Yet More Remakes

[drednm]

Beware remakes! This weekend's Ben-Hur was a huge CGI bomb yet on the horizon are a remake of the 1974 hit Murder on the Orient Express, a superstar murder mystery based on an Agatha Christie work and starring Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman (an Oscar win), Lauren Bacall, Vanessa Redgrave, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, John Gielgud, Jacqueline Bisset, Richard Widmark, Rachel Roberts, Michael York, Wendy Hiller, and Martin Balsam.

 

Ben Affleck just announced a remake of Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, a 1957 starrer for Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, and Elsa Lanchester, which had a TV movie remake in 1982 starring Diana Rigg, Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr, and Beau Bridges.

 

Hell, there's even a 2016 British TV movie coming up, a re-do of the classic TV series Are You Being Served? (which also spun off a 1977 feature film) with Sherrie Hewson as Mrs. Slocombe. Can anyone really replace Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton and the rest of the beloved cast members?

[TopBilled]

What does this trend signify? 

 

Does it mean a lack of creativity? Or is it strictly financial-- because they save money reusing stories they already own? And they think there might be a built-in audience for these?

 

Or is it Hollywood vanity-- surely this generation of filmmakers can out-do what came before!

 

Maybe it's all of the above.

[Sepiatone]

Quite possibly( and hopefully) some of these remakes might spur the younger viewers who see the remakes without having ever seen the originals to SEE the originals.

 

After all, many of the "classics" I like were first seen by me as remakes.  But that being long before the advent of VHS tape, DVDs and players, it took some years before I got treated to some of the originals.  Times have changed though, and the move from remake to original is considerably shorter.

 

 

Sepiatone

[cigarjoe]

What does this trend signify? 

 

Does it mean a lack of creativity? Or is it strictly financial-- because they save money reusing stories they already own? And they think there might be a built-in audience for these?

 

Or is it Hollywood vanity-- surely this generation of filmmakers can out-do what came before!

 

Maybe it's all of the above.

Why don't they remake films with decent stories that originally bombed because of poor direction, lousy casting, or low budget? If just owning the story is the incentive?  If I thought awhile I think I can come up with a few flawed gems, or even films whose stories that were originally hampered by the Hayes Code. 

 

Yea, that's it, only remake films that were produced under the production code, and lets see how they may have turned out, ;-)

[TopBilled]

Why don't they remake films with decent stories that originally bombed because of poor direction, lousy casting, or low budget?

 

You're spot-on with this. Couldn't agree more. I think they are confusing technology upgrades (like restorations with cleaned up video and audio) with the need to remake the whole thing. They should be focusing on remaking the films that performed modestly back in the day but had problems with casting, editing, direction or the production code-- stuff that can be remedied in a remake to turn a bigger profit.

 

They don't understand why something should be remade and when something does not need to be remade at all. 

[RoyCronin]

The Screen Actors Guild must have required the Orient Express remake in the last Contract Negotiation. Hire a plethora of well known bad actors all at once.

[scsu1975]

Why don't they remake films with decent stories that originally bombed because of poor direction, lousy casting, or low budget?

Yes, I'd love to see a remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

[Dargo]

Yes, I'd love to see a remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

 

YEAH?! So then tell me here sir, who could EVER replace the great Tor in that one, HUH?!

 

(...now maybe Elvira could be the new Vampira, and maybe Donny Trump could be the new Criswell, but once again WHO could EVER replace Tor, I ask you sir!) 

[scsu1975]

YEAH?! So then tell me here sir, who could EVER replace the great Tor in that one, HUH?!

 

(...now maybe Elvira could be the new Vampira, and maybe Donny Trump could be the new Criswell, but once again WHO could EVER replace Tor, I ask you sir!) 

Well, given all the gender switching in films now, I'd suggest Rosie O'Donnell or Melissa McCarthy as Inspector Clay. And make Vampira a guy. When does Michael Feinstein finish his hosting gig? As for Criswell, just use a computer-generated Mr.Softee.

[Dargo]

Well, given all the gender switching in films now, I'd suggest Rosie O'Donnell or Melissa McCarthy as Inspector Clay. And make Vampira a guy. When does Michael Feinstein finish his hosting gig? As for Criswell, just use a computer-generated Mr.Softee.

 

Hmmmm...ya know, that just might work!

 

Now, you're thinkin' Michael Feinstein for the guy who says, "Your stupid minds! Stupid, stupid!", RIGHT?! Yep, that JUST might work.

 

(...I should'a known I could count on you here, Rich ol' boy)

[Dargo]

OH, btw Rich. You ARE thinkin' either Rosie or Melissa will have to shave their head to REALLY flesh out Tor's character, aren't ya???

[scsu1975]

Hmmmm...ya know, that just might work!

 

Now, you're thinkin' Michael Feinstein for the guy who says, "Your stupid minds! Stupid, stupid!", RIGHT?! Yep, that JUST might work.

 

 

No, I'm thinking of Feinstein wearing a tight black dress and showing cleavage.

As for Dudley "Your stupid minds" Manlove, maybe Hillary Clinton if the presidential gig doesn't work out.

[scsu1975]

OH, btw Rich. You ARE thinkin' either Rosie or Melissa will have to shave their head to REALLY flesh out Tor's character, aren't ya???

