Well, you've been waiting for a big remake bombshell. One of those major "Don't you DARE you touch that!!" kinds of licenses.  There have been some "relatively" big pictures to receive the remake treatment in recent memory, such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still" but nothing to really stand in disbelief at.  Not a "Citizen Kane"-esque level of audacity, but a recent rumor of there being a potential "The Third Man" remake starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire does tread dangerously close.  Luckily, if proven to be true, there may be some talent to pull this off.  Click on the jump, and let's hop on this ferris wheel together.

First and foremost, this is still just a rumor, and as being reported by CHUD it's "still early enough in the game that it could all fall apart, but it's also late enough in the game that it could be officially announced in a week or two."  According to the article not only are DiCaprio and Maguire starring, but it's also being penned by "Eastern Promises" screenwriter Steven Knight.  As an ardent fan of Maguire and DiCaprio and with Knight's experience writing a script for a film with an overseas setting, the only thing at this point that would piss me off would be to attach an unfit director, and at the rumor stage no helmer has been mentioned.  That being said, David Cronenberg does excellent work with actors and has worked in Europe multiple times.  And Steven Sodbergh's "The Good German" closely resembles the atmosphere and look of a film made from that time period, but that's under the assumption they don't move the story in a modern-day setting.

"The Third Man" is one of the most universally beloved films amongst critics.  It's one of the premier film-noir pictures, was ranked #57 on AFI's original Top 100 Films list, and is considered by many to be the best film to come out of Europe.  If this does come to fruition I'd expect a lot of curiosity from fans especially once it finds a director.  However, DiCaprio and Maguire as Harry Lime and Holly Martins, respectively, makes good sense, unless they want to tack an accent on one and cast them in the Major Calloway role.  So many possibilities if this rumor turns out to be reality.