Why is Hollywood hooked on re-makes? The Man From U.N.C.L.E and Mad Max are the first of a long list of films that are set to be revisited
- Film industry is obsessed with remaking classics and 1980s blockbusters
- Movie version of Sixties hit TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is out now
- Follows release of spin-offs Mad Max: Fury Road and Terminator: Genisys
- Long list of remakes are due to be released like Ghostbusters and Scarface
Big hair, bigger shoulders and mobile phones the size of a breeze block — who’d want to to turn the clock back a couple of generations?
Hollywood, that’s who. The film industry is suddenly obsessed with remaking the classics that enthralled our parents and grandparents.
Guy Ritchie’s movie version of Sixties hit TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. starring Henry Cavill as superspy Napoleon Solo, is out now, and, fast-forwarding to the Eighties, just about every box-office smash of the Reagan/Thatcher years, whether thriller, chiller or comedy, is ripe for revisiting.
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1964: Robert Vaughn and Luciana Paluzzi in the TV original of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (left) 2015: Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander in the new film (right)
This year has already seen the release of Mad Max: Fury Road and Terminator: Genisys, both spin-offs from archetypal Eighties blockbusters.
And there’s much more to come. Chris Columbus, who wrote the original Gremlins movie and, three decades on, is directing its reinvention, believes he has identified what makes remakes so successful: ‘They touch into that emotional connection we have with our past.’
In other words, we loved these films once and we’re ready to love them all over again.
One of the most important factors is a guest appearance by an original star. A remake feels almost like a rip-off without the stamp of approval an elderly A-lister can bring. Witness the excitement earlier this year when Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and sidekick Chewbacca turned up in the trailer for the reboot of 1977’s Star Wars.
1981: Mel Gibson starred as Mad Max in the original movie (left) 2015: Tom Hardy donned the leathers for this year's Mad Max: Fury Road remake (right)
But it’s the Eighties and early Nineties that exert maximum fascination — partly because the teen audiences of that era generally have teenagers of their own now, making these films into family events.
The irony is that 30 years ago, nobody with any self-respect made sequels or remakes . . . or paid to see them.
But in the past decade, 90 per cent of the most popular films have been based on earlier movies, comic books or novels. It seems no one in Hollywood now has an original notion in their heads.
Good job there are so many great ideas to be plundered from the past.
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner (1982): Harrison Ford describes the sequel’s script as ‘the best thing I’ve ever read’
Harrison Ford describes the sequel’s script as ‘the best thing I’ve ever read’.
Set 30 years after the original story, little has been revealed about the plot — but robot-hunter Rick Deckard (Ford) is not expected to appear until the climax of the film.
So far the only actor confirmed apart from Ford is Ryan Gosling. Director Ridley Scott has handed over to French-Canadian Denis Villeneuve, while the cinematographer is one of the most respected in Hollywood, Roger Deakins.
He’s steeped in movie imagery, and he will need to be because Blade Runner’s flying cars, rain-soaked electronic billboards and billowing smoke were all achieved in an era before computer graphics, and still look convincing.
Release date: Filming starts in 2016.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984): Who ya gonna call? Not Bill Murray and his original slapstick parapsychologists
Ghostbusters (2015): The new stars are Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon.Director Paul Feig is promising to rein in the comedy and deliver a more frightening, horror-filled movie
Who ya gonna call? Not Bill Murray and his original slapstick parapsychologists. Next year a feminist reboot of the spooky comedy will feature four women as the hapless raygun-toting scientists.
The new stars are Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon.Director Paul Feig is promising to rein in the comedy and deliver a more frightening, horror-filled movie. Creator Dan Ackroyd has confirmed a cameo role.
Clearly, that won’t be enough to satisfy him, because earlier this year Ackroyd announced he was in talks about producing another remake — with a squad of male Ghostbusters.
Never mind ‘Who ya gonna call?’, which ya gonna watch?
Release date: July 22, 2016.
Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins (1984): The rules are the same: if you have a pet Mogwai, never expose it to sunlight, never get it wet and, no matter how it begs, never feed it after midnight — or it will turn into a Gremlin.
The rules are the same: if you have a pet Mogwai, never expose it to sunlight, never get it wet and, no matter how it begs, never feed it after midnight — or it will turn into a Gremlin. Inevitably, the boy who gets a Mogwai for Christmas in this remake breaks the rules.
