It was announced yesterday 4.2.26) that David Kelley is writing a miniseries remake of Tom Wolfe‘s” The Bonfires of the Vanities” with Matt (Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Batman) Reeves inked to direct and executive produce.
This is a chance to properly resurrect Tom Wolfe’s great Balzac-Ian novel of mid ‘80s Manhattan…sharp district attorneys, hungry journos, Harlem hustlers large and small, and the Wall Street culture of “Masters of the Universe.”
Brian DePalma’s 1990 film adaptation was a total catastrophe, of course, which is why it’s an inspired idea to remake the Wolfe book as a ten-parter. If you listen to the “Vanities” audio book it lasts for 20something hours. This is one of those rare instances in which a miniseries is the smarter way to go.
I’m confident that Reeves won’t screw this up. He’s too good of a director to follow in DePalma’s clumsy footsteps. This is a golden opportunity to translate Wolfe’s labrynthian book accurately. The Kelly-Reeves miniseries will presumably be shot in period (mid ’80s).
Reeves has always been a fan of Wolfe’s book and has long believed he could make a filmed version turn out right some day.