The Fly remake in the works - as if David Cronenberg's version can be topped

Fox is in negotiations with J.D. Dillard to direct, whose debut Sleight made waves at last year's Sundance Film Festival

One oddly misguided approach to remakes that studios seem so insistent on is taking a director's most iconic, visually original film - and then thinking someone else can magically top it.

Only recently, Warner Bros. revealed it was rebooting The Matrix, the Wachowskis' style-defining film that made the 'bullet time'-style camerawork an obsession of every director attempting to make their action picture "edgy", along with sparking that slightly regretful early '00s trend for ankle-length leather coats.

Now, Deadline reports Fox is negotiations with J.D. Dillard, whose directorial debut Sleight made a big impression on last year's Sundance crowds, to direct a new take on The Fly; also penning the script alongside writing partner Alex Theurer.

Admittedly, this will be the third remake of the tale of a scientist who mutates into a grotesque human-fly hybrid; yet Kurt Neumann's 1958 version has largely been lost in the cinematic canon, overshadowed by David Cronenberg's 1986 version with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.

A film that many consider Cronenberg's best and most famous work, and the project that crowned him in the eyes of some as the true king of body-horror.

Dillard's Sleight certainly made waves at Sundance, blending sci-fi and street magic into a tense thriller about a young magician's attempt to save his kidnapped sister with the use of his acquired skills; but he'll need a completely original, exciting take on the classic if Fox's new version of The Fly has any hope of making a splash.

There's no word on when the film may be released.