I love it when Hollywood tries to call it a "re-imagining" rather than what it really is - a remake. Don't pretend you're being original when you're not! And when I heard that they are actually planning a "reimagining" of Sanford & Son, I knew it was time to rant about it on Retrospace. Don't believe me? Click here. What's next - a big screen adaptation of The Golden Girls? It's going to happen.
I've already gone into great detail about Hollywood's checkered past trying to remake TV shows. It's not been pretty. I mean, damn, would it kill you to try and be a tad original? In just this past year, audiences have been treated to one reimagining after another: The Taking of Pelham 123, Sorority Row, Halloween II, Friday the 13th, Land of the Lost, Fame, and The Last House on the Left. The preceding few years were no better with recycled movies like Invasion, Poseidon, The Honeymooners, The Wicker Man, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Prom Night, April Fools Day, Planet of the Apes, Psycho, Death Race, The Fog, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Hills Have Eyes, Alfie, Ocean's 11, The Amityville Horror, The Omen, Godzilla, King Kong, Dawn of the Dead, etc., etc., etc....
Plus, a lot of the movies flooding the theaters don't fall into the remake category, but still aren't based on an original idea - i.e. GI Joe, Harry Potter and the Transformers movies.
Look. I have no problem with once and a while "reimagining" an older movie - a lot of remakes are truly wonderful. But, Jesus Harold Christ on Rubber Crutches, enough is enough!!
I read on IMDb that Hollywood desperately wanted to "reimagine" Rosemary's Baby in 2008. But, try as they might, the writers could not succeed in coming up with a fresh angle to the original, so they scrapped the project. I don't know whether to be happy that they knew when to admit defeat, or be horribly disturbed that they would even contemplate the idea!
If you think I'm exaggerating, take a look at some of the remakes that are supposedly in the works. There may be several that never see the light of day, but even if half make it to the big screen, that's pretty sad.
The Last Starfighter
The Evil Dead
Knight Rider (2011)
Death Wish (2011)
Conan the Barbarian (to be called simply, Conan. For release in 2011-12)
Back to School
Logan's Run
Farenheit 451
Hellraiser (for release in 2011, and Clive Barker wants it to be remade)
Tron - (to be called Tron Legacy)
Clash of the Titans - starring Liam Neeson as Zeus!
The Birds
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Warriors
Piranha (This time in 3-D!)
Escape from New York
Porky's (via Howard Stern)
Red Sonja
Sanford and Son
Straw Dogs
Arthur
They Live
The Crazies
Footloose
Meatballs (Harold Ramis also is gearing up for Ghostbusters III)
Red Dawn
Short Circuit
The Thing
Flash Gordon
Barbarella (originally had Robert Rodriguez as director and Rose McGowan set to star, but this fell... yet it's still in the works)
Angel Heart
Dune
The Swarm
Romancing the Stone (Look for it in 2011- I can hardly wait!!.... that's sarcasm, by the way)
The Phantom of Paradise
Note: In true Hollywood fashion, I
