Vivica A. Fox is not on board with Issa Rae’s upcoming remake of the 1996 film ‘Set It Off,’ saying in a new interview there’s ‘absolutely no reason’ to remake the film.
Vivica A. Fox, 55, is not into the idea of her 1996 film Set It Off being remade. The actress sounded off on the news that Issa Rae, 34, would be remaking the heist film and didn’t exactly have the kindest words for the Insecure Emmy nominee. “It’s a classic — leave it alone,” she said in an interview published on Nov. 13 by Entertainment Tonight. “There’s absolutely no reason to try to redo it,” the Independence Day star continued. “It’s been done, and we did it so well, that people are absolutely going to compare it to that and I think that’s her taking on a tremendous chore because that film has become a cult classic and some things are just better left.”
While she wasn’t interested in seeing the film that helped catapult her to stardom redone, Vivica did offer a suggestion to Issa. “You can make it up-to-date,” she proposed.”We did that film in 1996. We are in 2019, going into 2020. So, create your own thing because people are absolutely going to compare it [the new film] to it [the original], and she’ll probably, if it’s not good, they’re going to slay her for it.”
Vivica starred in the 1996 F. Gary Gray film alongside Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimberly Elise, and Queen Latifah. Set It Off revolved around four women, who — in desperation — contrive a plan to rob a bank in Los Angeles. Following the robbery, the quartet begins to mistrust one another, leading to further confrontation. The film received an onslaught of praise upon its release and was even given the coveted positive review from legendary film critic Rogert Ebert, who gave the film three and a half out of four stars.
Issa, who rose to fame with Insecure, has a slew of projects in the works. In 2020, the actress and writer will appear in two films — The Photograph and The Lovebirds. As for her Set It Off remake, the film is currently in development with little word on its pre-production status. Should the film move forward, fans of the original, including Vivica, will be interested to see if Issa puts her own, original spin on the 1996 classic.