6 “Original” Films You Didn’t Realise Were Actually Remakes
Not as novel as you thought.
According to author Christopher Booker, there are 7 basic plots: rags to riches, overcoming the monster, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth.
If you look down the list of the Top 50 all-time blockbusters, youll find each plot represented several times. Jaws and The Exorcist provided a monster to overcome, The Lord Of The Rings gave us an epic quest while Titanic provided the tragedy.
In other words, not only are there only a handful of basic stories, but they have all been told, over and over again, to each new generation of viewers.
Its become fashionable to knock Hollywood for its lack of originality, but churning out sequels and remakes is something theyve always done. The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) was a sequel, while The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Magnificent Seven (1960) were both remakes. A remake of the latter is due from director/star team Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington, whose last collaboration was a remake of the TV series The Equaliser.
If you cant afford the remake rights though, you always change things just enough so that your version, while not a scene-for-scene copy, still has enough similarities to appeal to the same audience. The practice is typically the reserve of clueless hacks, and the results speak for themselves.
Most of the following pictures ignored their inspirations and were marketed as original stories, which if nothing else makes for an amusing viewing experience.