10 Upcoming Movies That Have Ignored Major Mistakes

3. Pointlessly Remaking A Classic - West Side Story

The Mistake

As reliable a director as Steven Spielberg might be, it's tough to really care much about his upcoming remake of iconic musical classic West Side Story.

Though it will reportedly hew closer to the original 1957 Broadway production, the 1961 Best Picture-winning original is such a timeless and unforgettable movie that remaking it just feels like an utterly thankless task.

While Spielberg has few outright duds to his name, everything we've seen of this so far implies a relatively beige retelling that may well struggle to justify its own existence.

The Lesson

There aren't more pointless remakes than Gus Van Sant's colour shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which was more an experimental facsimile of the original than a genuine attempt at a compelling remake.

The point is that without a reasonable "in" for contemporary audiences to watch the remake over the original - and let's be honest, West Side Story has aged relatively well, whitewashed cast aside - there's no guarantee that making a well-made movie is enough.