Faye Dunaway rips on Hilary Duff’s “Bonnie and Clyde” remake

faye-dunaway-header

In the “Leave My Classic Films Alone” department, some Hollywood slimeballs thought it would be a great idea to do a remake of the Faye Dunaway/Warren Beatty classic crime caper, “Bonnie and Clyde.” As if that isn’t bad enough news, they also thought that the role of Bonnie Parker, played so brilliantly by Faye Dunaway, should belong to former Disney star/pop singer Hilary Duff. It’s enough to make you choke on your popcorn, right? Well, Dunaway – always one to speak her mind – didn’t hold back her opinion on this project when asked about it, questioning the need for a remake – and the unfortunate casting choice.

Quick! Can you think of any remake of great film classic that has been better than the original?

No, I didn’t think so.

That’s also reportedly the reaction of both Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway upon hearing about a new ”Bonnie & Clyde” in the works.

Hollywood sources tell me the two Oscar winners both said, ”Why?” upon hearing the news little-known director Tonya S. Holly will direct ”The Story of Bonnie and Clyde,” based on her own screenplay. Holly says her project was inspired not by the 1967 film, but by news clippings of the famous Depression-era outlaws, found in an abandoned house on her family’s property.

Learning her role as Bonnie Parker would be portrayed by Hilary Duff, Dunaway supposedly zinged, ”Couldn’t they at least cast a real actress?” Wow. Meow.

Beatty’s Clyde Barrow role will be played by Kevin Zegers, whose credits include ”The Jane Austen Book Club” and ”Transamerica.”

The original ”Bonnie & Clyde” received 10 Oscar nominations, but won only two — Estelle Parsons for best supporting actress and for cinematography.

[From the Chicago Sun-Times]

Now, I don’t have ESP or anything, but I’m not predicting 10 Oscar nominations for this remake, are you? And you just gotta love Faye’s reaction. Of course, in my head, she is still dressed like Joan Crawford and screaming this at the top of her lungs with a wire hanger in her hand. Yikes! But I couldn’t agree more. Aside from her “Lizzie McGuire Movie” that came out a million years ago, what’s Hilary Duff done to deserve this role?

Audience have typically rejected attempts to remake classic movies – recent remakes of “The Omen,” “Psycho” and “Amityville Horror” all got dismal reviews and nobody saw them. So, what gives? Why does anyone think this is a good idea? I’m sure there are plenty of struggling screenwriters out there with original ideas who are dying for a chance to get a movie made. Anything’s got to be better than Hilary Duff pretending to be a 1930s bank robber, right?

Faye Dunaway is shown looking fabulous at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, Sept. 2008. No more wire hangers! Photo credit: WENN.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

25 Responses to “Faye Dunaway rips on Hilary Duff’s “Bonnie and Clyde” remake”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Keekee says:

    Faye has definitely hit the nail on the head! WTH are they thinking with Hilary Duff? High School Musical Bonnie & Clyde?

  2. LT says:

    Hilary will fall on her Duff!

  3. What says:

    Noooo! I love Kevin Zegers, don’t pair him with Hilary Duff!!!

  4. Sauronsarmy says:

    Another remake?! Why?

  5. prissa says:

    Is it supposed to be a comedy? The idea of Duff in tha role is hilarious.

  6. Ash says:

    haha Oh snap Hilary.

  7. ticia says:

    and who is this old hag?! Real actress, haha look at yourself old woman!

  8. voodoobetty says:

    Ticia, I realise being the president of the Hilary Duff fan club means you are all of about 14 yrs old so I shall educate you on the fine actress which is Faya Dunaway. She is a tremendous Academy Award winning actress and has a very long illustrious film career including blockbusters like Chinatown, Network and Bonnie & Clyde. She has every right to be offended by Hollywood remaking a CLASSIC film which should not be touched and a casting choice which was made simply because the producers think Miss Duff kind of looks like Faye and will look cute in period clothes.

    You go Faye! Im so sad about this. B & C is my all time favourite film.

  9. KDRockstar says:

    Though I agree with the comments, they are very particular about saying it is *not* a remake. It’s a comedic version. It’s like saying all of the Jesse James movies are the same.

  10. Baholicious says:

    A comedic remake…right, because the sociopaths that were Bonnie and Clyde is just such a hilarious topic.

    What’s next? ‘Charles Starkweather Spree Killer – The Musical?’

  11. Sauronsarmy says:

    voodoobetty: How did you forget one of the greatest movies ever made, Mommy Dearest?!

  12. Baholicious says:

    “No. Wire. HANGERS!!”

  13. boomchakaboom says:

    God,Baho. That is my absolute favorite statement. Faye Dunaway was freakin’ brilliant as Joan Crawford. Timeless, as they say.

  14. Ned says:

    Dunaway is absolutely right.

    Hilary Duff can’t act, and it’s disrespect to the audience.

  15. daisy424 says:

    B&C is one of my all time favorites.
    What a talented cast; Dunaway, Beatty, Parsons, Pollard & Hackman were perfect in their roles. It cannot be topped, ever.

    If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

  16. SeVen says:

    Hilary got owned.

  17. tigerlille says:

    Faye is still a beauty. They just don’t make them like that anymore, except perhaps Angelina.

  18. Cinderella says:

    The fact that they’re even casting Hilary in this role is comical itself.

  19. xiaoecho says:

    Couldn’t see anywhere it said the remake would be a comedy!!! – THAT would be wrong wrong wrong…….that said, get over yourselves Beatty and Dunaway. Being a B+C nut I can say that while the 60’s movie was stylish it was by no means a faithful rendition of their life and crimes by a long shot. I am looking forward to this movie, Duff is the right age to play Bonnie and who’s to say she couldn’t pull out the acting chops with the right director? She hasn’t been tested yet.

  20. Ron says:

    They remake everything every 30-40 years. New audience. The audience that watched the original B & C ,which would be MY parents, are now in their 60’s. I am 43 and I didn’t see this movie until VHS. It doesn’t seem like kids are ever really interested in the classics. Maybe they wil look into it now that there is all this kafuffle. In regards to Faye’s comment, I coudln’t agree more. Hillary Duff?? Was Raven Simone not available?

  21. Annie says:

    You know, I’m all for giving some people the benefit of the doubt….but not when you’re massacring classics here.

    And to those who have the gall to trash Dunaway…..I’m guessing you fall in the Tween-teen range? Evidently you aren’t aware of the fact that she has made countless award winning movies and is considered iconic in her own right.

  22. fabulous says:

    Nooooooo….While it is true that some classic movies/tv shows etc, etc do become ‘dated’ not all of them do. Willy Wonka was a case in point and so is this. I watched B&C a couple of months ago and it is STILL great.

    The studios should be re-promoting classic films to a new audience instead of automatically remaking them. Just because its got CGI or some TV/crossover actor in it doesn’t make it better.

  23. David says:

    Also, Little Big Man. It has a bath sequence – Faye Dunaway giving Dustin Hoffman a bath – that is as good as it gets.

  24. gg says:

    Dunaway and Beatty et al. were brilliant in Bonnie and Clyde. That’s one of my very favorite movies. Favorite scene is where they make the other couple strip naked and drive off with their car.

  25. Hi there, I found your blog by the use of Google whilst looking for a related matter, your site came up, it looks great. I’ve bookmarked to my favourites|added to my bookmarks.