Hollywood today is all about adapting existing ideas and stories. Just look through a list of upcoming movies this year, the great majority will be sequels, prequels, adaptions of novels, etc. But the one which causes the most public controversy is the remake. Many people feel differently about these, some embracing them, some outright avoiding them. But we must admit, sometimes the remake can work out well. Maybe the original movie had a good core story, but somehow missed the mark. Or maybe in the current circumstances, a classic movie can take on a new significance with an updated story. Point is, sometimes the remake can equal or even transcend the original! And then there's times the remake just falls flat, perhaps even tarnishing the reputation of the original. Here's five movies that would likely encounter a similar fate. Five remakes that must never happen....
5. Arsenic and Old Lace
What It Is: A 1944 comedy with some seriously macabre humor. Cary Grant plays Mortimer Brewster who, about to embark on his honeymoon, discovers his two aunts have taken up the hobby of killing elderly visitors to their Bed & Breakfast. Further compounding this situation is the return of his cousin Jonathan Brewster, who is a murderer on the run from police, and has decided to take up hiding in the same Bed & Breakfast his aunts run. He also uncovers the bodies of his aunts' victims while trying to hide the body of one of his own victims. Confused yet? Also included in the plot of the film is a third cousin Teddy, who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt, and Peter Lorre as a plastic surgeon.
Why A Remake Wouldn't Work: Because part of the appeal of watching it today is how wildly different it is from today's expectations. This was made in the days of the Production Code, so for many people the charm of the movie is how it shatters the expectation they have of movies from that era.
The Only Way It Could Work: They would have to find a way to retain the shock humor value of the film, without losing the charm it has. Ramp up the level of macabre humor but without resorting to vulgarity. Plus, you need a leading man with the same level of appeal as a mid-40's Cary Grant. Mortimer Brewster is the heart of this movie.