Sony to house Ondaatje's 'Lodger'

Writer-director to update early Hitchcock film

By DIANE GARRETT

'The Lodger,' a 1927 silent film from Alfred Hitchcock, will get an update by David Ondaatje for Sony.

Ondaatje

Sony Pictures has greenlit an update of "The Lodger," an early Alfred Hitchcock film about a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer, for David Ondaatje to write, direct and produce.

Ondaatje will use the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes, which served as the basis for Hitchcock's 1927 silent pic, as the jumping-off point. Sony's version will be set in present-day Los Angeles and revolve around a copycat killer.

Ondaatje will make his directing debut with the project, which he is producing with Michael Mailer. He has previously worked on shorts.

Mailer just wrapped "Chatham," a period tale about three retired sea captains who try to lure a middle-aged woman into marriage to save their house.