In a twist worthy of its title, Christopher Nolan‘s “Memento” is being remade by independent AMBI Pictures, which acquired the remake rights from Exclusive Media Group in September, the company announced Monday.
A representative for AMBI Pictures could not tell TheWrap whether AMBI Pictures had received Nolan’s blessing, and the director’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, an insider told TheWrap that AMBI Pictures did reach out to Nolan, but they never heard back from him.
Though AMBI Pictures does control the remake rights, it’s unlikely the company would move forward without the consent of Nolan, who is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Would an A-list star risk angering the director by taking a role in an unauthorized (at least from a creative standpoint) remake?
Not only was “Memento” Nolan’s breakout film, it was also a family affair, as he adapted the script from his brother Jonathan Nolan’s short story “Memento Mori.” The non-chronological film starred Guy Pearce as an amnesiac.
“Memento” premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and grossed nearly $40 million at the box office. It also received Oscar nominations for screenplay and editing.
AMBI, which acquired the Exclusive Media Group film library this fall, just announced a new $200 milllion film fund last week. Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino are anchor investors in the fund along with New York based private equity firm Raven Capital Management.
“‘Memento’ has been consistently ranked as one of the best films of its decade. People who’ve seen ‘Memento’ 10 times still feel they need to see it one more time. This is a quality that we feel really supports and justifies a remake. The bar is set high thanks to the brilliance or Christopher Nolan, but we wouldn’t want it any other way,” said Iervolino.
AMBI’s film slate includes James Franco‘s “In Dubious Battle,” featuring Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris and Bryan Cranston; and “Septembers of Shiraz” starring Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody. It recently completed sales at the American Film Market on the romantic comedy “All Roads Lead to Rome” starring Sarah Jessica Parker.