10 Commandments All Movie Remakes Must Follow

7. Thou Shalt (Or Rather, Should) Remake The Film That Most Need It

Bourne Identity

In 1988, a television miniseries based on Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity aired on ABC with Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne. More faithful to the then recent novel, it was never to be heard from again as audiences weren't exactly clamouring for a sequel (ask yourself: did you even know there was a previous miniseries when the film was released in 2002?). By the time 2002 rolled around, James Bond was becoming old hat again as the gadgets were as silly and incredible as the Bond Girls hired to play nuclear physicists. The world needed a new high octane spy - someone who could identify with the politics of the day and at the same time be a good old fashioned brawler who was one step ahead of the other guy. Thanks to some ingenious franchise scouring, Jason Bourne was ready to shine again. The Bourne Identity remade/rebooted the franchise for a modern audience, albeit it eschewed the story of the actual books for something more topical and modern. Before that remake, audiences weren't familiar with Jason Bourne; after said remake turned out to be a superior product to the original, it struck a chord with the moviegoers of the day. Remakes aren't all bad, and sometimes you can improve a project immensely by rethinking it. Or in other cases, you can actually make a good film when you didn't the first time around. Imagine if someone went back to remake the prequel trilogy, except did it with better actors, story, effects...the works. A remake would do that property good, even if we know the closest thing we'll get to a remake is the constant tinkering of George Lucas.
 
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Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.