Erik Van Looy's LOFT Receives Second Remake In Three Years

In 2008 Belgian director Erik Van Looy - already quite well known on the international scene thanks to the success of his thriller The Alzheimer Case - created a massive sensation in his home country with the release of Loft. A sexy thriller about a group of friends who jointly maintain a secret apartment for trysts with their mistresses - one of whom turns up dead - the film was a monstrous hit at home. Given the type of content and the massive success, an international remake seemed inevitable. But even given the current hunger for proven commodities what has happened is a bit surprising.

In December of 2010 the first remake of Loft appeared, this one a Dutch affair directed by Antoinette Beumer. Public response seems to have been good - it currently has a 7+ rating on the IMDB - and it opened strong in third spot, behind the latest Harry Potter film and the local box office crusher New Kids Turbo.

But doing it again once was clearly not enough. It's happening again, this time in a US version with the action transposed to New Orleans and a surprising amount of Belgian talent on hand. Now in production, the US version features original director Van Looy at the helm with acclaimed Belgian cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis and original producer Hilde De Laere - who also oversaw the Dutch version - producing alongside American partners from Anonymous Content. Van Looy has even brought an original cast member over, with Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead) reprising the role of Filip, which he played in the original. Wentworth Miller, Karl Urban, James Marsden and Patrick Wilson round out the group of five friends.

So now we've got three versions of the same film made within three years of the release of the first. That has to be some sort of record.