‘Lord of the Flies’ Is Returning With a Major Twist You Never Expected

An adaptation of Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s classical novel about a group of young boys stranded on a remote island, is imminent. But this time, it’s returning to theater screens with a twist… An all-female cast.   Scott McGehee and David Siegel, known for directing Bee Season and What Maisie Knew, will act as both screenwriters and directors for the remake.   Scott McGehee (left), David Siege / Images Courtesy of Variety    This book-to-screen effort definitely won’t be the first time that Golding’s work has been adapted for our viewing pleasure. In 1963, Peter Brook was the first film director who …

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An adaptation of Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s classical novel about a group of young boys stranded on a remote island, is imminent. But this time, it’s returning to theater screens with a twist…
An all-female cast.

 

Scott McGehee and David Siegel, known for directing Bee Season and What Maisie Knew, will act as both screenwriters and directors for the remake.

 

Getty Images Scott McGehee (left), David Siege

Scott McGehee (left), David Siege / Images Courtesy of Variety 

 

This book-to-screen effort definitely won’t be the first time that Golding’s work has been adapted for our viewing pleasure. In 1963, Peter Brook was the first film director who successfully turned the novel into a film. In 1990, Harry Hook worked with Warner Bros to produce another remake.

 

Via Timetoast

Via Timetoast

Siegel informed Deadline:

 

“We want to do a very faithful but contemporized adaptation of the book, but our idea was to do it with all girls rather than boys. It is a timeless story that is especially relevant today, with the interpersonal conflicts and bullying, and the idea of children forming a society and replicating the behavior they saw in grownups before they were marooned.”

 

Moreover, McGehee said that the subject matter “is aggressively suspenseful, and taking the opportunity to tell it in a way it hasn’t been told before, with girls rather than boys, is that it shifts things in a way that might help people see the story anew. It breaks away from some of the conventions, the ways we think of boys and aggression. People still talk about the movie and the book from the standpoint of pure storytelling,” he said.

 

Whether this is an effort to reinforce gender equality or a decision entirely motivated by issues of style, Warner Bros’ employment of an all-female cast has attracted criticism on social media platforms, but not for the reasons you might think. While all-female remakes often attract sexist backlash, leading feminists are weighing in with negative comments about a female Lord of the Flies.

 

Author Roxane Gay questioned on Twitter whether the same occurrences would take place had there been a group of girls.

 

Rachel Syme, writer at the New Yorker, commented that:

 

Feminist author Jessica Valenti displayed a lack of approval on this matter as well:

 

Other humorous commentaries include:

 

Intriguing as it sounds, this is not the first gender-flipping film in Hollywood. For instance, Lionsgate recently announced that St. Vincent will direct a female-led reboot of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. At this point, no one can guarantee success or failure. With a group of female actresses McGehee and Siege may succeed in taking innovative approaches that enhance our perception of Golding’s timeless classic.

 

Feature Image Courtesy of Janus Films

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