Peaky creator Steven to write new version of Hitchcock classic
PEAKY Blinders creator Steven Knight will write a remake of Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo.
Robert Downey Jr is being lined up for the lead role, originally played by James Stewart. The 1958 film is widely credited as one of the best films of all-time.
The new version will star the Iron Man actor and have a script written by Knight, who has also just been signed up for a Star Wars film.
The original film starred Stewart as former police detective John “Scottie” Ferguson, who has retired because an incident in the line of duty has caused him to develop acrophobia (an extreme fear of heights) and vertigo, a false sense of rotational movement.
Scottie is hired by an acquaintance, Gavin Elster, as a private investigator to follow Gavin’s wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who is behaving strangely.
It comes as it emerged Knight is writing the first Star Wars film since the widelypanned Rise of Skywalker.
Damon Lindelof was originally hired to co-write the forthcoming release alongside Justin Britt-Gibson. However, it was reported that the pair left the project in February. The film will reportedly be announced at Star Wars Celebration next month. Knight’s screenplays over the years have included Locke, Burnt and Serenity, as well as Spencer. Downey is now best known for his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Iron Man or Tony Stark, and has also played the title character in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009), which earned him his second Golden Globe, and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). His forthcoming work includes the upcoming Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring alongside Peaky star Cillian Murphy.