Remake My Day

Inception aside, 2010 was the
year of the sequel. With originality sadly lacking in terms of box
office receipts (although not absent from cinema screens) Toy Story, Shrek,
Harry Potter and Twilight cleaned up. Sequels, as usual, proved popular but
last year set another rather solid trend, one which looks set to
continue throughout the early half of this decade as well – the remake.

While some turned out pretty good
(Let Me In, Karate Kid, Predators) others were a real let down despite
their big budgets (Nightmare on Elm St, A-Team, the bizarre Death at a
Funeral). Desperate for repeated success studios are currently
mining the classics in search of safe box-office draw. Currently scheduled for
production over the next few years you can expect to see new adaptations of
popular novels Frankenstein, Great Gatsby, Three Musketeers and 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea to name a few. Recent films aren’t immune either, with the
planned reboot of both Spiderman and Superman imminent.

So what does 2011 have planned in
this current re-make trend? Here’s our pick of this year’s
best re-imaginings.

Horror fans will no
doubt be pleased to see remakes of 70s controversy-baiting duo I Spit On
Your Grave and Straw Dogs. Sarah Butler stars as the
defiant wronged woman seeking revenge on her woodland attackers in the former
while Kate Bosworth takes a role in the latter, made famous originally for its
unsettling depiction of pleasurable rape. Both show potential. Though not
strictly a remake, Scream 4 arrives with a reboot in April and
the return of some original cast (perhaps to be slewed?) while John Carpenters’
classic The Thing heads our way this autumn. Advance word is that this
could be this year’s Let Me In – high praise.

Vying for action this year,
remakes of John Wayne’s classic True Grit and an early Arnie star
vehicle arrive soon. Grit, nominated for awards galore, heralds the return of
the Coen brothers after 2009’s superb A Serious Man while Conan The
Barbarian’s 80s original is updated for the new millennium with a
little help from Stargate’s Jason Momoa in the starring role. However, in a
year light on comic-book action many will be salivating for 2011’s
reboot, or prequel in the X-Men series. Will Matthew Vaughn’s First
Class live up to its name? Find out in June.

As last year’s triumphant Let Me
In showed, foreign films can provide an accessible and
tested treasure trove for idea-barren studios. Japan’s frenetic Battle
Royale arrives this year, obviously hoping to spawn a series while David
Fincher follows up his excellent work on last year’s Social Network with a
remake of the staggeringly popular Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Never one
short of ideas, let’s hope he delivers on his promise and pedigree once again. Undoubtedly
unnecessary as it is, the best thing to come out of German cinema in recent
years, Lives of Others, also gets a remake in 2011. Highly unlikely to
be bettered, let’s see what others really can do.

Finally, proving musicals are indeed
alive and well, Kevin Bacon’s nostalgic-for-some Footloose gets an
overhaul this year with Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell in the ensemble set
for some toe-tapping dance-off disagreements. Is welding
set to make a sexy comeback then, or is Hollywood really now trudging through
old Bacon films for cash? Next you’ll be telling us there’s a Tremors remake in
the pipeline too. Hold on.