Fincher, Affleck, Flynn on track to remake ‘Strangers on a Train’

“Gone Girl” director David Fincher, star Ben Affleck and screenwriter Gillian Flynn will get reacquainted for “Strangers,” a Warner Bros. remake of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “Strangers on a Train,” the Los Angeles Times has confirmed.

Deadline Hollywood first reported that the trio have been enlisted to give a contemporary setting and sensibility to the 1951 film, a Warner Bros. library title originally based on a Patricia Highsmith novel.

Whereas the original movie told the story of a tennis player and a psychopath who meet on a train and discuss the idea of swapping murders, “Strangers” is to star Affleck as an actor campaigning for an Oscar whose private plane to Los Angeles breaks down, prompting him to hitch another flight with a wealthy stranger.

While it’s always risky to remake a classic, Fincher specializes in dark, intricately crafted thrillers, and Affleck and Flynn proved ideal collaborators on “Gone Girl.” Released by Fox in October, the film earned excellent reviews and grossed $365 million worldwide on a $61-million budget.

Given that Fincher is known as a prickly iconoclast, Affleck is a movie star who has been put through the wringer more than once and Flynn is a former pop culture journalist, the prospect of them teaming up on a project skewering Hollywood and all its pageantry is certainly intriguing too.

“Strangers” is shaping up as a fast-track project for Warner Bros., though its central troika have busy schedules. Affleck’s upcoming projects include “The Accountant” and “Live by Night,” and Fincher is to start shooting the HBO series “Utopia,” which Flynn scripted.

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