Can Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca match the delirious intensity of Hitchcock’s classic?

The new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel, due out on Netflix this autumn, stars Armie Hammer and Lily James but it’s unlikely to uncover fresh insights, says Geoffrey Macnab

Armie Hammer and Lily James in Ben Wheatley’s ‘Rebecca’ which is out on Netflix in October (Netflix)

Whenever there are new screen adaptations of familiar stories that have been filmed successfully several times before, questions are always raised as to why they are being made. Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca was the source for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Oscar winner starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. This was Hitchcock’s first movie in the US and was a runaway success. Since then, Rebecca has also been adapted for TV several times.

In recent weeks, the director and stars of the latest version of Rebecca, which is due to launch on Netflix in October, have been trying hard to put a clear distance between their film and its predecessors. They’ve insisted they are not slavishly following in Hitchcock’s footsteps. The usual arguments have been mustered that Du Maurier’s novel needed a modern-day “makeover” as if it had become as draughty and cob-webbed as Manderley itself, the imposing English country house in which much of the story is set.

The new film is scripted by Jane Goldman, whose credits include Kingsman, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and The Woman in Black. It’s produced by Working Title, the company behind Bridget Jones, and is directed by Ben Wheatley, best known for his horror films and thrillers, including 2012’s Sightseers and 2015’s High-Rise.