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Please don't do that! Sequels and Remakes you did not see coming... (1 Viewer)

Winston T. Boogie

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So, what this thread is all about is sequels, remakes or reboots you can't believe are happening (and I guess you could mean that in a good or bad way)...and looking over lists on the internet these literally outnumber new original films by about 100 to 1. I'm not kidding. Pretty much you name it, it is getting a remake, reboot or sequel.

To me this craze of remaking, rebooting, or creating sequels for existing properties is mostly just terrible but obviously the people paying to make motion pictures these days just prefer a property that they don't have to sell as much because people know it already...and maybe audiences prefer this too based on the fact there are about 800+ pictures in the pipeline that are a remake, reboot, or sequel.

So, I was really curious to hear people's thoughts on this trend and what they love or hate about it and what films that are coming that you would prefer to just see set on fire rather than get a release or the films you are actually excited to see get a reboot, remake, or sequel.

Obviously I don't like this trend and I think it has reached such a fevered pitch now that it is totally out of control but there are remakes that I have really loved. Two prime examples being the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and John Carpenter's remake of The Thing From Another World. Now these are probably often cited as "good" remakes but really for every one of these there are probably 10 that really did not work.

One soon to be released sequel that is coming out, and that I actually thought was a joke when it was first mentioned, is the sequel to Sicario, Soldado. I did not even believe they were doing this when it was announced but sure enough they have this in the can and it will soon be making it's way into theaters. Now I saw no reason for a Sicario sequel, I loved the first film and felt it had a perfect ending that did not leave me wondering about any of the characters. I know the film was a "hit" sort of and the critics liked it but I would have never guessed there would be a sequel made and Brolin and Del Toro would return...obviously Blunt's arc ends in the first film so she is not back.

soldado 2017.jpg


I also just saw we are getting a new version of Dune, it is Denis Villeneuve's next project now that he has wrapped the Blade Runner sequel...obviously another sequel that is coming many years after the original film which really did not need a sequel...but like Soldado, I will see this sequel because I enjoyed the first film. Dune is said to be Villeneuve's "dream project" and since the Lynch version is not so well thought of it is maybe a good choice to remake but it is a weird and complex tale that I think presents a lot of challenges to sell to an audience and get them to understand it and get into it. Supposedly after Villeneuve's run of successful features they asked him "What do you want to do if you could do anything?" and he said "Dune." and they bought him the rights to it.

We also will soon have a new comedy version of Sherlock Holmes...since Sherlock Holmes seems as popular as ever right now and there have been several versions recently both on television and at the movies so why not throw in a comedy featuring Will Ferrell as Holmes and John C. Reilly as Watson. It's shooting now.

So, what are the sequels, remakes, reboots you most don't want and want to see? Do you love this trend or hate this trend? How many Batman films are too many?
 
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atfree

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I pretty much refuse to watch any remake. I caved and watched "The Magnificent Seven" remake and was left appreciating Sturges version even more ( and, yes, I know it was a remake itself). Basically todays climate is a combination of lack of creativity and fanboys in the movie business trying to reinvent the films of their youth.
 

TravisR

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For me it is all the Disney films. Do we really need a live action Dumbo? Lion KIng? Snow White?
I find the idea of remaking animated movies as 'real' movies to be creatively bankrupt (not to mention, that it essentially is like saying that animation is somehow inferior to live action) but the problem for me is that I thought the live action Cinderella and The Jungle Book ended up being pretty good so I can't really criticize the finished product. They were both certainly better than the average dopey summer special effects movie and more interesting than the umpteenth comic book movie.



Basically todays climate is a combination of lack of creativity and fanboys in the movie business trying to reinvent the films of their youth.
But that's what people go and see. Look at each year's top 10 grossers for the last decade and it's nearly all movies that are based on existing movies, comics, books, video games or toys and CG animation. If the public took a chance on a unknown movie, Hollywood would too.
 
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Colin Jacobson

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I pretty much refuse to watch any remake. I caved and watched "The Magnificent Seven" remake and was left appreciating Sturges version even more ( and, yes, I know it was a remake itself).

I can't understand why you'd issue a blanket refusal to watch remakes when - as you note - the movie you appear to revere was a remake.

Many classics are remakes - people just don't act like they were because they're old 'n' stuff...
 

atfree

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I can't understand why you'd issue a blanket refusal to watch remakes when - as you note - the movie you appear to revere was a remake.

Many classics are remakes - people just don't act like they were because they're old 'n' stuff...
Because I can't name one modern Hollywood (post 1980) remake that was superior in any way to the original.
 

Winston T. Boogie

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Well, Bond 25 is supposedly underway with an October 2018 release slot...albeit without a director yet and without an official announcement on if Daniel Craig will be back as Bond (but rumor has it he is and this will be his last). So, that's a lot of sequels/reboots...

Bond 25.png
 

dpippel

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But that's what people go and see. Look at each year's top 10 grossers for the last decade and it's nearly all movies that are based on existing movies, comics, books, video games or toys and CG animation. If the public took a chance on a unknown movie, Hollywood would too.

But which came first? The chicken or the egg? Every single redo/remake/reimagining/sequel ever made started out as an original idea. Where did that go? The problem as I see it is that, creatively speaking, Hollywood simply has no balls any longer. They're so entrenched in the notion that they have to invest $150 million per film and do something that's already been done a dozen times because it's "safe", that they've lost the ability to take a chance on something fresh. For the most part. There are exceptions of course, but they're rare. Another factor is the huge overseas market. Even though the next Zack Snyder superhero crapfest might get a critical drubbing, the money people know that by the time all is said and done they'll make some serious bank when the foreign box office and home media sales are added up. It's safe money.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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Because I can't name one modern Hollywood (post 1980) remake that was superior in any way to the original.
Remakes in the past could be good, e.g. the color version of The 10 Commandments or the Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon.

How about a remake of The Phantom Menace without Jar Jar in it?
 

dpippel

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Nope....especially not The Thing or True Grit. Just upping the gore factor or making it more realistic doesn't equal better to me.

Couldn't disagree with you more here. As far as I'm concerned, Carpenter's The Thing is superior to Hawks' in every single way. The unsettling, palpable sense of dread and paranoia he stirs up is wonderful filmmaking and a real achievement. Technically though, Carpenter didn't "remake" the older film. Instead he went back to the source material, the novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.

True Grit is apples and oranges. BOTH films are excellent, for different reasons.
 
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