'The Princess Bride' remake rumours prompts swift backlash

If, like buildings, movies were given listed status, The Princess Bride would surely be the recipient of the most stringent protections.

A remake, re-boot or re-imagining would be like someone applying for planning permission for a new block of luxury apartments on top of the dome at St Paul's.

But still, a passive remark from Sony chief executive Tony Vinciquerra in a profile of the movie's producer Norman Lear about rumblings of a remake has – and perhaps rightly in this case – got the villagers grabbing their pitchforks.

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“Very famous people whose names I won’t use, but they want to redo The Princess Bride… Not a month goes by when we don’t have an idea coming from some very big name wanting to do things with Norman,” says Vinciquerra.

Cue the abject fury...

Even US senator Ted Cruz, bizarrely, got involved.

More importantly, perhaps, Westley himself has weighed in, not to mention Jamie Lee Curtis.

While Seth Rogen quickly denied all knowledge.

Directed by Rob Reiner, it found a story read to poorly Wonder Years star Fred Savage, by his grandfather Peter Falk, brought to life starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, Peter Cook, Wallace Shawn and Andre The Giant.

Released in 1987 to only modest success at the box office, it is widely regarded as a classic, and was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2016, after it was officially deemed 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant'.