David Cronenberg's The Fly headed for the opera

David Cronenberg is. The Canadian sci-fi/horror master will direct a new version of his cult smash to open the season at the Los Angeles Opera in September. Several of the players behind the 1986 freak-out, centered on an oddball scientist who accidentally turns himself into a human insect, will reunite for the production, including composer Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings).

With a three-decade library of storied horror titles behind him, Cronenberg has often been faced with the prospect of revisiting his films for a new generation. Even though The Fly itself was a remake, he’s never been enthusiastic about remakes of his movies. But he said the appeal to revisit The Fly lied in the promise to work in a new medium—and, effectively, to tell a new story. “I didn’t want to remake the movie,” Cronenberg said. “I didn’t want to rewrite the screenplay again. This production has a power and charisma all its own.”

The buzz (see what we did there?) from the opera’s brief premiere stint in Paris in July was not great—some French critics turned up their noses—and even opera veteran Plácido Domingo, the production’s conductor, acknowledged that the idea didn’t seem like much to him at first. Asked if he was always ready to take on the project, he responded diplomatically: “I was a little skeptical about the subject. The Fly? I said, ‘Well, how is it going to be reading for an opera?’”

He added that Shore's new score sold him, but whatever the case, the opera gives fans of Cronenberg’s creative evolution something to look forward to when it opens next month. In the meantime, get excited with the sublimely retro trailer (mildly NSFW) for the 1986 movie here.

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