I originally wrote this in September of 2007, but considering the string of remakes and reboots that have come since and are planned for the future, I thought I’d bring it to your attention once again…
This article was prompted by news that Sony is looking for writers to do a new version of the campy 1985 horror flick Fright Night, an idea that readers of Screen Rant might be surprised to hear I’m not against.
For the most part, I despise Hollywood’s habit of remaking past films. Sure sometimes it works (The Departed, Ocean’s 11, The Thomas Crown Affair, Scarface), but for the vast majority it doesn’t (Planet of the Apes, The Poseiden Adventure, The Pink Panther, Point of No Return, Sabrina, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc., etc., etc.), and is just a blatant and often creatively bankrupt attempt at cashing in on the name of some past, well-known movie.
So having said that, when is it okay to remake a film? If it’s done well, I don’t have a problem with remakes of original films that meet any of the following criteria:
1. Stories in the public domain that have already had multiple movie remakes done.
Movies based on classic stories like The Three Musketeers, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. These have been remade so many times already that you can’t really logically argue against another one, and sometimes a newer version turns out to be quite good.
2. The original is terribly dated in either setting or pacing and style.
In this category you’ll find movies like Ocean’s 11 and The Thomas Crown Affair. I’ve watched both the original versions and the remakes and while I’m no fan of the seizure-inducing, quick-cut filming style used in so many movies today, the pacing in some movies from the late 60′s/early 70′s was so slow that it could put you in a coma.
3. The original is not terribly well known or beloved.
Let me start off by saying that there is a special place reserved in Hell for the person that ever gets a remake of Casablanca produced. Some movies should just be off limits. Period. Movies that are a part of the fabric of the history of cinema should just be left alone, if for no other reason than because they have withstood the test of time and are still considered excellent and extremely enjoyable today. In addition to Casablanca I would add It’s a Wonderful Life, 12 Angry Men, The Maltese Falcon (yes, I know the Humphrey Bogart version is a remake, but let’s leave it alone now, shall we?) and of course, Citizen Kane. There are many others, but you get the gist.
4. The remake does in fact bring something new while respecting the original.
Here we have movies like Cape Fear, The Magnificent Seven and The Thing. Each of these was a remake that brought something fresh to the original story, whether in concept or execution.
5. The original was basically pretty cheesy or tongue-in-check in tone and most folks wouldn’t care if it was remade.
Little Shop of Horrors and even Eight Legged Freaks as a new twist on the classic giant-ant movie Them. This is the category where I think a remake of Fright Night fits: It was pretty campy and didn’t take itself too seriously and while it was a fun movie, I don’t think it falls under “untouchable” status. In the right hands it could be quite good, but that’s certainly no guarantee.
So from now on when I rant against some remake, you’ll know that it doesn’t fall under any of the five rules listed above. 
What do you think… are there any other criteria under which it’s ok to remake a movie?
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“Requel” is a fantastic term. I'm totally stealing it.
The Departed was a remake of the “Infernal Affairs” Japanese crime movie trilogy. While the Japanese original films were good, The Departed kicked some major ass!
First of all, Korean not Japanese, second of all Internal Affairs not Infernal..
And finally, the original film is way better than The Departed.
If you’re going to correct someone get your facts right, It’s not Korean or Japanese but a Hong Kong movie and it is Infernal affairs not Internal Affairs
Gotta agree, the original 12 Angry Men was a kick ass movie, littered with some of the best character actors of all time. Fonda did that flick on his own dime and I wish it was mandatory viewing for every person who has to sit on a jury of one's peers.
I think the work of great directors should not be redone. You know at some point somebody is going to want to do their own version of A Clockwork Orange or remake Taxi Driver. Films that have become part of the language of cinema by great directors should be left alone. I don't want to see remakes of Welles, Ford, Hawks, Kubrick, Scorcese, Coppola…etc…
I know at some point somebody will want to remake (reboot! such a dumb term) The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, do a version of Raging Bull in color and other such stupidity…all they need to believe is it will make money.
So Dawn of the Dead broke rule number 3, correct?
Does anyone know if “the jacket” is a re make of an older film?
Does anyone know if “the jacket” is a re make of an older film?
The stars have to be bigger or more well known than the originals. Clash of Titans starred ….who again? And the dude from American Pie in Rollerball …. whats his face.
Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith
I agree with some and disagree with others…..I think it all depends. And Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is not a re-make of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory…..it is a different adaptation of the book by Roald Dahl.
You are correct. In fact, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was closer to the book than 1970′s Willy Wonka but imo, Gene Wilder’s Wonka is 100 times more memorable.
Im with you, yet I would love to see a re-remake of “The Thing”. The original scared the s#*t out of my dad when he was a kid, the remake scared the s@%t out of me when I was a kid and I think we are ready for a new one.John Carpender is still alive and kickn’.
I think You can remake a movie if you do it from a different angle. For example, The Green Hornet. While this was a movie based off a tv show, I think it worked because instead of going with the cops and robbers action theme and trying to be serious, they turned it into a comedy, without actually spoofing or defaming the original. I would personally be very interested in seeing a Pokemon movie done Gladiator style, with magical creature body parts flying left and right, as opposed to simply becoming squiggly eyed and falling over.
The Green Hornet was in no way a quality movie. It wasn’t funny, nor did it have any excitement. I think this movie falls into the “Cash Grab” category.
I think they should make a remake of “LOGAN’S RUN” it would fit in with the times, with over population, low resources, and global warming destroying our environment you couldn’t make a better remake than this one.
I guess you got your wish
They should remake Casablanca and do it ‘urban’. Ghetto baby!
I really don’t get why some people get so hung up about remakes.
It’s something the theatre industry has always done. Each time a play is put on by a different company it could be called a reboot.
The same goes for story telling in general. Before stories were written down in books they would spread through word of mouth. This left each storyteller to reboot the original source material as he saw fit.
The source material (or classic/untouchable version)can only benefit from the increased exposure when it gets re-made. For example, I didn’t hear about Let the Right One In until the remake was announced. I then ended up seeing the original and haven’t bothered with the US version.
I won’t even go into whether you could class a novel to screenplay as a reboot …
Sadly they did do a remake of Casablanca, a sci-fi one. It was Barb Wire!
I have to say I liked the Fright Night remake a lot better than the original. I watched the original right before the remake just for reference, and I’m kind of glad I did because I appreciated the references in the remake, and also the fact that they didn’t just rehash the same story but changed it just enough so that you didn’t feel like you already saw the movie and knew exactly what was going to happen.
The most important rule the zeroeth rule if you will.
If it was written a few years ago and nobody saw it to have an opinion but now it’s more relevant than ever (see what I did there).