In recent years, remakes and restarts of popular (and sometimes cult) paintings have gained unprecedented popularity, and more and more often studios, instead of searching and implementing new ideas, decide to take as a basis the once-tested material.
It’s difficult to retake your favorite picture, so it’s not surprising that not everyone succeeds.
Today we recall 10 successful cases when a new film turned out even better than the original, or at least not worse.
List
- 10. Let's dance, 2004/1995
- 9. Vanilla Sky, 2001 / Open Your Eyes, 1997
- 8. The Scarface, 1983/1932
- 7. Insomnia 2002/1997
- 6. The Departed, 2006 / Double Castling, 2002
- 5. Only girls in jazz, 1959 / Fanfare of love, 1951
- 4. It, 2017/1990
- 3. The smell of a woman, 1992/1974
- 2.11 Ocean's Friends, 2001/1960
- 1. The talented Mr. Ripley, 1999 / In the bright sun, 1960
10. Let's dance, 2004/1995
The romantic comedy, released in 2004 and directed by Peter Chelsom, turned out to be successful from all sides: it tripled its budget at the box office, did not cause rejection of the audience and critics, and also pleased the excellent acting trio in the person of Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon.
The original picture was shot in 1996 by Masayuki Suo and it was also a success: in 1997, film critics in the United States recognized her as the best work in a foreign language. Everyone liked the story so much that in 2006 another remake was shot, this time in Egypt.
9. Vanilla Sky, 2001 / Open Your Eyes, 1997
Alejandro Amenabar, director and screenwriter of the original melodrama “Open Your Eyes,” came up with this story under the influence of nightmares that he suffered from during his illness with the flu. It is not known what he dreamed there, but the plot turned out to be good, as did his rethinking by Cameron Crowe in 2001.
For the leading roles, he invited the main stars of those years: Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Tilda Swinton, and Jason Lee. The soundtrack for the film was written by Paul McCartney, who received nominations for an Oscar and Golden Globe for Vanilla Sky.
8. The Scarface, 1983/1932
Howard Hawks’s original film is a classic of gangster films: filmed in 1932, it served as a model and benchmark for everything that has been filmed in the genre for decades to come.
After half a century, Brian De Palma decided to re-take the picture into account the realities of another time, and it turned out to be no less cool than it was in the original. The new film became the same classic, but for a different generation of viewers and directors, and Al Pacino's career, which is at its peak after The Godfather, soared even higher.
7. Insomnia 2002/1997
In this case, the basis for the Hollywood remake was the Norwegian film directed by Eric Schöldbjerg with Stellan Skarsgård in the title role.
This is not to say that the picture was very successful, but it inspired Christopher Nolan, who planned a remake. For the main role, he invited Al Pacino, whose company was Hilary Swank and Robin Williams. Considering that $ 46 million was spent (the Norwegian original was several times cheaper), it turned out more colorful, interesting and rich.
6. The Departed, 2006 / Double Castling, 2002
The Hong Kong crime thriller “Double Castling” in 2002 gathered a whole bunch of awards in Asia, so it is not surprising that he was noticed in Hollywood. More impressive is the fact that Martin Scorsese himself wanted to retake him, calling for the main roles of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.
If a quantity like Scorsese is taken for production, then by definition it can’t be bad.
5. Only girls in jazz, 1959 / Fanfare of love, 1951
One of the last acting works of Marilyn Monroe is widely known even after 60 years, becoming a classic of world cinema.
The basis for this musical was not just one, but two films: the original French film “Fanfare of Love” and her remake of the same name, shot in Germany. Director Billy Wilder changed the plot and brought a lot of his own, but the main thing that he did was guessing with the choice of actors. Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn together formed one of the best screen trios of the 20th century.
4. It, 2017/1990
The first time an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel was undertaken by Tommy Lee Wallace in 1990, making on its basis a mini-series of only 2 episodes. The project received several Emmy nominations and even won one for the best composition.
Now it seems a little strange that the remake had to wait almost 30 years, because the film was predicted in absentia by the success, which in the end was waiting for him. “It” collected 700 million with a budget of 35, and in the United States it became the highest grossing horror in the history of American film distribution.
3. The smell of a woman, 1992/1974
Another iconic painting with Al Pacino, which has already been mentioned several times. The original was shot in Italy in 1974 and Vittorio Gassman played the main role there. In this version, instead of a school graduate, there was an ordinary soldier, and instead of a blind retired lieutenant colonel, a captain. The rest of the stories are very similar: charismatic protagonists, deep dialogs, consistently even narration.
Despite all the coolness of Al Pacino, it cannot be said that he definitely surpassed Gassman: each of them is good in his own way, so if you are only familiar with the Hollywood version, we recommend that you take the time to watch the Italian tape of Dino Risi.
2.11 Ocean's Friends, 2001/1960
Steven Soderberg's crime comedy is also not a new story, as you probably thought: for the first time a team of robber friends cleaned a casino more than half a century ago in a picture of Lewis Milestone.
The main roles were played by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, who made the film an immortal classic. Soderberg in his work made certain changes in history: for example, in the original, Ocean and his friends were veterans and planned robberies as a military operation, and the modernized Danny and Co. became just criminals.
1. The talented Mr. Ripley, 1999 / In the bright sun, 1960
The painting “In the Bright Sun” became one of the first big roles of the young Alain Delon, who at that time was not yet a universally recognized sex symbol. The film itself was shot based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith "Talented Mr. Ripley", and the director of the remake Anthony Mingella decided not to invent his name, but left the book version.
The fact that the restart was successful is evidenced by at least the fact that the tape received 5 nominations for Oscars, as well as BAFTA, Saturn nominations and awards, etc.