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Princess Bride star Cary Elwes leads protests against potential remake: ‘It would be a pity’

Sony Pictures CEO confirmed that ‘very famous people’ wish to reboot the classic fantasy film

Adam White
Wednesday 18 September 2019 12:49 BST
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(Sony Pictures Entertainment)

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An unexpected collection of stars have called on Sony Pictures not to remake the classic romantic fantasy movie The Princess Bride.

Actor Jamie Lee Curtis, former US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz and the film’s original star Cary Elwes have all taken to Twitter following confirmation from Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra that “very famous people” wish to revive the 1987 cult classic.

Speaking in a tribute to the film’s producer Norman Lear for Variety, Vinciquerra said that the success of the 97-year-old’s recent Netflix comedy One Day at a Time had revived interest in producers and filmmakers seeking to remake his back catalogue.

“We have so many people coming to us saying, ‘We want to remake this show or that show,’” Vinciquerra said. “Very famous people whose names I won’t use, but they want to redo The Princess Bride. Some people want to do animated versions of some of the sitcoms. Not a month goes by when we don’t have an idea coming from some very big name wanting to do things with Norman.”

In response, actor Cary Elwes, who played Westley in the Rob Reiner-directed film, tweeted: “There’s a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one.”

Jamie Lee Curtis, who is married to “six-fingered villain” Count Rugen actor Christopher Guest, also tweeted: “Oh really? Well, I married the six fingered man, obviously why we have stayed together for 35 years, and there is only ONE The Princess Bride and it’s William Goldman and Rob Reiner’s.”

Seth Rogen, in a response to a comic tweet asking whether he was the “very famous” person seeking to remake the film, confirmed: “I would never dare.”

Catfish star Nev Schulman suggested in a tweet: “Here’s an idea: Don’t spend any money making a new movie that will suck and just re-release the original.”

And even stranger, the one-time US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz reacted with horror to the possible reboot, quoting a famous line from the film. “NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” he tweeted. “Sonny, The Princess Bride is the greatest thing in the world – except for a nice MLT, mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that. DON’T MESS WITH PERFECTION.”

The Princess Bride starred Elwes as a lonely farmhand who seeks to rescue his beloved Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) from the clutches of Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). A modest success upon release in 1987, it has since become a beloved cult classic.

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