Original writer Chris Columbus is directing the sequel, set 30 years on, with the involvement of producer Steven Spielberg. Zach Gilligan, who played Billy, the boy whose fluffy, big-eared pet wreaked havoc, wants a role, too.
The new Gremlins is unlikely to rely wholly on CGI. Columbus has said the charm and energy of the original stemmed from the ‘sense of anarchy the creatures had, because behind the scenes are 25 puppeteers making them come to life’.
Release date: To be announced.
It (1990)
It (1990): The original was not a film but a two-part TV serial. Pennywise The Dancing Clown was played by Tim Curry
Stephen King tweeted in May he feared the remake of arguably his scariest story, starring demonic clown Pennywise, would never be released: director Carey Fukunaga had just quit.
But like Pennywise himself, the movie refuses to die, and director Andy Muschietti has now been assigned.
Like many remakes, this version is set 30 years on — but the characters have lost their memories, and can remember nothing about the gory summer when they ganged up to fight the supernatural serial killer dismembering children.
The original was not a film but a two-part TV serial. Pennywise The Dancing Clown was played by Tim Curry.
Release date: To be announced.
Police Academy (1984)
Police Academy (1984): The coarse, raucous Police Academy series is sometimes called America’s Carry Ons. But the plots were much less varied: an incompetent bunch of recruits cause bedlam as they try to prove themselves
The coarse, raucous Police Academy series is sometimes called America’s Carry Ons. But the plots were much less varied: an incompetent bunch of recruits cause bedlam as they try to prove themselves.
Biggest name in the franchise was Steve Guttenberg. Now sketch-show comics Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will star. The story is expected to see some original cast return, to train a new generation.
Release date: To be announced.
Commando (1985)
Commando (1985): Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as a retired special forces soldier waging a one-man war against South American revolutionaries who had kidnapped his daughter
Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as a retired special forces soldier waging a one-man war against South American revolutionaries who had kidnapped his daughter.
It was ultra-violent, and one of the first movies to foresee the future of action movies lay in fighting terrorists.
A reboot has been on the cards for five years. One script, completed in 2011, is said to be even more violent than the original. Another, according to writer David Ayer, features a hero who is ‘less brawny, but more skilled in covert tactics and weaponry’. Tom Cruise, perhaps — but not Arnie.
Release date: To be announced.
Scarface (1983)
Scarface (1983): Al Pacino played the Cuban crime baron, in a role that was itself a remake — Scarface No 1 was Paul Muni, in 1932. The Brian de Palma version, written by Oliver Stone, also made a star of Michelle Pfeiffer, playing Tony’s wife, Elvira
Tony Montana’s final line in this gory, drug-crazed classic might be the most quoted in cinema history: ‘Say hello to my little friend!’
Al Pacino played the Cuban crime baron, in a role that was itself a remake — Scarface No 1 was Paul Muni, in 1932.
The Brian de Palma version, written by Oliver Stone, also made a star of Michelle Pfeiffer, playing Tony’s wife, Elvira.
Writer Jonathan Herman is working on a remake, and Pacino claims he is unbothered: ‘It’s fine, it’s interesting,’ he says. ‘It’s part of what we do — we remake things.’
Release date: To be announced.
Point Break (1991)
Point Break (1991): The ultimate surfing movie starred Patrick Swayze as Bodhi, a bank robber with a passion for riding giant waves, and Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah, the FBI agent on his trail
The ultimate surfing movie starred Patrick Swayze as Bodhi, a bank robber with a passion for riding giant waves, and Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah, the FBI agent on his trail.
The movie was an instant cult classic, and it is surprising the remake has not attracted bigger stars. Luke Bracey from Home And Away will play Utah, while Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez is Bodhi.
Release date: December 25.
Sister Act (1992)
Sister Act (1992): Whoopi Goldberg had her biggest hit as a singer who hides from a mafia boss in a convent. Maggie Smith is the Mother Superior who is horrified when Whoopi turns her choir into a rock ’n’ roll gospel band
Whoopi Goldberg had her biggest hit as a singer who hides from a mafia boss in a convent. Maggie Smith is the Mother Superior who is horrified when Whoopi turns her choir into a rock ’n’ roll gospel band.
Disney has bought the rights, and the writers of Legally Blonde, Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah, are reinventing the story. It isn’t known if Whoopi will join the cast, but the chances of Dame Maggie getting involved seem thinner than a communion wafer.
Release date: To be announced.
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