10 Movie Remakes You Didn't Know Were In The Works
Another year, another batch of oldies getting rehashed.
There's an old Hollywood saying: if a movie's worth making, it's worth making again. And again, and again, and several more times. Actually, I'm telling a massive lie, this isn't an old Hollywood saying at all. But the sentiment definitely runs true.
Much as we can never seem to look at an upcoming release schedule without seeing numerous sequels, prequels and spin-offs of some description, remakes are also a frequent fixture.
The early half of 2018 has already seen new versions of Tomb Raider, Death Wish and Overboard. In the months ahead we can look forward to a reboot of Superfly, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake The Hustle, and a remake of Dario Argento's horror classic Suspiria. 2019 already has some on the cards too, including What Men Want, a new take on What Women Want.
Remakes are always likely to cause some controversy. Either we're angered to see another one of our old favourites getting served up all over again like microwaved leftovers, or we're bemoaning the lack of original ideas.
Still, there have been plenty of good remakes over the years, and even a few truly great ones; so here's hope the ones down the pipeline fall into that category.
10. The Killer
The Original: The 1989 Hong Kong action thriller from director John Woo, which stars Chow Yun-Fat as the greatest hit-man in the business who attempts to leave his old life behind after accidentally blinding an innocent woman.
The Remake: Woo was recently announced to be getting behind the camera again for this new take on his old film, this time to be shot in the west with Lupita Nyong'o in the central role.
Should We Be Excited?
By the late 1980s, Woo was widely hailed as the saviour of the action genre thanks to his beautifully choreographed scenes of gunplay, and The Killer is often considered his masterpiece. While it's certainly nice to see the director coming back to Hollywood (he hasn't taken the helm on a US production since 2003's Paycheck), it does seem a shame that the film in question has to be a rehash of an established classic which still holds up today.
Still, if Woo and co are set on a female-led remake of The Killer, Nyong'o is certainly an interesting choice for the lead. Neither her screen presence nor her action chops can be in any doubt after Black Panther.