In a plot twist almost as shocking as one of his films, German director Michael Haneke has been lured to Hollywood to remake Funny Games, his 1997 film about cinematic violence.
Now before you cry Judas and wring your hands in despair, this isn't the usual exploitation of European talent - which usually ends in a sanitized version of their work, obliterating all memory of past glories and ending their career with a whimper rather than a bang. (Stand up George Sluizer).
No, in this new version the director is very much in control. In fact it's a shot for shot remake with only one startling change; it's in English.
Apparently the intended audience for the film, young men with a penchant for grisly screen violence can't read. Sorry, I should have said won't read…subtitles.
This may be a noble deed by the taciturn Haneke, but I can't help thinking all his hard work will be in vain. I'm sure the kind of people who refuse to watch foreign films and enjoy graphic scenes of torture, won't really get on with his intellectually obtuse style of filmmaking.
Still he may connect with that other section of the cinema-going public, those who like watching Naomi Watts in her underwear.
Now…where did I put that golf club?