Michael Douglas to Remake '50s Legal Drama Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

RKO is enjoying a certain renaissance at the moment. The studio that most contemporary film buffs would recognize as the studio that signed Orson Welles to a then-unheard of deal to write, direct, and star in Citizen Kane had back in the early 1940s.

The good years have been few and far between for RKO over the last half decade, but the studio has been more active in the past couple of years, to my surprise, and even last week announced that they'd raid their archives of old horror movies and remake them under their new Roseblood Studios banner.

Now comes another RKO remake, which, while not a production of the studio this time around, still fits in with resurrecting their brand. If it's a hit, it could open doors for more RKO titles popping back up and maybe, just maybe, one of the grand old studios can find a place in 21st Century Hollywood.

The movie in question is a film noir by Fritz Lang, who made such unquestionable classics as M and Metropolis. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was a sturdy flick starring the underrated Dana Andrews (Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives) as a writer who pins a murder on himself to prove the folly of circumstantial evidence. Heady stuff.

Variety tells us that this time around, Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn and Jesse Metcalfe will star in a contemporary remake of the film to be written and directed by Peter Hyams (who's a far cry from Timecop here), and production is expected to begin next month. Having adored the noir touches of Hollywoodland a couple years ago, I wish they'd kept it in the period. I guess with the litigous nature of modern America, it makes sense to skewer the judicial system in the here and now, but I can't help thinking it would be more special as a traditional film noir.

Producer Mark Damon said of the remake, “The combination of an outstanding cast and a visionary director will see (Fritz) Lang’s classic noir given a true 21st century spin for a new generation of cinema-goers." He had no comment on the reports that Sarah Silverman is, in fact, f***ing Mark Damon.