David Cronenberg’s (Crimes of the Future, A Dangerous Method) 1988 horror film just got a modern remake. According to Entertainment Weekly, Amazon Prime has been working on the TV adaptation of Dead Ringers and recently released the trailer for the show. The series stars Rachel Weisz (The Favourite, The Mummy) as the creepy twin doctors in the limited series, which will count six episodes. Watch the trailer below.
Part of the changes made to the new adaptation is that the twins are being played by a woman which brings the story’s portrayal of women’s health care to the forefront, though it also incorporates mythical and religious concerns in addition to the biological side.
According to EW, Weisz is starring in the dual role of Drs. Beverly and Elliot Mantle, who are based on the characters portrayed by Jeremy Irons (House of Gucci, Red Sparrow) in the 1988 version of Dead Ringers. Weisz’s characters have the same name as the movie characters and wear similarly disturbing red surgical smocks when they have to operate as obstetricians. The Mantles are described as twin gynecologists who share everything from drugs and lovers to a stubborn desire to do whatever it takes, including pushing the boundaries of medical ethics, to challenge old practices and better women’s health care.
Dead Ringers will be psychological terror which will deal with the creepiness of the twins blending in and out of each other, and also the visceral terror of them trying new things with the human body. Weisz talked about the show in a recent interview with EW: “It’s definitely very graphic. Very, very voyeuristic,” referring to the body horror that will be present in the scenes surrounding the work of the twins, which is delivering babies. This is one of the changes the TV adaptation made from the movie in which the twin doctors worked as fertility doctors and weren’t as involved with the actual birth of the babies.
According to Deadline, the cast of the show also includes Emily Meade (The Deuce, Nerve) as Susan; Jennean Farmer (A Thousand and One, The Good Nurse) as Tessa; Gabi Carrubba (The Avatars, Law & Order: SVU) as Helena; John Wu (DMZ, Evil) as Austin; Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (The Chi, The Lincoln Lawyer) as Silas Jordan; Britne Oldford (The Umbrella Academy, Blindspot) as Genevieve; Poppy Liu (The Afterparty, American Born Chinese) as Greta; Michael Chernus (Severance, Patriot) as Tom; and Jennifer Ehle (1923, She Said) as Rebecca.
Dead Ringers will premiere on April 21 exclusively on Prime Video.