Of course, as long as that's the only flesh they show.

[Dargo]

Of course, as long as that's the only flesh they show.

 

So, those bare midriff showing tube top things will definitely be a no-no here you're sayin', huh?! Yeah, that's probably a good move here.

 

(...but WAIT...how about IF we change the setting on this thing to a Walmart?...THAT kind'a thing might work then, RIGHT?!)

[TopBilled]

Quite possibly( and hopefully) some of these remakes might spur the younger viewers who see the remakes without having ever seen the originals to SEE the originals.

 

But it's possible the newest crop of remakes are going to be seen as "Classics" in ten years. 

 

It's kind of like people being so satisfied with the 1941 version of THE MALTESE FALCON, that there is no need to ever go back and look at the 1931 version. 

[scsu1975]

 

 

(...but WAIT...how about IF we change the setting on this thing to a Walmart?...THAT might work, RIGHT?!)

Yes. And they have an ample supply of shower curtains for the cockpit scene (pay no attention to the shadow of the book mike).

 

[Richard Kimble]

In the '30s remakes added sound

 

In the '60s stories were were remade to add color and widescreen

 

The the '70s "revisionist" remakes took advanced of loosened censorship

 

While a major reason or remakes today is CGI, I think the main reason is simply a story's track record, producers can tell the studio "It's worked before!"

 

Some of the remakes still don't make sense to me. I don't really understand remaking Ben-Hur. I presume the religious angle was de-emphasized in this new version. That was a big selling point of the original.

[drednm]

You can bet the remake of Murder on the Orient Express will be a PC casting delight with CGI train effects.

[Richard Kimble]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/04/14/25-films-set-for-a-reboot-or-remake/

 

25 films set for a reboot or remake

 

2. Mary Poppins (1964)

Director: Robert Stevenson
Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and David Tomlinson

THE REMAKE

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep and Lin-Manuel Miranda
Set 20 years after the Disney original, the new film will take place in Depression-era London. It is due to take its storylines from PL Travers’s children books focusing on Poppins’s continued adventures with the Banks family. Blunt will star as the titular supernanny alongside the Tony-winning creator of the Hamilton musical as a lamplighter named Jack.

 

11. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Director: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
Honours: Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director

THE REMAKE

Director: Roger Donaldson
Starring: TBA. Although Travis Fimmel is currently attached to the project.
Like Logan’s Run, All Quiet is positioned as a re-adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel, rather than a remake of the original film. Daniel Radcliffe was once attached to the production, but it’s understood he is no longer involved.

 

23. The Birds (1963)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy
Honours: Nominated for one Academy Award; Tippi Hedren won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer

THE REMAKE

Director: Diederik Van Rooijen
Starring: Naomi Watts
Alarm bells may ring when you hear that Michael Bay - he of Transformers and Pearl Harbor fame - is producing this new take on the Hitchcock original. The last notable Hitchcock remake was Gus Van Sant's 1998 version of Psycho, a shot-by-shot copy starring Vince Vaughn.

 

[LawrenceA]

I posted this in another thread recently:

 

110 movie remakes and reboots currently in the works

 

http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/remakes/36637/110-movie-remakes-and-reboots-currently-in-the-works#ixzz4GJDe1avr

[TopBilled]

You can bet the remake of Murder on the Orient Express will be a PC casting delight with CGI train effects.

 

Yes, I think so too...they will try to improve on the casting of the original (as if you could) and to make it more explosive (literally).

[TopBilled]

A few days ago Monika Henreid (Paul Henreid's daughter) posted on Facebook that Warners is going ahead with a remake of CASABLANCA. Of course, many people are not happy about it.

[drednm]

A few days ago Monika Henreid (Paul Henreid's daughter) posted on Facebook that Warners is going ahead with a remake of CASABLANCA. Of course, many people are not happy about it.

 

Probably with Halle Berry

[cody1949]

 When the people who finance remakes of classic films lose their shirts, NOTHING MAKES ME HAPPIER !  Imagine the stupidity of remaking BEN-HUR. And now I see CASABLANCA might be coming next.  Where is the originality that once existed in Hollywood ?  

[JamesJazGuitar]

Why don't they remake films with decent stories that originally bombed because of poor direction, lousy casting, or low budget? If just owning the story is the incentive?  If I thought awhile I think I can come up with a few flawed gems, or even films whose stories that were originally hampered by the Hayes Code. 

 

Yea, that's it, only remake films that were produced under the production code, and lets see how they may have turned out, ;-)

 

The point you raise is the first question I would ask myself as a producer; 

 

Do I use source material (play, book, original screenplay), that was made into a movie that originally bombed,  for whatever reason, and create a creative team to build a better breadbox OR do I take source material where the movie already made was well done and as well as a hit. 

 

Note there is another variation here;  I believe the prior film was well made but it was NOT a hit.

 

To me #1 is the biggest creative challenge.    #3 would be my next choice but more from a profit motive POV (e.g. exploring the reasons the prior film wasn't a hit and making changes to increase the odds the new one would be well received by today's audience.

 

#2;  Well as many around here say;  why remake a film that was well made and a hit.    Yea, there are some reason (e.g. if the film is a musical updating the music),   but out of the 3 this is the least attractive to me.