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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be disgusted by these?

137 replies

SoniaFouler · 16/11/2021 19:28

Listed these on a post in another thread but I think it deserves a thread of its own. These are just some films that are being remade in 2022:

An American Werewolf in London
Dirty Dancing
Drop Dead Fred
The Birds
Little Shop Of Horrors
My Fair Lady
Scarface
The Bodyguard
Gremlins
The Lost Boys
Hellraiser
A Nightmare on Elm Street
I know what you did last Summer
Sister Act
The Sword in the Stone
The Fly

If recent remakes are anything to go by, paying to see any one of these will be a complete waste of money. AIBU? Are any of your favourites listed that you think a remake is needed/you would welcome?

OP posts:
Riskyrice · 16/11/2021 19:51

I think remaking a film is insulting to everyone who worked on and starred in the original.

SummaLuvin · 16/11/2021 19:51

They might be crap and unimaginative, but remakes can be great. I'm not a movie buff, but in terms of music the below are all cover version which have (arguably) outshone the original, there will be similar examples with films.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Amy Winehouse - Valerie
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

Justme10 · 16/11/2021 19:52

I thought dirty dancing was getting a sequel not a remake?
I'm sure I read that Jennifer Grey was coming back for it.

Drop Dead Fred is too far though, nobody can compare to Rik Mayall! Angry

Sparklesocks · 16/11/2021 19:53

I remember reading once that studios have to remake films every X number of years in order to retain the rights/copyright - so that’s probably part of it, cynical but money is king.

Redannie118 · 16/11/2021 19:53

Lost boys is being remade and is in production.
The fly has been stuck for over 30 years with no plans to move on.
Same for American Werewolf and Drop dead Fred

Justme10 · 16/11/2021 19:54

@Justme10

I thought dirty dancing was getting a sequel not a remake? I'm sure I read that Jennifer Grey was coming back for it.

Drop Dead Fred is too far though, nobody can compare to Rik Mayall! Angry

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/film/2020/aug/07/dirty-dancing-sequel-jennifer-grey
UthredofBattenberg · 16/11/2021 19:56

Oh no.nonononono.

They will be an abomination. Nononono.

I heard a rumour that Russell brand was touted for a drop dead fred remake, dear god I hope not. I dont know who apart from Rik Mayall could do that role

WhatHoMarjorie · 16/11/2021 19:57

Hollywood is run by accountants and they don't want to take the slightest risk so they rehash the old faves.

ForTheLoveOfSleep · 16/11/2021 19:57

How do you remake slasher films when everyone has a mobile phone now?

XenoBitch · 16/11/2021 19:58

YANBU
It is just lazy tbh.

SoniaFouler · 16/11/2021 20:02

@Sparklesocks

I remember reading once that studios have to remake films every X number of years in order to retain the rights/copyright - so that’s probably part of it, cynical but money is king.
I read up on this before but what I read said that remakes don’t extend the right/copyright to the original work - which I initially thought was the reason for them.
OP posts:
GnomeDePlume · 16/11/2021 20:03

I would be much more interested to see a remake of a film which somehow just missed rather than a remake of a film which was a hit.

Fridaysgirl17 · 16/11/2021 20:04

Isn't Sister Act a 3rd installment not a remake I'm sure Whoopi Goldberg has spoke about it a number of times on her show The View in the US

Fomofo · 16/11/2021 20:07

Are remakes allowed if they change the era, eg emma/clueless, Bridget Jones etc

Diversion · 16/11/2021 20:15

They can leave Lost Boys alone thank you very much!! "You'll Never Grow Old, Michael, And You'll Never Die. But You Must Feed!"

RampantIvy · 16/11/2021 20:17

And eat garlic Grin

5128gap · 16/11/2021 20:20

I couldn't bring myself to watch a lost boys remake knowing (my crush) Michael is being played by an 18 year old boy.

ohtwatbollocks · 16/11/2021 20:21

Most don't bother me-
But drop dead Fred and gremlins has me sad. I fucking love that film.

DrSbaitso · 16/11/2021 20:21

You couldn't make Hellraiser any worse than it already is. I don't understand why that tedious pile of crap is so famous and not infamous.

The rest are a disgrace, though.

DrSbaitso · 16/11/2021 20:23

@Fomofo

Are remakes allowed if they change the era, eg emma/clueless, Bridget Jones etc
Those aren't remakes, they're modern day retellings. And if done well, they're wonderful because they show how the stories are still relevant.
Mooserp · 16/11/2021 20:24

The Fly with Jeff Goldblum was actually a remake.

Rik Mayall was also in American Werewolf in London (teeny part)

tallduckandhandsome · 16/11/2021 20:25

@Fomofo

Are remakes allowed if they change the era, eg emma/clueless, Bridget Jones etc
Yes, but remakes of period dramas are allowed even if they don't change the era.
Graphista · 16/11/2021 20:26

Ugh I agree!

Fed up with Hollywood/filmmakers being so afraid to take a chance on new writers, new scripts, new ideas.

And for the love of god they need to

LEAVE BELOVED CLASSICS ALONE!

Who on Earth has the arrogance to think they can do better than Hitchcock?!

And surely it makes little business sense seeing as the majority of us familiar with the originals WON'T bother with the remakes?!

That must dent profits!

Is nobody writing new material or are the producers just playing it safe?

Plenty of new screen writers - and even new books as source material it's the producers being ludicrously risk averse

That's rhetorical though

Okidoke I'm still leaving my comment though

Haven't they already had a go at remaking Dirty Dancing and wasn't it a total flop?

They did. A dire TV movie I caught dd watching upon which she said "I thought you said it was great" and I said "the original is not this shite!"

We watched the original the following day and dd was like "that remake is a disaster!"

@unhomme I had a similar experience with my parents and their beloved films. I watched the originals then and learned not to bother with remakes even at that early age.

You need to get a grip if your “disgusted” by remakes of movies

I don't think it's an extreme reaction when you consider the impact of such decisions on the industry (which makes a LOT of money and employees millions of people), on writers and on our culture. This is not a frivolous decision.

I think remaking a film is insulting to everyone who worked on and starred in the original.

I agree especially when it's usually a very poor product the remake

@SummaLuvin remakes/cover versions better than the original are the exception rather than the rule

Hollywood is run by accountants and they don't want to take the slightest risk so they rehash the old faves.

Sadly true these days

Where are the auteurs? Where are the producers with an artistic background?

How do you remake slasher films when everyone has a mobile phone now?

Oh do not even get me started on that!

I'm a huge sue grafton fan. She swore she never wanted her books filmed and now less than 5 years after her passing her husband/family have sold her out and her books are being made into a tv series by bloody a&e studios which are part Disney

So god knows what a mess they're going to make!

Her dd on sm confirmed they aren't even going to be set in the 80's (which all the books are) they're going to have a modern setting which is going to totally mess with major plot points even conclusions in several of her books! It's a disaster in the making! Borne out of pure greed!

It's writers I feel for as they're being squeezed more and more and expected to work without appropriate compensation for their work. Yet without them the tv shows and films we know and love wouldn't exist at all.

gamerchick · 16/11/2021 20:26

They've remade nightmare on elm Street already havent they?

Graphista · 16/11/2021 20:29

Regarding writers getting shafted - see "gravity", Tess geritsen and Alfonso and jonàs cuaron

Utterly disgraceful what happened there