Remake of 'The Night Of The Hunter' in the works

MUMBAI: A remake of the 1955 classic thriller "The Night Of The Hunter", starring Robert Mitchum and Shelly Winters, is under development in Hollywood.

Universal Pictures will remake the film that was adapted from Davis Grubb's novel of the same name, reports variety.com. The script of the remake is being penned by Matt Orton, and although very little has been revealed about the project yet, it is expected to be a contemporary version of the original thriller rather than a period piece.

The film follows a religious fanatic, con man and murderer, who marries a widow knowing that her deceased husband hid $10,000 from authorities following a bank robbery. The widow's children are reluctant to tell him where their late father hid the money and the man plots more sinister ways to find the cash.

The 1955 version was declared the second-best film of all time after "Citizen Kane" by the prestigious film magazine Cahiers du cinema.

The novel and film were inspired by the real-life account of Harry Powers who was hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in West Virginia.

Directed by Charles Laughton, the original was considered controversial at the time, due to its dark themes including Mitchum's character preying on young children.

The remake will be produced by Peter Gethers alongside Amy Pascal, who will produce through her Universal-based Pascal Pictures.

Writer Matt Orton previously wrote 2018's "Operation Finale", a historical drama starring Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley. Since then, Orton has written "Battle of Britain" and is currently working on "Knights", a live action family film for Disney Plus.