The film series of The Fly is a sequence of science fiction-horror films, consisting of an original series started in 1958 and a remake series made in the 1980s. The first film of the series, The Fly, was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox in 1958 as a colour film. The two following black and white sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly, both produced by Associated Producers, were released in 1959 and 1965 respectively. The original film was remade in 1986, The Fly directed by David Cronenberg. The remake film received the Academy Award for Best Makeup in 1987. Its sequel, The Fly II, was released in 1989. All five films within the series were distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Films Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s) Original series The Fly July 16, 1958 Kurt Neumann James Clavell Kurt Neumann Return of the Fly July 22, 1959 Edward Bernds Edward Bernds Bernard Glasser Curse of the Fly May 1965 Don Sharp Harry Spalding Robert L. Lippert and Jack Parsons Remake series The Fly August 15, 1986 David Cronenberg David Cronenberg and Charles Edward Pogue Stuart Cornfeld The Fly II February 10, 1989 Chris Walas Mick Garris, Ken Wheat, Jim Wheat and Frank Darabont Steven-Charles Jaffe Untitled The Fly film TBA Nikyatu Jusu TBA
Original series The Fly (1958)
The screenplay of the first film is based on a short story of the same name written by George Langelaan in 1957, presenting a scientist, André Delambre (David Hedison), who accidentally mixes his molecules with a fly in an experiment of his new invention, a matter transference device, and therefore transforms into a human-fly hybrid monster, leading to a series of inevitable tragedies.
Return of the Fly (1959)
Years after the first film, Phillipe Delambre (Brett Halsey), the son of the scientist who turned in to human-fly hybrid, has become an adult and decides to complete the work of his deceased father: the experiment on the matter transporter. He hires Alan Hines (David Frankham), who then turns out to be an industrial spy by the name of Ronald Holms, to help with the experiment. As the experiment going on the right track, Ronald's true intention begins to be uncovered.
Curse of the Fly (1965)
Martin Delambre (George Baker) encounters a beautiful young girl, Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray), one night on his way to Montreal. The loving couple soon get married, but they are both keeping horrible secrets from each other: Patricia was actually escaping from an asylum the night they met; and Martin is secretly experimenting on a teleportation project which has already made numerous victims with his father, Henri Delambre (Brian Donlevy). With Patricia being tracked down, secrets of the couple are facing the risk of getting revealed.
Remake series The Fly (1986)
Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), has successfully invented a teleportation device which can disintegrate matter in one "Telepod" and reintegrate it in another. Journalist Veronica "Ronnie" (Geena Davis) agrees to document Seth's project, and the two become lovers. One night, Seth rashly decides to test the process on himself, but fails to notice a common housefly which has slipped into the transmitter pod with him. The computer becomes confused by the fly's presence, and merges it with Seth at the genetic level. Unaware of the accident, Seth initially believes that his newly increased strength and energy are a result of the teleportation process purifying and improving his body, but his behavior soon becomes arrogant and violent. Veronica notices the disturbing changes in Seth's personality, whose body begins a prolonged and grotesque process of deteriorating into a human-insect hybrid creature, which Seth dubs "Brundlefly". Ronnie and the diseased Seth must both cope with the effects of his transformation on their relationship, while Seth desperately searches for a cure before his humanity—and his sanity—completely drain away.
The Fly II (1989)
The sequel continues the story, with Veronica Quaife dying in the process of giving birth to Seth Brundle's mutant son. The child, named Martin Brundle (Eric Stoltz), is adopted by Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson), the head of Bartok Industries and sponsor of Seth's experiment. Martin's unique heritage (which he is kept unaware of) results in his suffering from rapid aging, but also provides him with a photographic memory and no need for sleep. Physically a grown adult by his fifth birthday, Martin is given the task of repairing his father's Telepods by Bartok, and also falls in love with Bartok employee Beth Logan (Daphne Zuniga). However, Bartok has ulterior motives for his seeming kindness toward Martin: he intends to use the Telepods' ability to gene-splice for nefarious purposes, and has been aware from the start that Martin will eventually mutate into a human-fly hybrid creature. Martin and Beth must race against time to escape from Bartok and find a way to cure Martin before he suffers the same grotesque fate as his father.
Untitled The Fly film In November 2024, it was revealed that a film set in Cronenberg's The Fly universe was in development with Nikyatu Jusu serving both as writer and director.
