When the Russian sci-fi film Sputnik was released last year, I, like many, assumed it was just another Alien ripoff. But after reading our writer’s review it became clear there was a lot more going on…
“Gratefully though, this is a surprisingly serious film that touches on themes of grief and fear. It shows us how going through a traumatic experience can change somebody for worse and how it can eat us alive.”
Oh shit, aiight then. Well, apparently we’re not alone in thinking there’s more to Sputnik than meets the eye, because The Batman and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves is on board to produce an English-language remake.
Deadline has the news of Reeves’ 6th & Idaho production label teaming with Village Roadshow on an American version of Sputnik. Set in the 1980s, the Russian film centered on a doctor who is assigned to assess a cosmonaut returned to Earth and may or may not have an alien creature living inside of him.
The original film was directed by Egor Abramenko but there’s no word on who will be handling this newer take on it.
Sputnik became a huge hit on digital platforms during the COVID-19 lockdown, ranking high among the most-rented movies on Apple TV. Fedor Bondarchuk, who produced and starred in the Russian film, notes that as one of the reasons there’s been such continued interest…
“‘Sputnik’ was the first big Russian release to go straight to digital platforms during the lockdown, everyone was staying at home and an unprecedented amount of people watched it, the release created a lot of buzz both in Russia and globally. I’m very proud that ‘Sputnik’ now is a rare Russian film to get an English language remake.”
