Mass Bradley asked: Could you name three movies that are RIPE for a RE-MAKE, and WHY (but have been passed by)?
Thank you for the question, Bradley: On the whole, I really do not support remakes of any kind. I mean look what happened when Shall We Dansu (Japan) was made into Shall We Dance (America). Eee-uuuu.
However, your question intrigues me, so I will offer the following:
One movie of which I would love to see an American remake is "The Princess and the Warrior" ("Der Krieger und die Kaiserin," from 2000) -- as long as it has good casting. We discovered this fascinating film when we fell in love with its star Franka Potente after seeing the wonderful "Run Lola Run." It's an intriguing film that had almost zero exposure in America, and should be more widely seen.
In a slight bow to the commercial side of Hollywood, I would pick "The Day The Earth Stood Still" because this really well-acted film had pretty crappy special effects that overshadowed the important storyline. I would love to see this remade (again, good cast) with modern special effects.
My third pick is a tie of several really fascinating films (that are still great in their original form): "Fourteen Hours" (from 1951), "The Big Combo" (1955) and the quirky 1941 "Lady Scarface" which is not a great film, but it has an interesting premise. I would love to see it remade with Cate Blanchett (who should have won her Oscar for her right-on performance in "Veronica Guerin").
What other films might make for good remakes?
2 comments:
Not exactly a remake, but somebody in Hollywood should do a proper film adaptation of James M. Cain's novel "Serenade". The book was about an ambitious singer who is romantically torn between a simple Mexican woman and his wealthy (male) patron. It was previously filmed as a Mario Lanza vehicle in the '50s, but the production code forced the homosexuality out and it became just another boring Mario Lanza movie. It would be terrific if this could be remade with a more dynamic guy in the lead. Even updating it to contemporary times wouldn't dilute the power of Cain's story.
Cool question and post! Interestingly, Benno Furmann and Franka Potente both speak English and could feasibly do an "American" version but that's about as likely to happen as (insert your favorite cliche here).
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