Ok, what is happening? It seems fresh, new ideas are very rare in the movie industry right now and instead our cinemas are being flooded with remakes of films, adaptations of novels and even sequels and prequels to add on to the success of already well-established films.

Some of these do in fact turn out to be quite successful.

However, then you have those remakes of films that turn out to be much worse, leaving many of us pondering: “What were they thinking?” and those more passionately opposed, asking: “Why?! Why?! Why?!”

Here is a list I compiled of some of the “recycled” movie ideas, both the box-office successes and the ones we would rather ignore…

 

MOVIE REMAKES:

Alfie (Jude Law replacing Michael Caine as a womaniser… interesting)

Bangkok Dangerous (starring Nicolas Cage!)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (one of my favourite films and my favourite actor Johnny Depp, though I also love the original too- which is kind of weird seeing as though most people either like one or the other)

Charlotte’s Web (this time with real animals)

Cheaper by the Dozen (Can’t say I’m a fan of Hilary Duff)

Chicago (Haven’t seen the original but no doubt the newer version did very well)

Dracula (of course, we have to include all the famous horror films)

Godzilla (and all the Japanese films remade by Hollywood)

House of Wax (Paris Hilton… I haven’t seen either film but I reckon the original casting couldn’t have been any worse than the remake!)

King Kong (I still can’t make up my mind about this one. A good cast but I dunno…)

My Sister Eileen (Although probably not as famous as some of the other movies on this list, the newest film version, made in 1955, is quite a good film)

Ned Kelly (Pretty good… I recommend seeing The Story of the Kelly Gang, made in 1906- it’s the world’s first feature film and a real nice piece of film history)

Ocean’s Eleven (I’m pretty sure most people don’t have a problem with the newer version… George Clooney and Brad Pitt… Yeah, no problems there…)

Planet of the Apes (My favourite director Tim Burton is not immune from a few remakes of his own)

Poseidon (Almost a general consensus that the original was better)

Psycho (I haven’t seen it but can’t think why you would touch classic Hitchcock?!)

Quo Vadis (I like the newest 2001 version, by Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz)

Scarface (the man Al Pacino)

The Birds (Yes, apparently they are remaking this classic and set to release it next year!)

The Fly (Not a strict remake but Jeff Goldblum did a good job, as always)

The Italian Job (I think both versions were quite successful)

The Mummy (Another of my favourite films… So I don’t think I want to see the original)

The Nutty Professor (Yes, our beloved Professor Klump is a remake of Professor Kelp)

The Pink Panther (I personally think we should leave Blake Edwards classics alone)

The Ring (Another Japanese thriller remade for English audiences)

Titanic (Being one of the highest-grossing films of all time, I doubt anyone opposes this remake)

Twelve Monkeys (Based on a 1962 film La Jetée, I think the modern version is more… action-packed)

Victor/Victoria (A Blake Edwards remake of a German film starring Julie Andrews)

War of the Worlds (Hmm… Don’t thinkthe result was quite what people expected)

You’ve Got Mail (Though I really like this movie, I also love the original called The Shop around the Corner)

 

ADAPTATIONS:

Batman, X-Men, The Hulk + many other comic books-turned feature films (some good, some not as good… seems to be a superhero craze going on)

Harry Potter (fair enough!)

Lord of the Rings (again, understandable… the trilogy was super-successful)

The Devil Wears Prada (It proved to be a hit and now rumoured to be made into a TV series)

The Great Gatsby (a fantastic novel and the movie versions are ok)

The Quiet American (this time I thought the novel was ok and the movie, well a little better… Brendan Fraser!)

To Kill A Mockingbird (a classic that everyone should read and watch)

Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet + other Shakespeare plays (well, I guess Leonardo Di Caprio is one way of making Elizabethan plays appeal to a modern audience)

 

SEQUELS AND PREQUELS

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford still going strong)

James Bond (Never-ending!)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Another of my favourite films… and quite possibly a fourth movie coming up!)

Rambo (Sylvester Stallone just couldn’t resist buffing up for a reprisal 20 years later… and not to mention the Son of Rambow film as well, which is really just a lack of fresh ideas)

Rocky (Love these films… Stallone had the muscles and didn’t want them to go to waste)

Star Wars (I really enjoy these films but I think maybe overall I like the last three films in the series a little more than the first three more modern ones)

 

AND THEN YOU GOT TV:

Bewitched (Unfortunately didn’t go quite to plan for Nicole Kidman)

Charlie’s Angels (Yep, successful chick-flicks)

Get Smart (“Missed it by that much”… Actually I haven’t seen it yet but Steve Carell is hilarious)

Hannah Montana (“The best of both worlds”… Seriously, she’s dominating in both film and music!)

Mission Impossible (No denying Tom Cruise did a good job in it)

Mr. Bean (Of course, who can forget the amusing antics of Rowan Atkinson)

Power Rangers (I loved this show as a kid!)

Sex and the City (Had women around the world going crazy in anticipation)

The Brady Bunch (I had to mention them!)

The Simpsons (What was it- like, ten years in the making or something? Well, it paid off I reckon)

Scooby-Doo (Popular with the kids… and some adults too)

South Park (Never watched the series but suppose the fans were happy for a feature-length film)

Transformers (I think it turned out to be more successful than expected)

 

Well, there you go. I said I’d write a few but ended up writing quite a big list. Just goes to show how many films are based on earlier movies, adaptations of already successful novels or television series.

It may seem like the safe option for an industry that seems to be favouring ready-made plots but sometimes you just have to take a step back and think: is it worth doing? What will audiences be thinking in five years time?