THE impressive opening in the US of Fast & Furious during the weekend not only proves there’s gas in that franchise, it also gives fuel to Hollywood’s obsession with movies based on, well, other movies.
Studios have been remaking movies pretty much since they began making them, but during the past year and particularly the past few months, the remake machine has gone into overdrive.
The 1980s have turned into a full-fledged garage sale of titles. Romancing the Stone, Footloose, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dune, The Karate Kid, Red Dawn, RoboCop, The Big Chill, Arthur, Ghostbusters and The NeverEnding Story are but a few of the titles from that decade being developed in Hollywood.
The trend has broadened to include lesser-known properties from other media whose full value was thought to have been realised – and, in some cases forgotten – long ago (Candy Land, anyone?).
When Warner Bros sought screenwriters for open assignments in February, eight of the 10 requests were for projects based on a previous movie or other branded property.
Producers say it is now common for them to check lists of hits from another decade to see what might be easiest legally and creatively to package and set up at a studio.
“If you’re trying to get a movie made now, you can push the rock up a mountain or you can push it on flat ground,” said one studio-based producer, explaining the rationale for remake mania. “And most of us would rather push it on flat ground.”
As the remake net is cast ever wider, the cycle from original to redo continues to shorten.
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Like Furious – which brings together the principal cast and writers from the 2001 original and occupies ground somewhere between sequel and reboot –- other movies are coming back in new guises sooner than ever.
Neil Moritz, who produced Furious, is developing a new version of the 1990 sci-fi hit Total Recall as well as relaunching XXX, which first hit the screen just seven years ago. Lara Croft is getting a new treatment from Dan Lin and Warner Bros just eight years after the Angelina Jolie original. – Hollywood Reporter.
