Mr. Impatient

With the tend of movies being remade and released as new (Disney has done this with several of their movies; the Stepford Wives was just redone and updated; Stephen King remade a couple of movies as miniseries), I was just curious as to which movies other people think are worthy of getting updated/remade and why.

The first one that comes to mind for me is To Kill a Mockingbird. The book was excellent, but the movie was nothing like the book. I would love to see a new version of the movie that was actually true to the book.

What about everyone else? What movies do you want to see remade, and why?

ROCKSTAR

"West Side Story"



I just want to see how it would be made and who would play Maria! Plus I love the songs... Ah, it would be my dream!

FinleyN1derland

*Hmm, really? And do you think it would be as good? I love "West Side Story" but i think a remake is just... pointless. IMO, it's just not going to be as good. You can't remake movies like that.

They just don't make movies like they used to.

Profaine Angel

Nooooo, remakes are BAD. Well, 99% of them are, there are some goodies out there, precious few. Can't anyone just get a new idea for a change instead of taking something that's already been done well and stuffing it up?

Book adaptations on the other hand, I feel they're different to remakes because they're not remaking the past film, they're just doing the book again. In some instances. Cheaper By The Dozen for one was just WRONG, they ignored the book completely. Which is worse since it's a true story.

I must admit I'm rather excited about the King Kong remake. I love the original so I was a bit gaah at first, but from what I've heard it's just going to be "another version" and Peter Jackson isn't going to take away the original setting and try and update it as such, so it sounds OK. Plus I love our Nai and she's almost as cute as Fay

Maliejandra

I agree with Profaine Angel, most remakes aren't very good at all. I think a lot of it has to do with the stars who do the remakes; they just aren't up to par with the classic stars who generally did them in the first place. For example, I think that the remake of My Favorite Wife that never got finished might have been better because Marilyn Monroe was going to be in it, but that movie wasn't considered a classic originally so there was nothing to lose. If people are going to do a remake, they ought to do something that won't kill the original if they screw up. A remake should be an improvement.

ROCKSTAR

Actually I think it could work. I meant more of the lines of "modernizing", not just do it all over again because that would be pointless.

shrrshrr

What Profaine Angel said - although I have to add the one exception, which is Tortilla Soup. It was much more engaging than the original, Eat Drink Man Woman.

But that's the only exception I've ever found.

As for books - I don't consider those remakes and feel that a close adaptation versus an interpretation is not necessarily a remake, or vice versa.

Mr. Impatient

Hmm. I never thought of it that way.

Still, I have found some remakes to be just as interesting as the originals.

Also, remakes often introduce a new audience to the original. A lot of people who got to the remakes (for whatever reason) don't even know that it is a remake, or have never seent eh original, so they have nothing to wich to compare the remake.

FinleyN1derland

*Hmm* Interesting. I don't know. I'd have to see it i guess. Or at least a trailer for it. I don't know if anyone could (sucessfully) modernize "West Side Story".

Usually i see remakes and just... *shudder* Especially of classics. Know what i mean? Anyone else understand what i'm talking about?

Profaine Angel

That's what annoys me more though, you get all these stupid people who think that X movie is the ONLY one and no idea it's been done before. Why not just re-release films into cinemas and give people the chance to see the proper one, or at least release them simultaneously so that there's no excuse for ignorance.

ROCKSTAR

I do know what you mean. Great point and it would indeed be a great gamble but I believe the story would hold up fine. But I don't think anyone's thinking about remaking a classic with so many gone wrong aka Psycho.

It's just my wishful thinking talking.

UnsilentMajorty

The big reasons studios do remakes is precisely why they make original movies: MONEY.

In a remakes case... It's a proven FACT that the original premise/story did well enough to generate some income at the boxoffice. Hence, they assume to just duplicate the same success.

Hollywood is a RISK-AVERSE business that is all about investment and return.

And in such a fickle market place, I.E. what moviegoers actually respond to, tthey want to maximize their profits while minimizing their costs or expenses like any industry...

Hence, why the remake is heavily favored these days over original material.

There are over 20 remakes in the works right now for a major studio (I won't mention which one) out of the 37 scheduled for release (point being 17 are original scripts). How's that for statistics to back up why remakes are popular these days?

The same holds true for an adaptation for a book. If the movie bombs, the studio can just say, "Well, we don't know why it tanked. It did well AS A BOOK..."

However, what is the BIG mistake in BOTH of these presumptions?

The assumptions (pressumption) itself.

Just because an idea played well 10, 20 or even 40 years ago does not mean it will stand the test of time...

But even this doesn't stop Hollywood because now, as we all know, they don't care if they remake classics or not. They'll do remakes to B-Movie flicks as well, I.E. House on Haunted Hill; Gone in 60 Seconds, etc.

As was stated earlier, the key to a successful remake is how it is executed.

Most remakes are done for and marketed to the teen crowd, hence, why they DON'T come out that well for a number of reasons. And even the ones that are for more mature viewers, I.E. The Thomas Crown Affair, still don't live up to the originals because of the fact that (as was also stated) the stars of today are NOTHING like the stars of yesterday. They are just "actors" -- Which is DIFFERENT from being a "movie star" -- Let alone actually having any talent which is another MAJOR obstacle these days in why there is nothing good at the box office, I.E. Ashton Kutcher and others (male and female) of his ilk.

BleedingBlue

I actually wouldn't mind a remake of West Side Story. I loved the orignal but wouldnt mind to see a modern version.

Lady_Amabel

hmmm... I would like to see a remake of Solent Green. I think it would be cool to se the better quality special effects and stages on this classi Sci_fi

summerbug

I think remakes are usually very bad - look at A Perfect Murder. It was supposed to be Dial M for Murder but it was MUCH less clever. Psycho is another example of a remake gone bad and they changed very little. It pains me to say that it was bad since I love Vince Vaughn...

I think remakes are kind of nervy in a sense. I mean, what is the director thinking? "Wow this is a good movie but I could make it GREAT"