Netflix Remaking The Wages Of Fear, An All-Time Classic Thriller
Netflix is remaking the 1953 classic The Wages of Fear, with French director Julien Leclercq at the helm.
Stop the presses! A popular streaming service is developing yet another remake of a classic property. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix, hot on the heels of the mega-successful Addams Family reimagining Wednesday and the abysmal live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation is rebooting French adventure flick The Wages of Fear.
The 1953 thriller directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot revolved around four people tasked with driving a truck full of highly volatile nitroglycerin across harsh terrain. French action director Julien Leclercq will helm the Netflix reboot of The Wages of Fear. The director’s credits include 2010’s The Assault, 2021’s Sentinelle, and Netflix’s own crime drama Ganglands.
Leclercq will be directing a screenplay written by fellow Ganglands veteran Hamid Hlioua. Hlioua’s other writing credits include the Mini series Glacé and action drama La Revolution a 2020 reimagining of the French Revolution.
The Netflix Wages of Fear will star Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Sofiane Zermani, and Ana Girardot as the unlucky crew hired to transport the explosive cargo.
The original film was based on a novel of the same name by author Georges Arnaud. A quasi-remake of the movie was released in 1977 under the title Sorcerer. William Friedkin directed the spiritual adaptation and cast Jaws actor Roy Scheider in the lead role.
The movie was Friedkin’s follow-up to the horror classic The Exorcist and signified a change in direction for the director from horror to action-thriller.
The Netflix adaptation of The Wages of Fear will have some big shoes to fill if it wants to live up to the original. The original 1953 movie won several awards, including the grand prize at Cannes and a BAFTA (the British Oscars) for best film. Luckily, director Julien Leclercq seems to be up to the task.
“To reunite this cast for the reboot of such a film, for a worldwide broadcast with Netflix, forces me to put all my heart and guts into it,” said Leclercq.
Netflix has had a spotty record when it comes to reboots of popular franchises. Series like She-Ra and Voltron have been undeniably excellent, arguably surpassing their source material in terms of quality. On the other hand, the streamer’s live-action anime adaptations, such as Death Note and the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop, have largely bombed.
That hasn’t stopped Netflix from trying, however. The streamer has a high-profile live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender currently in production that has the potential to be either a major win or a colossal loss for the streamer, depending on fan reception. The Netflix adaptation of The Wages of Fear, on the other hand, has fewer stakes attached when compared to Avatar.
The Netflix remake of The Wages of Fear is without a title currently. While it’s possible the streamer could take a page from Friedkin’s books and give the movie an original title, it’s more likely Netflix will keep the name Wages of Fear in hopes of capitalizing on the name recognition.
Ultimately, however, it really depends on how close the Netflix adaptation sticks to the source material. The closer Netflix makes its Wages of Fear to the original, the more likely it is that the project will retain the original’s name. If, instead, the streamer takes the basic concept and takes a left turn instead of making a straight adaptation, they might be better off calling the movie something else or risk the ire of fans.
In any case, the Netflix version of The Wages of Fear is sure to be a thrilling nail-biter of a movie. Expect the movie to show up on Netflix sometime in 2024.
