The most remade movies of all time (1 Viewer)

[Martin Dew]

Martin Dew submitted a new blog post

The most remade movies of all time

Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Tino]

The “noughties?”

Do you mean the “nineties”?

 

[Martin Dew]

Noughties, aka 2000s.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

The most unnecessary remakes:

* Psycho (1998) — I still don’t understand how this movie ever got funding. A “shot-by-shot” remake of the original — but without Alfred Hitchcock directing. It may have been a “shot-by-shot” remake, but the second-by-second tension of the original was never there.

* Total Recall (2012) — This thing started with a huge strike against it: No Arnold! Then it followed that up by setting all the action on an overpopulated Earth: No Mars! Why did they even call this thing “Total Recall”? Oh, yeah: The girl with 3 breasts!

* Ben-Hur (2016) — This one never had a chance: The 1959 version — already a remake — is heavily ingrained as a cinema classic. Charlton Heston *is* Ben-Hur. And the movie is seemingly released every other year on various home video formats.

A good remake:
King Kong (2005) — While the original 1933 King Kong still has more heart, at least Jackson had the right idea: Redo a classic special effects monster movie with up to date CGI effects. Only problem: CGI effects were barely 10 years old in 2005 and have improved immensely since then (Blue Genies not withstanding). So he may have been about a decade too soon, and the movie is definitely a little bloated, but Jackson’s version is stiil the best rendition of “King Kong” to date and an overall improvement over the original.

 

[TravisR]

A good remake:
King Kong (2005) — While the original 1933 King Kong still has more heart, at least Jackson had the right idea: Redo a classic special effects monster movie with up to date CGI effects. Only problem: CGI effects were barely 10 years old in 2005 and have improved immensely since then (Blue Genies not withstanding). So he may have been about a decade too soon, and the movie is definitely a little bloated, but Jackson’s version is stiil the best rendition of “King Kong” to date and an overall improvement over the original.

I think the 2005 King Kong is fantastic (though I wouldn't say it's better than the original) but one of my favorite things about it is that you can see that Peter Jackson LOVES the original version and the whole thing is a love letter to the '33 one.

 

[Matt Hough]

If one includes TV-movies, I'd say The Hound of the Baskervilles ranks right up there among the most remade films.

 

[Ethan Riley]

The grand champion of them all should be Alice in Wonderland, if you take tv remakes into account.

 

[Tino]

Noughties, aka 2000s.

Interesting. Never heard that expression.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

The most unnecessary remakes:

* Psycho (1998) — I still don’t understand how this movie ever got funding. A “shot-by-shot” remake of the original — but without Alfred Hitchcock directing. It may have been a “shot-by-shot” remake, but the second-by-second tension of the original was never there.

* Total Recall (2012) — This thing started with a huge strike against it: No Arnold! Then it followed that up by setting all the action on an overpopulated Earth: No Mars! Why did they even call this thing “Total Recall”? Oh, yeah: The girl with 3 breasts!

* Ben-Hur (2016) — This one never had a chance: The 1959 version — already a remake — is heavily ingrained as a cinema classic. Charlton Heston *is* Ben-Hur. And the movie is seemingly released every other year on various home video formats.

A good remake:
King Kong (2005) — While the original 1933 King Kong still has more heart, at least Jackson had the right idea: Redo a classic special effects monster movie with up to date CGI effects. Only problem: CGI effects were barely 10 years old in 2005 and have improved immensely since then (Blue Genies not withstanding). So he may have been about a decade too soon, and the movie is definitely a little bloated, but Jackson’s version is stiil the best rendition of “King Kong” to date and an overall improvement over the original.

Want to add The Day the Earth Stood Still & Fahrenheit 451....very disappointed in both of them!

 

[Johnny Angell]

Are the multiple variations of Frankenstein and Dracula considered remakes? If so, they might be the champions.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

* Psycho (1998) — I still don’t understand how this movie ever got funding.

Gus Van Sant was coming off a massive hit with "Good Will Hunting" so he had box office clout.

I also think the studio figured the novelty of the concept and the name value of the property would sell tickets...

 

[Robert Crawford]

The most unnecessary remakes:

* Psycho (1998) — I still don’t understand how this movie ever got funding. A “shot-by-shot” remake of the original — but without Alfred Hitchcock directing. It may have been a “shot-by-shot” remake, but the second-by-second tension of the original was never there.

* Total Recall (2012) — This thing started with a huge strike against it: No Arnold! Then it followed that up by setting all the action on an overpopulated Earth: No Mars! Why did they even call this thing “Total Recall”? Oh, yeah: The girl with 3 breasts!

* Ben-Hur (2016) — This one never had a chance: The 1959 version — already a remake — is heavily ingrained as a cinema classic. Charlton Heston *is* Ben-Hur. And the movie is seemingly released every other year on various home video formats.

A good remake:
King Kong (2005) — While the original 1933 King Kong still has more heart, at least Jackson had the right idea: Redo a classic special effects monster movie with up to date CGI effects. Only problem: CGI effects were barely 10 years old in 2005 and have improved immensely since then (Blue Genies not withstanding). So he may have been about a decade too soon, and the movie is definitely a little bloated, but Jackson’s version is stiil the best rendition of “King Kong” to date and an overall improvement over the original.

That's a debate for another thread as I thought we were just discussing which movie has been remade more often.

 

[Astairefan]

I would agree with Christmas Carol. Surely by now that would have to be one of the most remade movies, with theatrical films, tv movies and episodes of many tv shows!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Are the multiple variations of Frankenstein and Dracula considered remakes? If so, they might be the champions.

If you include the many variations then yes, they're probably the champions of remakes.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Are the multiple variations of Frankenstein and Dracula considered remakes? If so, they might be the champions.

I don't think of properties like those - or Robin Hood or Alice in Wonderland or Christmas Carol - as true "remakes".

They're "re-adaptations", IMO.

For me, a true "remake" has to be a new version of something that only existed as a movie/TV show, not another filmed version of a book or play.

There are exceptions. For instance, the 1960 "Psycho" was based on a book, but the 1998 version was still clearly a remake of that film, not a new version of the novel.

But otherwise, it's murky. The 2018 "Robin Hood" wasn't an actual remake of any prior movies - it was just another version of that story...

 

[mattCR]

A Star is Born of course has had plenty, but good stories can work; which makes me, reading through this list, remember that there could be opportunities for a few remakes that I think done in new time periods pay off..

IE, a Brewster's Millions update today (let's say Billions?) could be fun.
And while Robin Hood gets remade frequently, I keep waiting for someone to make: "Digital Robin Hood" make it a film like Ocean's 8/11 except the grand heist is, I don't know, wiping out tons of student loan debt.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Depends on how you define remake. If you take Shaw's Pygmalion, for instance, you have:

• the 1935 German film
• Hoi Polloi (1935 -- the Three Stooges version)
  
• the 1937 Dutch film
• the 1938 British film (screenplay by Shaw)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• The Opening of Misty Beethoven (the porn version)
• Pretty Woman (1990)
  
• She's All That (1999)
• "Selfie" (2014 series with John Cho as Henry and Karen Gillan as Eliza)
  
• The Duff (2015)

 

[Tommy R]

The Time Machine has had 4 direct adaptations:

1949 - Live tv program
1960 - Theatrical motion picture
1978 - TV movie
2002 - Theatical motion picture

I think I read they’re doing a tv series adaptation coming soon. I’m actually really interested in that. I wish I could see the 1949 version, but it was only broadcast and not recorded.

 

[Matt Hough]

Lots of versions of The Three Musketeers, too.

 

[B-ROLL]

The Prince and The Pauper ...