Short Straw

James Marsden is set to star in a remake of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs.--a 1971 classic thriller says The Hollywood Reporter.

Rod Lurie's gonna write and will direct the new version which starred Dustin Hoffman.

Both films are based on the novel "The Siege Of Trencher's Farm" by Gordon Williams.

The new version takes the action from rural England to a small town in the deep South where Californian screenwriter David Sumner (Marsden) moves with his wife. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, leading to a violent confrontation.

The first time I saw the original was one of my film classes in college I was stunned it's not for the timid...

This is one of Peckinpah's greatest films..

'The first Dogs' was very controversial in its time for the extended scene in which the wife is raped by 2 men

Cuts were made for distribution to reduce the duration of the sequence and removed much of the second rape....

In the UK the film was banned between 1984 and 2002 due to this sequence.

Beyond his good guy roles in comic book films and rom-coms Marsden has continued to take chances with his career of late with comic turns in movies like Hairspray and Enchanted and even playing against type in the more fun than expected Sex Drive.

I'm certainly no fan of remaking my favorite films--But this one has me curious...Lurie is not known as a filmmaker who tones thing down... And I can't wait to see Marsden stretch himself even further... in a very dramatic role.

Filming is set to begin in August.