Classic Dick Van Dyke Movie Getting Remade: ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ Reboot in the Works

A classic fan-favorite Dick Van Dyke movie is coming back into the fold. Deadline reports that Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson’s Eon Productions are in development with Amazon MGM Studios on a reimagined Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The film is reportedly in early stages of development with the aim to do a theatrical release. According to Variety, Tony and Olivier award-winning British theatre director Matthew Warchus, who directed Netflix’s Matilda the Musical, has been tapped to direct the film.

The Van Dyke film from 1968 was based on the 1964 children’s novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car by Ian Fleming. The story centers on the exploits of a car with hidden powers and abilities and its owners, the Pott family in pre-war England. Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes wrote the screenplay for the original film, which also starred Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, Benny Hill, James Robertson Justice, and Robert Helpmann.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has received rave reviews over the years and still remains a favorite among fans. The film’s title song by The Sherman Brothers was nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. It also received nominations for Best Original Score – Motion Picture and Best Original Song – Motion Picture for the Golden Globes.

Not much is known about the reimagining of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and how different or similar it will be to both the book and the film. Since it is still in early development, it might still be a while until more information is released, but it should be interesting to see just how different the new film is compared to Dick Van Dyke’s, especially since the quality will be pretty different.

Meanwhile, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car has been adapted in numerous forms aside from film. A novelization of the film written by John Burke was published when the film was released since it didn’t closely follow the novel. There was also a comic book adaptation and a PC game, as well as a musical theatre adaptation that premiered in 2002 in the West End. Additionally, there were reports in 2008 from Telegraph that Michael G. Wilson was eyeing to remake the film but it never happened. It will be exciting for a remake to finally get off the ground and introduce the musical to a new generation.