I have my TiVo set to to record any Billy Wilder movie that comes on TV, and I think that the film that gets played the most is Witness for the Prosecution (I also have it taping any Scorsese, and Cape Fear seems to be on like weekly). Maybe some studio chief stumbled on the film’s endless airings on TCM and that led him to initiate a remake.
The remake was announced way back in December of 2004, but I think most of us were too dazed by the reelection of W to take notice. Now the project is back in gear, and apparently Nicole Kidman is looking to star. And director Michael Radford is attached to direct – I assume Pacino brought the project up to him while they were working on Merchant of Venice together (also known as The Shakespeare Movie That Has Titties, But Not As Nice As Olivia Hussey’s in Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet).
The movie is based on an Agatha Christie play, and it’s about a hotshot criminal defense lawyer who is defending a man on trial for murder. He thinks that the man’s wife will testify for him, but it turns out that she goes to the prosecution’s side, and it tests the lawyer’s most formidable skills. I have seen this played out on many, many TV courtroom drama, but none of them had Pacino. Although frankly, it would be better for Pacino to start doing Law & Order before he takes on another movie of the Two for the Money level of quality.