David Cronenberg ’s 1988 filmDead Ringersset a new standard for distorted twin tale — butPrime Video ’s new series adjustment , with Rachel Weisz playing babe version of Drs . Elliot and Beverly Mantle , the brothers Jeremy Irons played in the picture show , chip at out its own disturbing place in the genre . Ahead of its premiere next week , io9 blab out with Weisz , who also executive produce , and Divine / author / executive director producer Alice Birch to learn more .
Cheryl Eddy , io9 : This version of Dead Ringers has an straightaway change from the original film ( and book ) because it ’s about sisters rather than brothers . But what was the most of import ingredient that you carried over or need to save from the original tale ?
Alice Birch : I guess firstly it ’s just the intense , over-the-top kinship at the center of it . That was kind of our start item , and that was the affair I hung on to the whole room through the process — this extraordinary relationship . And in the photographic film , they look like they ’re have such a keen time until they ’re not . That was something also that we wanted to carry with us .
Image: Courtesy of Prime Video
Rachel Weisz : I imagine the codependence , the strength of that copendence . The intensity of how much fun Elliot is always having . Alice mentioned that in the original film , the Twin , Jeremy Irons ’ characters , always had a martini glass in their hand — just , you recognise , result a gala , having a gravid time . It was important to us that was find too , in our serial publication . But yeah , [ like in the film , there ’s ] the distorted intensity , the variety of psychosexual play of the affected role that comes between codependent sibling and will rip this co - dependency apart .
io9 : Did you speak to any twins or do any research into matching relationships to mold that part of the account ?
Birch : We did , yeah . We spoke to a few before we started the writers elbow room . And we read a lot and did a lot of research and speak to people , which was fascinating . But I think the intensity in this is turned up to such an extreme level , while it was really interesting to talk to those masses , I feel like we went in quite an uttermost direction .
Weisz : The show ’s quite a wild ride ; it ’s not a documentary about twins , but we were barrack by real similitude . But the story ’s moderately heightened .
io9 : Was there a metaphoric line of work draw to keep the show from fill thing too far , or was that form of the driving gunpoint , pushing boundaries as far as they would go ?
Weisz : It start in a very recognizable earth , in term of the hospital where the twins sour . That was very of import to us , that that was establish and naturalistic , because the twins have very big dreaming of how they want to change the face of maternal wellness care and female medicine . We want to show , and what Alice in her penning wanted to show , what was fallible about it — so we meet a good deal of patients and really see the organization . And then the show makes the case for why Beverly ’s dream of having a birthing substance and Elliot ’s scientific dream might be necessary . And then it get more heightened and more … operatic was the word that we used . And , hopefully , entertaining .
io9 : When you think about Cronenberg , the immediate genre association is “ body horror . ” How does your interlingual rendition of Dead Ringers evolve that construct ? Do you count it to be a horror series ?
Birch : I think there ’s notes of horror for certain . I do n’t know if I would categorise it as a straight horror serial — I think there ’s other other things belong on , but the horror is definitely a part of it . We were exceedingly aware of the soundbox horror of Cronenberg — that he ’s the master of that . And again , I think our show commence in a more or less more ground place and then goes to a more extreme place . I feel like it ’s a more or less unlike lens on that .
io9 : Prime Video is releasing all six episodes at once , meaning the potential for a really intense six - sequence , six - minute binge is there . How do you trust viewers experience it ?
Weisz : We leave it up to the viewer , as to how much appetite they have , how much they desire to devour . I intend [ it depends ] on them . They ’re free .
io9 : Without getting into any plot spoilers , I ’d wish to ask about the closing . What made you require to tie up the series in that way ?
birch rod : We need to verify that it was urge by the Cronenberg motion picture , but it ’s so iconic , you know , we never wanted to do a unbent retelling of it . So we want to find find the close that intimately served our twins and our narrative . It feels like the ultimate twin swap , the close . It felt like a in force thriller ending .
Dead Ringers strike Prime Video on April 21 .
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AliceFilmsHorrorJeremy IronsRachel Weisz
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