le-cercle-rouge

STV · 04/16/08 04:25PM

The Anti-Idea Train rolled inexorably closer to derailing today with word that Orlando Bloom is among principals involved in remaking Le Cercle Rouge, the great Jean-Pierre Melville heist film from 1970. We don't know what flip-flopped our stomachs more: the idea of the milquetoast Bloom slipping into the role of brooding French icon Alain Delon; or maybe the thoroughly incompatible Hong Kong crime auteur Johnnie To inheriting Melville's modest reins; or maybe it's just the mere thought that an English-language do-over flatly titled Red Circle will enter the stolid, stinking cosmos of Things That Make Us Sob Bitterly. We expected more from Gallic production giants Studio Canal, whose $40 million budget also covers co-stars Liam Neeson, Chow Yun-Fat and evidently enough insurance to cover the souls of all involved. Bob Weinstein would be sooooo proud. [THR]