Animated remake of ‘Requiem for a Dream’ cancelled

There was widespread disappointment at the news that a new animated remake of 2000’s drugs and amputation classic Requiem for a Dream has been cancelled.

Lauded for being an unflinching and harrowing examination of the lives of three drug users, the original film’s explicit nature made it unsuitable for younger viewers.

“I thought it was a magnificent movie,” explained the director Stewart James.

“I just thought it was a shame that I couldn’t watch it with my kids.

“In fact, it was as I was explaining to my eight-year-old that she couldn’t watch her Lion King DVD because Daddy wanted to watch his drugs film that the idea came to me – if I could make an animated version of Requiem for a Dream then the both of us could enjoy it together.”

James set to work immediately.

“I knew it was going to be tough, I mean, the sheer logistics of animating the scenes of sexual abuse, graphic drug-use and insanity were going be tricky enough, let alone making them palatable for a family audience, but I was determined to make it work.”

Some clever new additions to the script would have helped.

“I introduced a lot of slapstick comedy, particularly in the drug use scenes. Kids love slapstick, so we’d have had the characters trying to inject drugs and then falling on their butt, or accidentally hitting each other with a pan.

“I also brought in a puppy called Billy. I had an idea that perhaps we could do an animated Requiem for a Dream toy line.”

Sadly, Mr James was unable to find a studio to produce his film and has been forced to cancel his plans.

Despite the disappointment, he does still intend to press on with his animated version of Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom.