No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

This is one of the worst news announcements I have ever had to write about on Obsessed With Film. This feels like an obituary.

Richard Matheson’s tragic and haunting dramatic work of 1950’s sci-fi fiction The Shrinking Man (latter dubbed The Incredible Shrinking Man) - his second best novel to the amazing I Am Legend looks to have fallen into the hands of Universal who inexplicably and remarkably are in negotiations for Brett Ratner to direct Eddie Murphy in the lead role.

That fucking leech that is Ratner is at it again. And Murphy. Oh for God’s sake. Why do we have to see him go the same territory as The Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle and virtually EVERYTHING ELSE on his CV for the last 15 years.

Ratner do you have no shame? Why call it The Incredible Shrinking Man - call it something else. Because that’s it - you can’t really remake Matheson’s original text as intended now - which became a shoe-in after Legend’s takings.

An updated version of the best-selling novel and 1957 sci-fi classic starring Grant Williams, “Man” is taking the comedic approach to the fantastical material, telling the story of a famous Las Vegas magician who is put under a spell that causes him to shrink. He must find a way to reverse the spell before he gets so small that he “disappears.”

Imagine for a second you were shrinking. Just a tiny bit everyday with some kind of unexplained medical condition. You can only really tell you are getting a little smaller every few days but your body is most definitely changing. Even your doctors know it.

You’ve shrunk from 6 foot, now to 5″6. You are frightened, what the fuck is happening to me? THIS IS NOT COMEDIC MATERIAL!

Matheson makes it all feel real, just as he does with Robert Neville’s plight as the Last Man on Earth. This could have been another amazing science fiction movie along the same lines as Legend, with the right talent and director. To go the Eddie Murphy route in inexplicable. And just when Universal were doing things right with the remake of The Wolf Man.

Shame, shame, shame on you. Matheson - you deserve much better than this.

source - the hollywood reporter