Spaced director angry at US remake

Spaced director Edgar Wright has launched a furious attack on the TV executives remaking the comedy for American audiences.

Wright said he was 'infuriated’ about the plan, which he feels may damage the reputation of the original series – especially as he knew nothing about until he read about it in the press.

He added that his friend Simon Pegg, who co-created the show with Jessica Stevenson (now Hynes), 'would like nothing more than to pull the plug' on the remake for the Fox network.

Yet despite Wright knowing nothing of the plans, the American producers touted his name in connection with the project.

Writing on his MySpace blog, the director said: 'I was going to try and stay silent on the subject of McSpaced, as it's usually a lot classier to keep your head held high and your trap firmly shut. [But] I'm thoroughly miserable about being dragged into the whole process.

'I'm pretty sure that while Simon and Jess would get paid for the reversioning of their original scripts, they don't necessarily have the power to call the whole damn thing off.'

'Any self respecting fan of the show knows that along with Simon, Jess and [producer] Nira Park, I put my heart and soul into that series. So the implication... that we may be involved in this new version absolutely pains me.

'I'm told after the fact that the makers of McSpaced had wanted to get us involved, but were told they couldn't pay us to be consultants. Either way, to not even make a courtesy call prior to making that announcement just a little rude.

'I don't especially want to get into a war of words about it, but I am deeply pained that people think I've sold out and am whoring out our baby to a big network for a pile of dirty cash. This could not be further from the truth.’

Wright was paid a fixed fee to work on the original show, and gets no repeat patments and has no rights to the format of the show, which are owned by Granada.

Adam Barr, who has previously worked on Will & Grace, is reworking the show for a pilot episode.

Published: 4 Nov 2007