Kate, Joan and Zombies

This week it was announced Kate Winslet was attached to a television miniseries adaptation of Mildred Pierce, most likely for HBO, written and directed by Todd Haynes (story at Variety). Many on the web are already complaining about remaking a classic film, but I am actually looking forward to the project. I love the original 1945 film. If I were to ever do a ranking of the top 100 films, I would include it on my list, and I love Joan Crawford's brilliant performance as Mildred, but the television miniseries doesn't scare me, as it's not so much a remake of the film but rather another adaptation of the novel by James M. Cain. Plus it will be written and directed by Todd Haynes. The man's responsible for Safe, Velvet Goldmine, I'm Not There and Far From Heaven, so I have full faith in him doing the project right. I do wonder about the casting of Kate Winslet. Though I believe her to be a great actress, she has a different screen presense than Crawford. How exactly will Haynes and Winslet interpret the character of Mildred? Hmm?

In other television news, AMC is in talks with writer/director Frank Darabont to create a television series based upon the graphic novel series The Walking Dead, about a group of people trying to survive in a world filled with zombies (Variety). The project sounds promising aside from the involvement of Frank Darabont. Having seen The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, I have to say I'm not a big fan of Darabont's work, but I didn't see his adaptation of The Mist, which is perhaps closest in tone to the zombie project. Perhaps horror influenced drama is his strong suit and I don't realize it. Either way I'm happy about the direction AMC is going, becoming a home for a wide variety of projects.