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Is Hollywood out of control with the remakes?

Mar 16, 2006, 03:49 PM | by Gary Susman

Categories: Film, Television

15031__dirtydozen_lWhich old TV shows and movies should be fair game for remakes, and which should remain untouched and un-meddled with?

Sometimes the line is obvious, as with The Dirty Dozen -- ''Have you no shame?'' asks an item in the forthcoming issue of EW. Then again, on the same page, EW's Paul Katz offers his casting suggestions for the forthcoming Dallas movie. (For the record, Katz thinks Bruce Willis would make a better J.R. than studio choice John Travolta; me, I'd have cast Alec Baldwin.)

How is Hollywood to know which properties are sacred, which are not, and which are simply bad ideas? (Scowling Ice Cube as wisecraking Mr. Kotter? He's supposed to be Groucho, not grouchy. Then again, I'd have listed a Battlestar: Galactica remake as a simply bad idea, and I'd have been totally wrong.)

Do producers need a master list of which properties to remake and which to avoid, or can any remake work as long as you choose the right director, writer, and actors?

Darrell Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 07:21 PM EST

I think some of us may be missing an important fact. Today's technologies allow for better productions. Granted, some material does not need re-making. However, I for one would like to see a re-make of the 1955 "Land of the Pharaohs" with today's new knowledge of the pyramids incorporated into the script.

MJ Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 02:40 PM EST

I don't think Hollywood is hard up for original scripts, Bertie. I think the studios second guess and test market themselves to the point where they don't trust their own judgement.

jarrod Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 02:14 PM EST

hollywood is out of control,period. I love how everything they produce flops.

Stephanie Travitsky Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 12:21 PM EST

Some shows can be remade into movies. Ie- The White Shadow because Coach Carter worked. But Hollywood needs fresh ideas. Stop throwing toilet paper at the screen.

MiniMarie Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 11:16 AM EST

Good remakes do happen -- "Battlestar Galactica," "Ocean's 11" -- but you have to have a REASON to remake it, not just the desire to remake something. BSG takes the earlier show and reimagines it from the ground up. The original O11 movie was fun but not a masterpiece, so Soderburgh felt free to play with the idea of stars with chemistry having fun in Vegas, put together the right team and had writers supply him with a truly ingenious, tightly knit casino heist story.

But so many remakes now are just, Hey, remember this title? Will you go see something ELSE with the same title? Which is kind of like the first thing, except lame? And that IS a big reason people don't go to the movies as much anymore.

IMHO, although they should leave "The Dirty Dozen" alone, it's not the WORST candidate for remaking out there. If you ask me, the "Dallas" redo promises to be about a thousand times worse. At least with Dirty Dozen, you have a tight, self-contained plot: Guys break out of a prison camp. The whole point of Dallas was long, ongoing soap-opera storylines with mysteries that weren't resolved in two hours or five or even ten. So what is the movie? Some speeded-up version of "Who Shot J.R.?" -- a mystery to which we now ALL know the answer? It's a horrible, horrible idea. The fact that so many top names are signing on to it is just evidence of how creatively bankrupt the studios are these days and how few good projects they really have.

dma69 Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 11:09 AM EST

Remakes are as old as Hollywood, but lately it's really getting out of hand. Not every film or TV show needs to be remade. Now I hear that DIRTY DOZEN and WELCOME BACK KOTTER are the lastest to be remade into (what will definitely be crappy) films. Whatever happened to coming up with something original? Did we really need BEAWITCHED, THE HONEYMOONERS, DUKES OF HAZZARD,etc.? Enough already!!! Damn you, Hollywood!!!

Big Fan Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 08:40 AM EST

Remake the Dirty dozen? Impossible to do well...this will be horrible. How can they possibly put together the same chemistry in the cast?

HAS HOLLYWOOD NO SHAME? HAS HOLLYWOOD NO PRIDE? HAS HOLLYWOOD NO IMAGINATION?

Seems like the answer is obvious to us all...

Big Fan Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 08:40 AM EST

Remake the Dirty dozen? Impossible to do well...this will be horrible. How can they possibly put together the same chemistry in the cast?

HAS HOLLYWOOD NO SHAME? HAS HOLLYWOOD NO PRIDE? HAS HOLLYWOOD NO IMAGINATION?

Seems like the answer is obvious to us all...

EricF Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 08:09 AM EST

I was a child in the 1970's, and in the last 5 years or so, I have really felt my age because Hollywood has remade many films of that decade. To my knowledge, NONE of them have been box office successes, yet nobody is taking the hint.
In the last 10 years, there have certainly been good movies, but nothing that I think will mark a place in cinema history.

Becky Fri, Mar 17, 2006 at 12:10 AM EST

And "they" wonder why the box office is down? It's simple - the movies suck.

Mike in Moncton Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 10:59 PM EST

Gotta say, you nailed it about the Battlestar Galactica remake on the sci-fi channel...one of the best remakes EVER in the history of remakes.

Debs Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 10:49 PM EST

Maybe they’re gearing up for next years Oscars; The Montage of Remakes.

mike Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 10:49 PM EST

Stop trying to squeeze dollars out of past pop culture stuff. Buy the rights to a good book and film that. By the way, do they have to release 10 movies every week? There is so much slop that the few good movies get lost. If they can't tell if a property is any good, hire someone intelligent who can. STOP IT.

Phil Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 10:03 PM EST

Remakes are out of control, I went to see the remake of The Hills Have Eyes and what did I see in the previews? A trailer for the remake of The Omen! Now the Dirty Dozen? And next one of my favorite movies Oldboy, which came out in the states this summer!! The lack of original ideas in Hollywood is nothing sort of insane.

David Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 07:27 PM EST

The writing talent pool in hollywood is like the gene pool of the Bush family ... shallow and evaporating fast. Sure, they might be able to "wow" audiences with flashy special effects in a (yet another in a long line of really bad) re-makes, but they don't have a pork chops chance in a synagogue of EVER finding a cast who will replace the original dirty dozen. Period. Amen. End of Discussion. ... darnit

V.M.L. Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 07:26 PM EST

Damn it! Hollywood should really quit with the remakes! Remakes are usually never good as the original. Blame the producers for not choosing to turn original screenplays into movies.

Bertie Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 06:55 PM EST

Right now it just seems like that's all you see now is a remake in production. For me, it would just be nice to see something new :)

brandonk Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 06:48 PM EST

I think that anything has the potential to be remade and be successful, but it requires just the right touch. Remakes are nothing new, and in a way, movies are often remakes of books. Remakes do nothing to damage the original, whether they live up to the standard set by the original or not.

Bertie Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 05:52 PM EST

You go Tim!! Couldn't have said it better myself. Our Hollywood people so hard-up for original scripts that they can't think of anything on their own??

Tim Thu, Mar 16, 2006 at 05:45 PM EST

First the Wild Bunch. Now the Dirty Dozen. Hollywood, stop this remake crap and let the originals stand as is!

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