comment #1

btwnproductions says ...

And why is he wasting his time on something with the potential of being another State of Play--yawn--for critics and audiences alike?

comment #2

lazarus says ...

I read the book but haven't seen the BBC miniseries (it ain't exactly cheap), I'd certainly check it out, especially after enjoying Let the Right One In.

It's not the first long book to be turned into a film, and it won't be the last. And it's not like every adaptation of that kind has been a bust.

I will say that I hope they don't alter most of the book like with the Bourne Identity.

comment #3

Sabina E says ...

Really, Wells, how many people have seen the 1979 BBC miniseries?

comment #4

TM says ...

Of course it hasn't stopped them from doing versions of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Brideshead Revisited". The former was passable, the latter completely unnecessary IMHO (better that they restored the original and re-released the restoration -- the original DVD release is visually a bit faded.) At some point every movie is going to get a remake, no matter what it is. I expect a new "Gone with the Wind' with Keira Knightley to be announced any day now.

comment #5

btwnproductions says ...

Pride and Prejudice can be toyed with, spiffed up, contemporized, etc. But this seems to be another 70s-set version of the same, less malleable thing. It's one thing that it's a bunch of geriatric Brits talking (the book and show are quite gripping)--but what do they have to say to us, in our post Cold War, post 9/11 world?

comment #6

arnold stang says ...

I heard the same thing when I pitched an American version of TRAFFIC as a feature...look what that did...it's all about the filmmaker's point of view

comment #7

nemo says ...

"And who under the age of 45 would be interested in seeing it?"

I was going to say, me! Then I remembered I'm over 45.

comment #8

Mr. Muckle says ...

For my money, the BBC series and its companion, Smiley's People, are the best things that've ever been on television. But, as others have suggested, it's been a long time and I don't begrudge anyone getting to see another version. I'd take a look myself.

comment #9

Pinko Punko says ...

Bill Haydon, Percy Alleline, Toby Esterhase, Roy Bland. The names stick with you. The miniseries was phenomenal and Smiley's People was almost as good. I don't know who I would trust with it. The best part of the thing was it was the anti-CSI spy bullshit, of course they didn't have the ability to show satellites in space and have computer writing of datelines and every other washed out trope of the technothriller. They need to be long, talky, opaque and complicated. So complex Jeff will be shaking his head.

comment #10

lipranzer says ...

Along with the three questions that dragged through Jeff's mind (well, the first two, anyways - I'm under 45, and I've seen and loved the miniseries. Not only that, but le Carre is one of my favorite writers of all time - I own 15 of his novels, including Tinker, Tailor), I also wondered, who the hell are they going to get to play Smiley? Michael Caine is the only one who's the right age and has the right bankability for studios, but if he turns it down, who else?

comment #11

frankbooth says ...

Yeah, Caine is pretty much it. And would he really want to play a character another actor has already perfected? I can't see much room for interpretation.

(Michael Gambon would be a fine choice, but despite his increased visibility of late, he's not exactly a headliner.)

Commercially insane and artistically superfluous. I'll be surprised if it happens.

comment #12

frankbooth says ...

Wait, I've got the solution to the casting problem AND the box-office problem: a digitally aged Brad Pitt!

comment #13

dinovelvet says ...

I figure they'll young it down a little to allow someone like say, Liam Neeson or Ralph Fiennes to do it. Neeson already played a "retired agent" in Taken, so there you go.

comment #14

Pinko Punko says ...

This could be fun to cast. They could play up the Ricky Tarr affair angle. I liked the Guillam from TTSS much better than the replacement. They could get Emma Thompson done up for Connie Sachs.

comment #15

LexG says ...

Bourne Identity was a 1980 miniseries.

comment #16

Floyd Thursby says ...

Though no one could approach Guinness, Michael Kitchen would make a good Smiley. He's not a name, but is a name necessary? Let's just hope it isn't updated and Americanized. TTSS is my favorite of the dozens of spy novels I've read, and the adaptation is my favorite all-time miniseries.

comment #17

frankbooth says ...

That's right, Lex.

But that mini is not that well-remembered, if at all. And it was also a more action-oriented story, and they were able to update it, which they can't really do with this. (How would you take it out of the Cold War context?) PLUS Bourne is not a sexegenarian (septugenarian?) like Smiley.

There are just too many reasons this is a bad idea. If it gets made, I'll be there -- because I like the director and character. But I'd rather see him do something else.

comment #18

Natali Watson says ...

Great article!) Thank you!
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