While we're sure there are those who aren't happy that someone has remade 1973 prison break drama Papillon, the plan has actually been to re-work the idea and try to make something that feels fresh. The update, directed by Michael Noer, features Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malik is ready for the world to see it, and the first pictures are now online.
Prisoners writer Aaron Guzikowski wrote the script, once again based on a memoir by Henri “Papillon” Charriere, played in the original by Steve McQueen and here by Hunnam. It tells the story of his life as a petty criminal in 1930s France who is unjustly convicted of murder and sent packing to a penal colony that has a bad reputation for violence and corruption.
It’s there that Charriere meets the nerdy but wealthy Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman in '73, Malek here), who in return for protection agrees to fund his friend’s prison escape.
With Eve Hewson, Ian Beattie and Tommy Flanagan also in the cast, we'll find out how the new one is received when it debuts at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. There's no sign of a release date for the UK yet.
