According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1963 horror tale, looks to be taking flight again as a Universal Pictures remake. Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes shingle is in negotiations to produce the film with Peter Guber though his Mandalay Pictures banner.

The new version would be based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier, to which Universal owns the rights and which inspired Hitchcock's movie. Tippi Hedren starred in the original thriller about increasingly vicious birds that terrorize a small town. It won't be the first time Universal, which was Hitchcock's home for the latter part of the producer-director's career, has been part of a remake of the master.

In 1998, Gus Van Sant directed a scene-for-scene remake of Psycho for the studio. That same year, Warner Bros. Pictures and Koppelson Entertainment turned out A Perfect Murder, based on the play that inspired Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. And at Warners -- underscoring the rage for Hitchcock remakes -- the studio is mounting a new version of Strangers on a Train, based on the Patricia Highsmith novel that was the basis for the Hitchcock film. Platinum -- run by Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller -- is no stranger to the remake genre itself. Its most recent offering, The Amityville Horror, has taken in more than $43 million after two weekends at the domestic boxoffice. Platinum remade The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and recently set up a remake of The Hitcher with Focus Features to be released through Focus' genre label, Rogue Pictures.