4. Robocop & Starship Troopers
Okay, I admit that I'm cheating on this one, but "11 Upcoming Remakes And Reboots That Nobody Is Asking For" doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it? I've already had to leave a bunch of other films out that I imagine readers would have appreciated being mentioned, too. There seems to be a recent and very unfortunate trend of remaking classic Paul Verhoeven science fiction-films - one which was jump started by last year's ill-judged Total Recall, notable for sucking all of the fun, context and political commentary straight out of the story. Granted, Len Wiseman is a pretty awful filmmaker, so there was never any doubt that the Colin Farrell version was going to be a flop, but the recent trailer for 2014's RoboCop doesn't inspire us with much confidence either, even if it has been directed by a former Golden Bear winner. And I'm not only saying that because they changed the suit in a desperate bid to appear more contemporary. The trailer genuinely does look like a bad film which exists only to pander to genre conventions and rely heavily on impressive visual effects that will mask a story that has been robbed of its original provocative meaning. I dare it to prove me wrong.
Which brings us on to the other Verhoeven classic that I won't even bother daring to prove me wrong - his 1997 parody of science -fiction, masculinity, patriotism, and war, that has in turn inspired further parodies of itself, most notably by Futurama. Of course, I'm talking about Starship Troopers, a film that wasn't entirely understood on release due to its intentionally poor cast, laughable effects and gratuitous violence, but has since gone on to become a classic example of parody and commentary in film studies lectures ever since. It seems just plain silly to remake a film that exists as a parody. When does it become a never-ending cycle? You parody a film that already parodies other films. A parody of a parody. Look forward to a decent cast being announced, brilliant visual effects and a lack of commentary on the issues explored by the controversial original. There is a slim hope that the film may never happen as it was announced during the fall of 2011 by producer Neal Moritz, responsible for movies such as Click, Evan Almighty, and fellow list-maker xXx, and hasn't really been talked about since. Let's hope it's disappeared for good.