have already set their sights on their next project: Strangers, a modern take on Alfred Hitchcocks 1951 suspense classic Strangers on a Train, according toDeadline.

In the Hitchcock original, the plot revolves a murder pact between a tennis star (played by Farley Granger) and the titular stranger on a train (portrayed by Robert Walker). Aboard, they devise a plan to kill the source of each others problems the tennis stars ex-wife, the strangers father while establishing an alibi and leaving a wake of motiveless murder. The plan was just the tennis star humoring the stranger butthat doesnt stop Walkers character from killing the ex-wife and demanding Grangersstraight-laced guy fulfill their deal.

In the planned contemporary remake, Grangers tennis playerwill be transformed into a movie star whose private plane breaks down during anOscar campaign, forcing him to hop on board another jet owned by a wealthy stranger. Deadline reports that Affleck will play the role of the movie star in the film, which is an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel.

However, this being Hollywood and Hitchcock, just because a film has been announced doesnt mean it will be made. A planned rebootof The Birds starring Naomi Watts had languished since it was first announced in 2007 before Michael Bay took the reins this past summer.

Also, when a Hitchcock remake is finally greenlighted, the results dont always approximatethe original: Gus Van Sants shot-for-shot Psycho, Doug Limans high-octane Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the Rear Window retread Disturbiaare among the films that failed to reach the high bar set by the Master of Suspense.

News of Strangers comes just days afterFlynn revealed that there could be a Gone Girl sequelin the future.