David Cronenberg On Why His Fly Sequel Didn’t Get Made
Although there was a Fly II already made, starring Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga, David Cronenberg had originally started writing a sequel to his 1986 film remake. After he turned in the script to Twentieth Century Fox, the studio turned it down and expressed no interest to pursue or develop the project.
In an interview, David Cronenberg discussed how the Fly screenplay was really close to his heart and was saddened when Fox didn’t want to make the film.
David Cronenberg revealed his plans for the Fly sequel saying, “It wasn’t really a remake, it was more of a sequel or a sidebar. It was a meditation on fly-ness. None of the same characters or anything and, of course, with an understanding of modern technology. It was something I was very pleased with and it was a disappointment not to get it made.”
There were some reports indicating that David Cronenberg’s Fly script was a remake of his 1986 film, which in turn was a remake of the original 1958 science fiction horror film. Now it seems it was going to be a sequel or, as Cronenberg put it, “sidebar” or “meditation” on his 1986 version of The Fly.
From what David Cronenberg is describing it sounds like Fly would have been a hybrid of The Fly and his film Cosmopolis starring Robert Pattinson. The latter is a meditation on the wealthy and youth. If this is correct, then Cronenberg’s new Fly would have been something special and not at all commercially accepted, which is why Twentieth Century Fox didn’t want to make the film.
The Fly launched David Cronenberg’s career after the promise he showed with his previous film Scanners, Videodrome, and The Dead Zone.
The film featured a very young Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Seth Brundle, an eccentric scientist working teleportation and Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife, a journalist who falls in love with him. While conducting an experiment on his teleportation device, a housefly enters the chamber with him and horrifically turns Dr. Brundle into a giant fly. The film is a classic of the sci-fi and horror genre and is an allegory of HIV and AIDS in the 80s.
