What do the original content kings at Netflix have under their hat next? How about a remake of the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie Harvey? In the original film, Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, an eccentric fellow who claims he can see an invisible 6 foot tall rabbit named Harvey. Needless to say, everyone thinks he’s nuts.
The Harvey remake is written by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss. The original film, based on Mary Chase’s play of the same name, was a hit with both audiences and critics when it was released. And this Netflix take on the material won’t be the first remake. In 1996, the late magician and actor Harry Anderson starred in an updated Harvey made for TV. For a while, Steven Spielberg hoped to make a remake of his own – first with Tom Hanks, and then later with Robert Downey Jr. It never got off the ground.
Here’s the original film’s synopsis:
The classic stage hit gets the Hollywood treatment in the story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.
