Paramount Plans Remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion

If you aren't familiar with the 1932 psychological thriller Before the Fact by Francis Iles — a pen name used by Anthony Berkeley — you might recognize the film adapted from it: Suspicion (1941), directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, who received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in 1942.

Today we're learning that Paramount wants to remake the film, with The Killing's showrunner Veena Sud writing the screenplay.

Often called one of the finest studies of murder ever written, Before the Fact tells the tale of wealthy but plain Lina Mclaidlaw, who marries the charming and feckless Johnny Aysgarth against the advice of her father. Lina is certain she can change him for the better, until she is forced to acknowledge that he is a compulsive liar, a crook and a murderer. But still she loves him, while fearing she will inevitably become one of his victims.

Sud disappointed fans of The Killing by not revealing "Who killed Rosie Larsen?" at the end of the the series first season, as was widely expected and all but promised … especially given the promotional poster released by the network. Let's hope that if a remake of Suspicion moves forward she does a better job not only meeting, but exceeding, our expectations, something she spectacularly failed to do with The Killing. (For those viewers who may have forgiven Sud, the second season of The Killing begins April 1st, 2012 on AMC, with an explicit promise by the network to identify Rosie Larsen's killer, though not until the end of the season.)

(Related article: The Hollywood Reporter.)