Why revisit — remake, reboot, reimagine, whatever label you want to use — stories that have already been told? Why not invest that same energy into original ideas and fresh stories audiences haven’t seen before?
According to Deadline, A24 and Zac Efron are teaming up again for an HBO “reimagining” of “Angel Heart,” based on William Hjortsberg’s book “Fallen Angel,” which was already turned into a 1987 Alan Parker-directed film starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro.
Efron is attached to star — he already teamed up, quite successfully, with A24 on Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw,” released in 2023. Writer Zach Baylin (“Black Rabbit”) will pen the series. Director Jonathan van Tulleken (“Shogun”) will direct multiple episodes.
The new “Angel Heart” adaptation has a struggling New York City paparazzo who specializes in tracking people who want to stay hidden. After being hired by a mysterious figure to locate a missing woman, he uncovers what appears to be a conspiracy involving powerful elites and potentially supernatural forces.
The goal is to keep the noir-horror atmosphere of the original while modernizing it for contemporary audiences.
That 1987 “Angel Heart,” set in New Orleans, has become a sort of cult classic. It failed to initially find an audience, was panned by critics, garnered controversy over its graphic content — including an original X rating before edits secured an R rating — but has since been reassessed by a cultish fandom.