If you hear the howls of the remake klaxon blaring in the distance, it’s because Sony and **Fast & Furious **franchise producer Neal Moritz have just snagged the English-language remake rights to Jacques Audiard’s **A Prophet.
The deservedly acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2010 original saw Tahar Rahim as Malik El Djebena, an illiterate French-Arab teen sent down for six years and initiated into the prison’s criminal underworld. A fast learner, he soon starts to plot his rapid rise through the violent and brutal inmate hierarchy to become a formidable player.
Moritz hopes that the new version can live up to the stellar standards of the original. “This is an epic crime saga with compelling characters and original storytelling,” he said in a statement picked up by Variety. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to make an English-language version of the film and I am grateful to have the trust of Jacques Audiard and his producers.” Presumably he won’t be having Vin Diesel jump out of a speeding car across a bridge to catch a flailing Michelle Rodriguez in this one.
There’s no word on who’ll be tasked with writing or directing, but we’re pretty certain it’ll need a lot of luck - arriving via a mysterious deer, perhaps - to improve on what came before.