Superior Remakes/Adaptations of Lesser-Received Movies
by prgiordano | created - 4 months ago | updated - 5 days ago | PublicThere are many reasons why remakes exist. Money, nostalgia, cashing in on whatever memes are trending, these new interpretations of previously realized works can tend to lose sight of what made their predecessors so beloved in the first place and as a result, lack the charm, wit, and/or substances that first attracted viewers to begin with. Yet despite this being the case multiple times, there have been several throughout the past century have been able to do so by asking themselves a simple question: How can we take the ideas and themes that these works highlighted and make them relevant to today's audiences? This is a list of such remakes that've been able to take full advantage of the tools and canvas they're given and expand upon what made the original films work in the first place and not become stale retellings of these stories in the process.
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1. Footloose (2011)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
City teenager Ren MacCormack moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Director: Craig Brewer | Stars: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell
Votes: 52,875 | Gross: $51.80M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1984 movie: 53% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2011 remake: 68%
2. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,522 | Gross: $171.24M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1969 movie: 88% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2010 remake: 95%
3. Willard (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A young man with an unusual connection to rats uses them at his own sociopathic will.
Director: Glen Morgan | Stars: Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Harring, Jackie Burroughs
Votes: 20,404 | Gross: $6.89M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1971 movie: 52% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2003 remake: 64%
4. The Color Purple (2023)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama, Musical
A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
Director: Blitz Bazawule | Stars: Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo
Votes: 15,532
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1985 movie: 73% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2023 remake: 81%
5. Pete's Dragon (2016)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The adventures of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliott, who happens to be a dragon.
Director: David Lowery | Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence
Votes: 61,673 | Gross: $76.23M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1977 movie: 56% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2016 remake: *88%*
6. We Are What We Are (2013)
R | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
The Parkers, a reclusive family who follow ancient customs, find their secret existence threatened as a torrential downpour moves into their area, forcing daughters Iris and Rose to assume responsibilities beyond those of a typical family.
Director: Jim Mickle | Stars: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Wyatt Russell
Votes: 22,117 | Gross: $0.08M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 2010 movie: 72% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2013 remake: 86%
7. CODA (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Director: Sian Heder | Stars: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant
Votes: 164,950
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 2014 movie (under the name, "La famille Bélier"): 84% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2021 remake: 94%
8. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,586 | Gross: $2.11M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1931 movie: 71% Rotten Tomatoes score for 1941 remake: *99%*
9. Freaky Friday (2003)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An overworked mother and her daughter did not get along. When they switch bodies, each is forced to adapt to the other's life for one freaky Friday.
Director: Mark Waters | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould
Votes: 152,558 | Gross: $110.23M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1976 movie: 71% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2003 remake: 88%
10. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
PG-13 | 116 min | Crime, Thriller
Danny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon
Votes: 619,233 | Gross: $183.42M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1960 movie: 48% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2001 remake: *83%*
11. Dune (2021)
PG-13 | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac
Votes: 855,546 | Gross: $108.33M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1984 movie: 44% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2021 remake: *83%*
12. The Thin Red Line (1998)
R | 170 min | Drama, History, War
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Kirk Acevedo
Votes: 199,610 | Gross: $36.40M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1964 movie: 77% Rotten Tomatoes score for 1998 remake: 80%
13. The Secret Garden (1993)
G | 101 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott
Votes: 44,479 | Gross: $31.18M
IMDB score for 1987 adaptation: 7.1/10
14. Matilda: The Musical (II) (2022)
PG | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.
Director: Matthew Warchus | Stars: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham
Votes: 28,288
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1996 movie: 92% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2022 remake: 93%
15. The Jungle Book (2016)
PG | 106 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan forces him to flee the jungle, a man-cub named Mowgli embarks on a journey of self discovery with the help of panther Bagheera and free-spirited bear Baloo.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba
Votes: 292,058 | Gross: $364.00M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1967 movie: 88% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2016 remake: 94%
16. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)
PG | 59 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Greg Heffley is an ambitious kid with an active imagination and big plans to be rich and famous. The problem is that he has to survive middle school first.
Directors: Gino Nichele, Swinton O. Scott III | Stars: Cyrus Arnold, Braxton Baker, Erica Cerra, Lossen Chambers
Votes: 4,192
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 2010 movie: 55% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2021 remake: 75%
17. The Age of Innocence (1993)
PG | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Linda Faye Farkas
Votes: 67,800 | Gross: $32.20M
IMDB score for 1934 adaptation: 6.2/10
18. Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical! (2017)
PG | 149 min | Musical
Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, this is a not-to-be-missed high energy show starring Original Broadway cast members.
Directors: Jeff Calhoun, Brett Sullivan | Stars: Jeremy Jordan, Kara Lindsay, Ben Fankhauser, Andrew Keenan-Bolger
Votes: 3,609 | Gross: $2.83M
IMDB score for 1992 movie: 6.9/10
19. The Little Prince (2015)
PG | 108 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
A little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to prepare her for it. Her neighbor, the Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of the Little Prince.
Director: Mark Osborne | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard
Votes: 66,527 | Gross: $1.34M
IMDB score for 1974 adaptation: 6.4/10
20. The Quiet American (2002)
R | 101 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An old British reporter vies with a young U.S. doctor for the affections of a beautiful Vietnamese woman.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Serbedzija
Votes: 29,741 | Gross: $12.99M
IMDB score for 1958 adaptation: 6.7/10
21. The Grinch (2018)
PG | 85 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
A grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville.
Directors: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones, Pharrell Williams
Votes: 91,139 | Gross: $270.62M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 2000 movie: 49% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2018 remake: 60%
22. Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
G | 126 min | Adventure, Family
A Swiss family must survive being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro
Votes: 18,170 | Gross: $40.36M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1940 movie: 30% Rotten Tomatoes score for 1960 remake: *82%*
23. Fever Pitch (2005)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Lindsay is stuck in the middle of her relationship with Ben and his passion for the Boston Red Sox.
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly | Stars: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Spevack, Jack Kehler
Votes: 47,766 | Gross: $42.07M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1997 movie: 56% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2005 remake: 66%
24. My Bloody Valentine (2009)
R | 101 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Tom returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame is the only one that believes he's innocent.
Director: Patrick Lussier | Stars: Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Betsy Rue
Votes: 60,457 | Gross: $51.55M
Rotten Tomatoes score for original 1981 movie: 58% Rotten Tomatoes score for 2009 remake: 62%
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