One oddly misguided approach to remakes that studios seem so insistent on is taking a director's most iconic, visually original film - and then thinking someone else can magically top it.

Only recently, Warner Bros. revealed it was rebooting The Matrix, the Wachowskis' style-defining film that made the 'bullet time'-style camerawork an obsession of every director attempting to make their action picture "edgy", along with sparking that slightly regretful early '00s trend for ankle-length leather coats.

Now, Deadline reports Fox is negotiations with J.D. Dillard, whose directorial debut Sleight made a big impression on last year's Sundance crowds, to direct a new take on The Fly; also penning the script alongside writing partner Alex Theurer.

Admittedly, this will be the third remake of the tale of a scientist who mutates into a grotesque human-fly hybrid; yet Kurt Neumann's 1958 version has largely been lost in the cinematic canon, overshadowed by David Cronenberg's 1986 version with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.

A film that many consider Cronenberg's best and most famous work, and the project that crowned him in the eyes of some as the true king of body-horror.

Dillard's Sleight certainly made waves at Sundance, blending sci-fi and street magic into a tense thriller about a young magician's attempt to save his kidnapped sister with the use of his acquired skills; but he'll need a completely original, exciting take on the classic if Fox's new version of The Fly has any hope of making a splash.