Paramount Pictures acquires rights for Vertigo remake – Robert Downey Jr. eyeing lead role

Paramount Pictures is crafting a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic, Vertigo, with Marvel star Robert Downey Jr. set to play the leading role.

According to a Deadline exclusive, the Hollywood studio has given the psychological thriller the go-ahead, working with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight to draft the script. This news comes days after Knight was reported signing onto the new Star Wars film, following the departure of writers Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.

Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox are set to produce the film alongside Susan and Robert Downey Jr, the latter of who is in talks to play the film's lead, former police detective John "Scottie" Ferguson.

Vertigo, based on the French novel D’entre les morts, sees Ferguson hired as a PI to follow the movements of his friends wife, Madeleine Elster, who he believes is behaving erratically. The job pulls Ferguson into a complex mystery which he must untangle while dealing with his own complicated romantic life and severe vertigo, a condition acquired after watching a colleague fall to their death.

Paramount was home to the original film adaptation, starring James Stewart, making it the Hitchcock Estate's favourite choice for the modern remake. The original received mixed reviews upon release but eventually received classic status, making In Sight & Sound’s most recent poll on the top films ever made. Vertigo made the second place slot, trailing behind Chantal Ackerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.