It’s nothing new — Hollywood has been struggling for original ideas for decades. Virtually every horror film in the past 10 years is a remake of an Asian original. Unless it’s a remake of a Hollywood film of course — 2009 alone saw Friday the 13th, The Last House on the Left, and Halloween II (a remake of a sequel) to name a few.
This week I saw trailers for two classic flicks from the early 80s — Clash of the Titans and TRON. Except they were trailers for their remakes, both due out in the first half of 2010.
So a quick search for 2010 remakes in the works resulted in finding no less than 75 unoriginal movies slotted for next year. Naturally, some of these are or will get stuck in development hell and not see a 2010 release as intended. But this list is only a small fraction of the remakes on the table for the next few years. Nor does it include 23 TV shows currently slated for the big screen.
Some are Asian, some European, but most are picked right from Hollywood’s backyard. And here they are (check the sources at the end for descriptions).
10
36
1984
13 Tzameti
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Akira
All Of Me
Angel Heart
Arthur
Back To School
Barbarella
Battle Royale
Brighton Rock
Captain Blood
Child’s Play
Clash of the Titans
Conan
Death at a Funeral
Death Wish
Dune
Escape From New York
Fahrenheit 451
Fantastic Voyage
Flash Gordon
Footloose
Forbidden Planet
Frankenweenie
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Hellraiser
High and Low
Highlander
Howard SternÂ’s PorkyÂ’s
I Spit on Your Grave
Knight Rider
Last Tango In Paris
LoganÂ’s Run
Meatballs
Metropolis
My Fair Lady
Near Dark
Oldboy
Piranha
Poltergeist
Rashomon
Red Dawn
Red Sonja
Romancing The Stone
Rosemary’s Baby
Sharky’s Machine
Short Circuit
Starfighter (been informed it’s a sequel)
Straw Dogs
Sunset Boulevard
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
The Birds
The Blob
The Crazies
The Dirty Dozen
The Evil Dead
The Host
The Illustrated Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Jetsons
The Karate Kid
The Lives Of Others
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Shadow
The Star Chamber
The Stepfather
The Swarm
The Thing
The Warriors
The Witches
They Live
TRON (been informed it’s a sequel)
Westworld
When Worlds Collide
Sources:
55 movie remakes currently in the works
40 Movie Remakes Coming Soon to a Multiplex Near You?
Upcoming Movie Remakes
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Just wanted to point out that the forthcoming Tron film is a sequel, not a re-make.
Starfighter is a sequel as well.
“25 years ago, He saved the Star League and hundreds of worlds, including Earth. Now He’s returned … and Earth’s got company coming.”
Hey Doug, Great article!
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If that would be ok with you – do you mind emailing me back and letting me know?
thanks jack. i scratched it out.
according to many reports, the remake of Oldboy is dead as well.
There’s also Death at a Funeral upcoming, which is also a remake
I knew Hollywood was planning ending piracy but now it is clear that they are trying to do this by producing crappy movies. I stopped going to cinemas 4 years ago and never regretted. Today I buy DVDs (not bluray, cause they are already dead) from BBC and other foreigner companies that are doing something fresh.
well it’s not that bad to see another version of great idea…
thanks matt. i’ll scratch starfighter.
thanks graham. added it.
the original is only from 2007?!
Rosemary’s Baby and rocky Horror have both been scrapped.
No, you got it all wrong.. this does not mean Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.
Great stories like Flash Gordon and Starfighter (even though it’s a squeal) deserve to be told again or expanded for new audiences.
Some that are Classic like Evil Dead would rock with new graphics and some on that list I could not stomach.. but that’s just me. Logan’s Run has been looked forward to since the mid 90’s and I really hope they finish it this time because it had a great story. It came out in 1976, the same year as Star Wars but who remembers it? Only the hard core fans It needs new life.
Looking forward to They Live too.. ” I’m here to Kick Ass and chew Bubble Gum, and I’m all out of Bubble Gum.”
Some movies are worth remaking sure, especially when it comes to new special effects, but not EVERY movie. Not even MOST movies.