Remake?

Way back around 1998(the time that the Psycho remake came out), Michael Bay's company announced a remake of The Birds(he wasn't to direct, just produce.)

At the time, Naomi Watts was attached to the Melanie role, but perhaps only for press discussion. Watts talked about playing the role, I don't know if any contracts were signed. Over time, a press suggestion was made that perhaps George Clooney might take the Rod Taylor role(but that never became official, either.)

There were announcements, year in, year out, that this remake would be made but finally Bay's company suggested it was off the books. Something about it being too hard to portray the birds as frightening.

I don't think a CGI remake of The Birds would be too successful because what was "impossible to do...but it got done" in 1963(pulling off the effects with the bird attacks) would be an easy Silicon Valley CGI contract today.

Moreover, while the Psycho remake benefitted from that film opening with a sexy love scene and a crime(embezzlement), Hitchcock's The Birds spent about 45 aimless first minutes telling a story of "domestic psychodrama" (Melanie's man-hunting trip to Bodega Bay, and her meetings with the locals, with Mitch, with Annie, with Kathy, and with Lydia.)

I expect that Bay's people realized that the 1963 "family psychodrama" narrative of The Birds would not play today, and they couldn't come up with another plot premise aside from "birds attack."

But maybe...someday...