Film remake: Difference between revisions

{{refimprovemore citations needed|date=January 2022}}

A '''film remake''' is a [[film]] based on a previous production.

The concept is popular with [[film studio]]s and [[production companies]] because it reduces the [[financial risksrisk]]s, as fans of the original work are likely to want to see something similar to the film they already like.<ref name=ABC>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/driving-resurgence-reboots-remakes-revivals-tv-film/story?id=47645549 |title=What's driving the resurgence of reboots, remakes and revivals in TV and film |author=Michael Rothman |date=May 31, 2017 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref> In some cases, the producer or studio which made the original film still retains the [[film rights]], so doesn't require a new [[film option]] or need to develop a new story, reducing the financial cost.<ref name=ABC/>

Remakes are sometimes near copies, such as the 1952 ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1952 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'', nearly identical to the [[The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)|1937 black-and-white version]], but shot in Technicolor; and [[Psycho (1998 film)|''Psycho'' (1998)]] , a [[shot-for-shot]] color remake of the black-and-white [[Psycho (1960 film)|''Psycho'' (1960)]]. More frequently they introduce some changes or new elements e.g. in the original ''[[The Front Page (1931 film)|The Front Page]]'' (1931), a male newspaper editor tries to keep his male star reporter from quitting; in the remake ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940), the reporter is female and the editor's ex-wife. ''[[Black Caesar (film)|Black Caesar]]'' (1973) is a [[blaxploitation]] retelling of ''[[Little Caesar (film)|Little Caesar]]'' (1931).

Technological advances can allow a remake to include features that were not possible at the time the original was made. A silent film can be remade as a "[[Sound film|talkie]]", a black-and-white movie can be remade in color, or a 2D motion picture can be remade as a [[3D film]]. Several [[animated film]]s have been remade as [[live-action]] productions, such as [[Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)|''Alice in Wonderland'' (2010)]] and [[Cinderella (2015 Disney film)|''Cinderella'' (2015)]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/g23742339/disney-live-action-movie-remakes/ |title=24 Classic Disney Movies That Are Getting Live-Action Remakes |author=Elena Nicolaou |date=October 21, 2020 |magazine=[[O, The Oprah Magazine]]}}</ref>

Remakes can be made in different languages or retell an existing story in a newdifferent [[setting (narrative)|setting]]. The English-language color film ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' (1960) is a remake of the Japanese-language black & -and-white film ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' (1954), transferring the story from [[Sengoku period]] Japan to the American [[Wild West]]. Musical remakes have been attempted, though generally unsuccessfullymade, such as [[Lost Horizon (1973 film)|''Lost Horizon'' (1973)]], a musical fantasy version of [[Lost Horizon (1937 film)|''Lost Horizon'' (1937)]], originally a drama.