A ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ Remake Is Coming—Here’s Everything We Know So Far!
Fans of the 1968 Dick Van Dyke classic are buzzing—here’s what we know about the reimagined version!
Just in time for Dick Van Dyke’s 99th birthday today, news broke of a film remake that fans of the actor are sure to thrill at. As reported by Deadline, a new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film is in the works—and fans of this 1968 heartwarming classic are anxiously anticipating what this reimagined version will look like. Here, read everything there is to know about the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang remake!
What is ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ about?
This beloved family film follows the character of Caractacus Potts, played by Dick Van Dyke, who is an imaginative inventor trying to provide for his two children, Jeremy and Jemima. When the youngsters discover a dilapidated race car destined to be scrapped, Caractacus jumps through hoops to acquire it for them. Working on the car and bringing it back to life, its restoration allows them to enjoy a trip to the beach in which the wealthy Truly Scrumptious accompanies them. While there, Caractacus shares a story of adventure, intrigue and excitement with the film’s namesake vehicle at the center of the plot that makes for one of the most beloved musical films of all time.
What to expect from the upcoming remake
At this point, not many details are known about the remake of the film. As of right now, Eon Productions in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios are working on the very early stages of the movie right now, with Deadline reporting that at this time, writers and directors are being pursued for it.
As writers and directors for the film are still being explored, we likely won’t know who will be bringing the main characters to life for quite some time. In the original film, in addition to Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes led as Truly Scrumptious, Heather Ripley starred as Jemima Potts, Adrian Hall starred as Jeremy Potts and Lionel Jeffries starred as Grandpa Potts. Being that actors like Sally Ann Howes and Lionel Jeffries have since passed and Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall have seemingly stepped out of the limelight, it’s hard to say whether we’ll see any of the original cast members in the remake—but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still hoping!
Dick Van Dyke’s memories of the original film
Though the film is beloved by many, Dick Van Dyke revealed in his 2012 memoir, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, that in the grand scheme of his career, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fell short. He recalled in the book that he had turned the movie down multiple times, as the producer was hoping to pair him and Julie Andrews up again on-screen to recreate their Mary Poppins magic. Eventually, a large sum of money convinced him to change his mind with a few stipulations.
“I didn’t want to reprise my English accent, which I’d struggled with in Mary Poppins. Not a problem. My character was suddenly an eccentric American inventor.” As filming went on, some events left a sour taste in the actor’s mouth, such as the producer docking his pay when he flew home for a few days to be with his wife as she was undergoing tests to determine if she had cervical cancer. In the end, though the film is revered by the masses, Van Dyke concluded, “I know the film is beloved by many but for me it lacked the magic of Mary Poppins, which its producer had hoped to emulate.”
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