Diane Keaton's Last Tango in Halifax US remake delayed
HBO looks likely to delay remaking series until the original British series has aired on PBS in America
Plans for BBC1’s ratings hit Last Tango in Halifax to be remade for an American audience have hit the buffers – for the time being at least.
Reports this morning said that Diane Keaton, the star of films like Annie Hall and Something's Gotta Give, had acquired the rights to the series with a view to it being recast and broadcast on cable channel HBO.
However it is understood that rival US broadcasting giant HBO won't be remaking the show at least until the original airs on PBS.
A spokesman for British independent company Red Productions, which makes the original series, said: “Red were in discussions with HBO about the possibility of a US remake of Last Tango in Halifax but talks have been put on hold due to the original UK version of the drama transmitting on PBS.”
The series, in which Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid play two 70-somethings finding love, won audiences of more than seven million when it was screened last year on BBC1. The second run is due to air later next month, with a third also planned.
Keaton’s plans were revealed yesterday by Last Tango writer Sally Wainwright. She told journalists at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch on Monday that she would have an associate producer role on the US version, but did not expect to be closely involved.