Cast and characters Characters Original series Remake series The Fly Return of the Fly Curse of the Fly The Fly The Fly II Untitled The Fly film André Delambre David Hedison Hélène Delambre Patricia Owens François Delambre Vincent Price Philippe Delambre Charles Herbert Brett Halsey Inspector Charas Herbert Marshall Charles Carson Emma Kathleen Freeman Nurse Anderson Betty Lou Gerson Dr. Éjoute Eugene Borden Gaston Torben Meyer Michael Mark Ronald Holmes / Alan Hinds David Frankham Cecile Bonnard Danielle De Metz Inspector Beecham John Sutton Max Barthold Dan Seymour Granville Jack Daly Mme. Bonnard Janine Grandel Sgt. Dubois Richard Flato Inspector Evans Pat O'Hara The Fly-Creature Ed Wolff Henri Delambre Brian Donlevy Martin Delambre George Baker Patricia Stanley Carole Gray Tai Burt Kwouk Wan Yvette Rees Albert Delambre Michael Graham Judith Delambre Mary Manson Inspector Ronet Jeremy Wilkin Madame Fournier Rachel Kempson Dr. Seth Brundle Jeff Goldblum Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife Geena Davis Saffron Henderson Stathis Borans John Getz Tawny Joy Boushel Dr. Brent Cheevers Leslie Carlson Marky George Chuvalo Gynecologist David Cronenberg Martin Brundle Eric Stoltz Elisabeth "Beth" Logan Daphne Zuniga Anton Bartok Lee Richardson Dr. Shepard Frank C. Turner Dr. Jainway Ann Marie Lee Scorby Garry Chalk Simms Jerry Wasserman
Additional crew and production details Film Crew/Detail Composer(s) Cinematographer Editor(s) Production companies Distributing company Running time The Fly Paul Sawtell Karl Struss Merrill G. White 20th Century Fox 96 mins Return of the Fly Bert Shefter & Paul Sawtell Brydon Baker Richard Meyer Associated Producers Inc 80 mins Curse of the Fly Bert Shefter Basil Emmott Robert Winter Lippert Pictures 86 mins The Fly Howard Shore Mark Irwin Ronald Sanders BrooksfilmsSLM Production Group 96 mins The Fly II Christopher Young Robin Vidgeon Sean Barton Brooksfilms 105 mins
Production Development The Fly (1958) The movie was based on the short story "The Fly" written by George Langelaan, which was published on Playboy magazine in 1957. According to Maury Dexter, an American producer who once worked with Robert Lippert, the novel was originally found and brought to the studio by Kurt Neuman. Although Robert Lippert was the one who brought the idea to 20th Century Fox and got its agreement on filming the movie, Fox replaced Lippert by Neuman as the producer afterwards due to Lippert's conflict with Screen Actors Guild. The Fly was then made in colour as a Fox film. James Clavell was hired by Lippert for the adaption of the screenplay, and his work, based on what Harry Spalding has said, was "the best draft" he has even seen.
The special effect of the human-fly hybrid was said to be created by covering the actor's head by a rubber sheath. To make the mask more alive, the original beaded domes as the eyes were made iridescent, and Hedison may wriggle his "proboscis" through a wooden plug held in his mouth. The budget was claimed to be $480,000 by Lippert, and $28,000 of which was spent on the construction of the laboratory set. The film was released in July 1958 and became the biggest hit of Fox that year, grossing $3,000,000 in domestically. However, Kurt did not witness the huge success of his work as he died from a heart attack few weeks after the release of the film.
Return of the Fly (1959) Due to the success of its preceding work, Return of the Fly was created double-billed with The Alligator People and was released in 1959. The idea of making this sequel was first brought out by Harry Spalding. He recalled the screenplay was not easy to start since the first film "was a one-short deal, an accident" which was "not like a Frankenstein monster, someone you can revive". He then stated the budget of the film was higher than the normal $125,000, yet it turned out to be profitable. According to Bernard Glasser, the film's producer, their budget was then increased to $275,000. The movie was asked to move from an independent shooting lot to the studio of Fox by its production department, which gave the crew more autonomy over the production. Glasser also complained about the slow production pace of Fox, claiming that most of the money were spent unproductively, which made Lippert "have to obtain additional fund".
Because Ed Wolff, the Fly portrayer, had problem breathing wearing the Fly head, most of his action sequences were done by his stuntman, Joe Becker. The actor of the original "Fly", Vincent Price has also taken part in this sequel, being paid at $25,000. However, as Glasser recalled, he was "not overly enthusiastic about the screenplay".
Curse of the Fly (1965) When Lippert first mentioned the idea of making a third Fly, Spalding was surprised and kind of reluctant, saying they were "lucky to be able to do a second one". Having Claude Rains in his mind as the main character, Spalding completed the script. Lippert however put Brian Donlevy in the role instead, since Donlevy has previously worked well in another horror film, Creeping Unknown, and Lippert wanted to stick to what has worked before. Spalding also pointed out the difficulty of writing the screenplay in Los Angeles for a production located in England due to the lack of collaboration between him and the director as well as the rest of the crew.
The Fly (1986) In the early 1980s, producer Kip Ohman proposed to Charles Edward Pogue about the idea of remaking the classic sci-fi horror movie The Fly. After reading the original novel by George Langelaan and watching The Fly made in 1958, Pogue was very interested in the remake plan, therefore he found Stuart Cornfeld to work with 20th Century Fox. Pogue's initial idea of the screenplay was very similar to Langelaan's original work, but he and Cornfeld then felt the focus should be put on the protagonist's mutating process, not the final result of the mutation. Unexpectedly, the film script did not impress Fox, and the shooting intentions immediately fell through. After multiple negotiations, Fox finally agreed to distribute the film, only if Cornfeld and his crew raise the fund themselves.