15 Films You Didn't Realise Were Remakes
8. The Birdcage
That's right. We got Robin Williams appearing in another remake on this list (and it won't be the last). Mike Nichols' comedy, The Birdcage, revolves around a gay cabaret owner, portrayed by Williams, who has to hide his sexuality when his son brings home his fiancee and her highly conservative parents.
The film is based on the 1978 French/Italian farce, La Cage aux Folles. The original may not be popular nowadays but it was the most successful foreign-language film ever in the United States upon its release. It was so popular in New York that some cinemas ran it for over a year.
Interestingly, The Birdcage wasn't intended as a film adaptation at first. Mike Nichols was hired to turn the story into an Americanised Broadway musical called The Queen of Basin Street. When most of the production team was fired, the project was left in limbo until it was revised into a movie.