20 Recent Movie Remakes NOBODY Asked For

13. The Amateur

But not all remakes are unasked-for because the original is so beloved - sometimes it's because few have actually even heard of it.

That's certainly the case with The Amateur - a new adaptation of Robert Littell's 1981 spy novel which was previously adapted into a film the very same year starring John Savage and Christopher Plummer.

The original film is a competent yet not particularly well-remembered espionage yarn that was effortlessly overshadowed by the many superior paranoia-laced thrillers of the 1970s, ensuring it failed to dazzle either critics or general audiences.

It seemed to suggest there wasn't much of a cinematic appetite for the story, then, but the new Rami Malek-starring adaptation released this past April to similarly mixed reviews.

It's not bad, but ultimately this is a card-carrying Dad Film that's destined to be enjoyed in the moment and forgotten within days. 

Its $96 million box office gross, meanwhile, would've been pretty good if it didn't cost a too-high $60 million.