Before he introduced everyone to an amazing new take on the world of Batman, Christopher Nolan wowed audiences and critics with his memory-bending psychological thriller Memento. Now, though, a new generation of viewers will have decidedly different memories of the film because AMBI Pictures has announced plans to finance and produce a remake of Nolan’s second feature film.
AMBI Pictures gained the rights to the movie as part of their acquisition of a 400-title library from Exclusive Media Group. The original film followed a man with a unique form of memory loss as he tried to piece together clues and solve his wife’s murder. The film is considered an indie success for its unconventional form of storytelling, and was nominated for both Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the Academy Awards.
Owned by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi, The AMBI Group just recently announced the launch of a $200 million film fund with Raven Capital Management to establish AMBI Pictures as a small-but-powerful production company. The $200 million would be split and used to fund several high-end film projects. It is safe to say Memento will be the first of those films, but that still remains to be seen.
In my humble opinion, remaking a film that is as beloved by film fans and filmmakers as Memento is not the way to win a company favor right out of the gate. The market has been flooded with remakes and reboots for a long time, and they haven’t become any less stale at this point. To take a film that was praised for its bold originality and unorthodox style, and just do the same thing again will not recapture the magic it cast the first time. This is especially true when the film is only 15-years-old, and was already an Oscar contender.
What do you all think on the subject? Are you ready for a Memento remake? Who should star in it and who should direct? Let us know in the comments below.
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Featured Image – AMBI
Matt Delhauer is a freelance writer for Nerdist.com. Be sure to follow his musings on Twitter @MattDelhauer
