The hype was real when it was announced a certain 2018 Danish drama film brought to life by Gustav Möller was receiving a fresh interpretation. The hype was kicked up a notch shortly thereafter, when Netflix confirmed it had acquired the project before it was even made for a cool $30 million. Today, the hype factor has once again spiked as the world receives a tense trailer of The Guilty remake – directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), written by Nic Pizzolatto (creator of True Detective), and starring Jake Gyllenhaal (no introduction necessary).
The story follows sidelined police officer Joe Bayler (portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal) who finds himself working at an emergency dispatch. Bayler receives a distressed 911 call from a cryptic woman named Emily who has ostensibly been kidnapped by her husband, as previewed in the footage provided. Bound to his station, over the course of a single morning, he must remotely “marshall the resources at his disposal” to save the kidnapped woman over the course of a single morning without ever leaving. But Bayler soon discovers nothing is quite as it seems, and facing the truth “is the only way out.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to work with Antoine again,” Jake Gyllenhaal stated last year, in reference to having previously collaborated with Antoine Fuqua for Southpaw.
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“Our time together on Southpaw was one of the great artistic experiences of my career, and I cannot wait to be back on set with him again. The Guilty is a special story, and one that we all feel very close to.”
Principal photography kicked off in Los Angeles circa November of 2020, adding the likes of Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Bill Burr, Byron Bowers, Christina Vidal, Adrian Martinez, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Beau Knapp, and more to the cast. As world premiere is currently scheduled sometime next month at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, before copping a limited release (conventional) on September 24th and eventually hitting Netflix on October 1st (streaming).
For context, the original version of The Guilty caught a fair bit of attention at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, before releasing to widespread critical acclaim. A taut, tense, and intelligent instance of modern cinema, not to be that wanker, but I highly recommend checking it out before delving into the US remake.
Hopefully, the dream team of Fuqua, Pizzolatto, and Gyllenhaal can do the source material justice. And based on what we’ve heard/seen/read so far, they may very well be on track to recapture lightning in a bottle.
Check out the Netflix trailer for The Guilty remake above – and while you’re at it, give the original a play below.
