The track record so far hasn’t been great- Psycho, Planet Of The Apes, Alfie, The Amityville Horror, The Ladykillers, Quarantine (REC), Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Italian Job, Death Race blah, blah blah.
Yes, there has been some I’ve enjoyed Dawn Of The Dead, The Departed (Infernal Affairs), Ocean’s Eleven and er… well … I’m sure there’s lots more.
It’s just bizarre that anybody would want to remake a movie.
I don’t understand why a first time director would want to do it or why a seasoned director would either. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
I know why they do it. Or at least, I have theories:
The first timer, remakes because the project has already been green-lit. The studio just needs a director. So they get a ‘young & happening’ music video director (The Eye, Texas Chainsaw, The Grudge) to make the film; who was naturally ‘a massive fan of the original’ although given half a chance, would much rather tell the story he’s been working on for a year that the studio feels is unfortunately not for them. So he figures he’ll cut his teeth with a remake. On the upside-he’s getting a film made, on the downside-it will be constantly compared to the original forevermore; and when you’re remaking something like The Italian Job or Psycho, you want to be very, very careful.
The veterans mindset is different. They remake because they think they can do something ‘a little different’ with it. So, what you’re basically saying is “Your film was quite good but, you know what you should’ve done…”
I’m a huge Tim Burton fan, but what happened with his ‘re-imagining’ of Planet Of The Apes. I wasn’t a massive lover of the original but still; as a stand alone film it just didn’t work.
Usually, it’s in the effects department where most of the sensible reasons for a remake lie. There’s no question, Peter Jackson’s King Kong is a far more believable version than Merian C. Cooper’s and Co back in 1933, but does that make it a more superior movie?
See, we’re back to comparisons again. In another 70 years they’ll remake it again in Real-D.
As for director’s who remake pictures from their own back catalogue confuse me even further. I’m thinking Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. I can hear the studio “..A large percentage of the english speaking population will catogorically rule out anything with subtitles. Remake it in english, that way they don’t have to read anything, afterall it’s a cinema not a library huh?”
Sam Raimi is attached to a remake of The Evil Dead with both him and Bruce Campbell on producing duties. The original’s great as it is. Leave it be.
Tim Burton may redeem himself in the remake department though with Frankenweenie a feature-length version of his early short, about a boy and his dead dog. December 2009 is the targeted release time.
A remake of the 1982 classic The Thing is having a makeover, with Battlestar Galactic producer Ronald D Moore attached to it. It’s being described as a companion rather than a remake.
My point is, that that particular tale has been told. Anymore and the ploy of ‘they liked it the first time so they’ll come back a second time’ could backfire.
Future Remakes In The Pipeline:
Near Dark
The Witches
The Karate Kid
Footloose
Escape From New York
Akira
Dune
WARNING: If you embark on a remake project, think about this: You may be about to completely violate someones work. Literally before our eyes.
