Two decades ago, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker was riding a wave of success following his work on David Fincher’s indelible thriller Se7en, quickly becoming one of the most sought-after scribes in Hollywood. His follow-up, 8MM, left much to be desired. Picked up and directed by Tigerland helmer Joel Schumacher, Walker’s treatment was transformed into a thriller that didn’t hold a candle to the intensity of Fincher’s breakout noir hit. But that hasn’t dampened the writer’s interest in the 1999 crime drama.
Original starring Nicholas Cage as a private eye on the case of a most mysterious snuff film, Schumacher’s low-key picture also featured Joaquin Phoenix in one of his earlier forays into cinema. In hindsight, 8MM is a startlingly dark thriller, dipping its toe into the underbelly of illegal pornography without batting an eyelid – particularly for a studio movie.
Now, more than 15 years later, Walker harbors some interest in revisiting the tale of Cage’s Tom Welles via a bona fide remake. In an interview with The Guardian, the scribe revealed that despite the poor execution of the ’99 original, there are still plenty of promising elements within 8MM that could be extracted with the retelling.
It was such an inherently depressing experience that the very least I can do is protect myself from the miserable experience of actually watching it. Here’s this movie with my name on it and, just from the trailers I’ve seen, there are lines I don’t want to take credit for. ‘You dance with the devil, the devil don’t change, the devil changes you.’ That wasn’t my favorite thing. One of the things I’m realizing is how inherently unsatisfying the career of screenwriter can be.
At the time, both Cage and Phoenix played off one another remarkably well, and it would be a tough question of finding two similar actors that could channel a similar chemistry. Finally, Walker also took time to talk to Voxx about the possible remake, and how it’s almost inevitable that Se7en will be rebooted in some shape or form, claiming that “half-jokingly my reaction would be, why don’t we leave Seven alone and I think it’s time to go re-make 8MM, which I would love to do.”
