'Princess Bride' star says remaking the film 'would be a pity'

Erin Donnelly
·Yahoo Life Senior Editor
Updated

Remake The Princess Bride? Inconceivable!

So says actor Cary Elwes, who played swashbuckling heartthrob Westley in the beloved 1987 Rob Reiner film, which was adapted by William Goldman from his 1973 novel of the same name.

Elwes and countless fans of the cinematic fairy tale — including Jamie Lee Curtis, who happens to be married to actor Christopher Guest, a.k.a. Count Tyrone Rugen, the “six-fingered man” — are speaking out after Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra hinted at a potential reboot.

Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in 1987's The Princess Bride. (Photo: 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection)
Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in 1987's The Princess Bride. (Photo: 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection)

The Hollywood executive referenced the film in a Variety profile about Sony’s new deal with 97-year-old super-producer Norman Lear, who helped produce and fund The Princess Bride thanks in part to his past work with Reiner on All in the Family; the actor-turned-director played Archie Bunker’s hippie son-in-law “Meathead.”

“We have so many people coming to us saying, ‘We want to remake this show or that show,’” Vinciquerra said of Lear’s extensive body of work. “Very famous people whose names I won’t use, but they want to redo The Princess Bride. Some people want to do animated versions of some of the sitcoms. Not a month goes by when we don’t have an idea coming from some very big name wanting to do things with [Lear].”

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 02: (L-R) Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Rob Reiner, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Carol Kane, and Billy Crystal attend the 25th anniversary screening & cast reunion of "The Princess Bride" during the 50th New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on October 2, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Cast members, including Elwes, Wright, Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Shawn, Kane and Crystal, gathered to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2012. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

To be clear, a potential reboot of The Princess Bride — which also starred Robin Wright, André the Giant, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Wallace Shawn, Fred Savage, Peter Falk and Mandy Patinkin — remains just wishful thinking at this stage. But even the suggestion that the ‘80s classic would be touched has Elwes, Curtis and countless fans crying foul.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest critics of a proposed reboot is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has devoted multiple tweets to the movie he calls “the greatest thing in the world.”

As you wish, Ted. As you wish.

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