Nicole Kidman Replaces Gwyneth Paltrow in 'The Secret in their Eyes' Remake

A remake of the Oscar-winning Argentinian thriller The Secret in their Eyes has been in the works for years now, and recently we learned that it sounds absolutely nothing like the original. Oh well. What can you do, right? Anyway, with Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor set to lead the film it was always going to be vastly different from what came before, and now even the cast is evolving.

Gwyneth Paltrow had been on board for a supporting role in the film but she's now out and replaced by Nicole Kidman. So no drop-off there, which is a good thing. Juan Jose Campanella's 2010 film was a deep, complex mystery about a decades old crime left unsolved, an attorney's unrequited love for his boss, all set within Argentina's corrupt legal system. It was a beautiful film, but apparently this English-language version will be about an MI-5 agent working with the FBI to solve a murder.

No word on when writer/director Billy Ray plans to begin production. [THR]

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Julia Roberts Joins Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gwyneth Paltrow in 'The Secret in their Eyes' Remake

So how does one go about remaking a uniquely Argentinian Oscar-winning thriller into something that makes sense for American audiences? Well, the short answer is that you probably don't even try, but the approach taken by writer/director Billy Ray has been to stack his remake of The Secret in their Eyes with really big stars. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gwyneth Paltrow came aboard some months back, and now Julia Roberts is joining them.

Roberts us taking on a role specifically written for a male, but has since been rewritten just for her. Not only that, but the Boston production has now been moved to Los Angeles to accommodate her, which must be nice.  The American version of the story hardly resembles what Juan Jose Campanella gave us for years ago. The mystery/thriller has Ejiofor as an MI-5 agent working for the FBI to solve a murder and unearthing some difficult truths in the process. Campanella told a complex, layered story that commented on Argentina and its long history of corruption. Billy Ray may be able to recreate some of that for Los Angeles but it won't feel the same at all.

Filming is set to begin next month. [THR]

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Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gwyneth Paltrow to Headline 'The Secret In Their Eyes' Remake

Four years ago Juan Jose Campanella's Argentinian thriller The Secret In Their Eyes took home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, and it was richly deserved. The heavily thematic, haunting film combined elements of romance, mystery, and politics to make for an unforgettable experience, and so it was no surprise when word surface that Billy Ray (Shattered Glass, Breach) was planning to remake it. Other than Denzel Washington briefly flirting with the lead role some three years ago nothing ever came of it, but the project is very much alive and with two big stars coming aboard.

Oscar winners Chiwetel Ejiofor and and Gwyneth Paltrow are set to star in the film, with Billy Ray still writing and directing. The original story followed a judicial agent and a judge as they attempt to unearth the truth about a long-unsolved murder case. The new film will tweak the formula a little bit by having Ejiofor as an MI-5 agent who goes to work for the Boston FBI to solve the murder, discovering a shocking truth that sheds new light on the past.

The project is being shopped at Cannes and with those stars aboard it should have no problem lining up buyers. Here's hoping they can somehow replicate the intense soccer stadium scene from the first film. [THR]

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Denzel Washington may star in remake of The Secret In Their Eyes

Ahhh, the offer story. I typically hate them but in this case I feel  compelled, because it has to do with one of today's great actors who hasn't pushed himself in years: Denzel Washington. And it also involves the remake of one of the best foreign language films of the last few years: The Secret In Their Eyes. I've been hoping the film had died a quiet death since we hadn't heard anything since last October, but alas....

I had actually just finished talking to my good friend Tim Gordon about the American response to foreign films, and the subject of The Secret In Their Eyes came up. All it did was serve to remind how great Juan Jose Campanella's multi-layered, emotional crime thriller really was. So much so that I didn't really want to bring up that a remake had been announced last year with Bill Ray(Shattered Glass, Breach) writing and directing. We haven't heard squat about it until now, with Twitch reporting that Washington has been offered the lead role.

Now this doesn't mean Denzel will accept the job. In fact I'd be sorta surprised if he did. The reason I say that is because he hasn't taken on a film that would require him to really flex his acting muscles in a very long time. I bet those muscles have long since atrophied. The story revolves around an ex investigator, still racked with guilt and painful memories over an unsolved murder decades prior. While the film is a completely effective crime procedural, there's also a very mature love story. It also features one of the most dynamic chase scenes set in an arena during a soccer match.

I love Billy Ray. I love the source material. I hope this never happens. Not sure Denzel's the right fit, either. We'll see how this pans out.

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Billy Ray to direct remake of The Secret in Their Eyes

When The Secret in Their Eyes beat out The White Ribbon and A Prophet at the Academy Awards this past year, I was one of those who did a great big Scooby Doo "HUH??".  I hadn't even heard of Juan Campanella's thriller at that time. Why? Because it hadn't hit our shores yet. When it did and I finally saw it, I understood why it won, and there's a likelihood it'll end up on my Best Of list at the end of the year. It truly is a meserizing, rich experience.

Since it's a foreign film that's received universal acclaim of course we can't just leave it alone. It has to be remade. >sigh<  Deadline reports that Warner Brothers, who own the rights, have brought on Billy Ray(Breach) to direct.  Campanella will be serving as executive producer, so hopefully he'll keep this version as faithful to his vision as possible.

Then again I have complete faith in Billy Ray to pull this off. He's come a long way since he inflicted the heinous Bruce Willis thriller Color of Night on us back in 1994. Since that time he's written and directed two phenomenal films: the only good Hayden Christensen movie, Shattered Glass; and 2007's Breach. He's also been hired to pen the script for the film version of 24.  Expect him to find a way to write the script for The Secret in Their Eyes as well.

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