It looks like Martin Campbell will be the director ballsy enough to take on the completely unnecessary remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS says the Hollywood Reporter. Campbell is the guy behind CASINO ROYALE and MASK OF ZORRO.

Guns are cocked and loaded…poor guy.

Michael Bay is producing via his Platinum Dunes label along with a bunch of other people you do not care about. If there is one thing you should know about the film, it is that Michael Bay has somehow touched it his mighty paw.

Actually, there’s more. Naomi Watts is set to star in the role Tippi Hedren made famous. At least they got a decent actress.

The studio says the remake is not based on the movie, but is a redo of Daphne du Maurier original short story. Which, again, contradicts what Hollywood says by calling their projects “remakes.”

Universal released THE BIRDS in 1963 featuring an assault by birds on a California coastal town. Hitchcock’s creative use of special effects and sounds launched many “nature on the attack” imitators.

And unlike many other Hollywood projects now scrambling to shoot within the next six months, the studio is not expecting this flick to begin production until after the Screen Actors Guild strike, which works with Watts and Campbell’s schedules as well.

Molly Celaschi