The last decade in particular has seen a sharp rise in the volume of film and tv show remakes being produced. Alongside franchises which are receiving many new sequels (including Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Moana 2 and Scream VI), lots of writers and directors are choosing to remake the original story. Recent remakes include The Little Mermaid (2023), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Pinocchio (2022), Cinderella (2015) and Cinderella (2021), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023), Dune (2021), Mean Girls (2024), A Star is Born (2019), and Death on the Nile (2022). These remakes have been receiving mixed responses. In some cases, they can offer a fresh, reimagined perspective on well-loved stories for modern audiences. On the other hand, they are criticised as cash grabs which are unnecessarily trying to outdo a beloved original. Furthermore, some believe these remakes are trying to tick diversity boxes in a way which feels inauthentic and forced.
The Pros of Remakes
- Remakes are a chance to do the original source material more justice – particularly when a film or show has been adapted from a book, remakes can offer the chance to produce an adaption more loyal to the original story. This is often eagerly received by fans of the book. For example, Rick Riordan’s well-loved Percy Jackson books have been recently made into a TV show on Disney Plus. The previous film adaptions of the books were met with a lot of criticism and disappointment from book fans for deviating strongly from the source material, and many are happy that the books get another chance to be more loyally adapted.
- New formats – like in the case of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a TV show adaption allows the creators more screentime to tell the story more thoroughly (and means less of the books have to be cut out). This is the hope for many books that were originally made into films, now being rebooted for TV shows, including Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. Remakes can explore new formats like making animation a live action, or vice versa, and musicals, like The Colour Purple (2023) and Mean Girls (2021) – though this has been met with mixed responses.
- Likely to be commercially successful – remaking stories with already known names and actors, that people are excited to see reprise previous roles, increases the likelihood that they will be watched.
- The chance to improve on outdated or underdeveloped elements – like giving female characters more agency, giving characters justice with better arcs or development, improving the pacing, etc. They also allow new angles to be explored – for example the remake following the perspective of a previous side character.
- Utilising new filmmaking technologies – with how far design and animation softwares and filmmaking technology has come, remakes can make use of gorgeous visual effects that weren’t possible at the making of the original.
- Timeless appeal – remakes of well-loved films and shows can keep stories relevant for new generations. In regards to the flood of recent Disney remakes – fairytales have been reimagined and reinvented for hundreds of years for new audiences and arguably that is the very nature of storytelling – so why stop now?
The Cons of Remakes
- Lack of originality – filmmakers may be relying too heavily on pre-existing plotlines and characters which lead to a lack of innovation in filmmaking and production. There is a widespread discontent with Hollywood currently, who seem to be churning out remakes but not writing anything creatively original.
- Risk of diluting the original’s legacy if the remake is a letdown – this point is often made by those who are also criticising prequels and sequels (another matter entirely which we don’t have time to cover right now!) Remakes can do the very opposite of continuing the love for a story – they can ruin it with bad casting, writing and direction, and if they fail to capture the emotional core which drew people in in the first place. Relying too much on nostalgia for the success of a remake can often be a mistake.
- Why fix something that isn’t broken? – if an original film or show is so loved, perhaps there is no need to try and change it. Fans often have strong emotional connections to originals which is hard to recreate, and perhaps it is unnecessary to try.
- Seen as a cash grab – if a story is already well-known and has been well-received, remakes could just be a cash-grab to capitalise on something people are likely to go and watch, because of the name attached.
- Performative diversity – this is a hotly contested point, especially regarding the plethora of remakes right now. A lot of recent remakes are casting racial minorities in roles that previously were not filled by them, which is giving these historically underrepresented communities representation in main character roles and bigger presences on screen. Disney in particular have been doing this, for example in the casting of Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid (2023). It’s extremely important that representation on screen improves and that young children in particular see themselves reflected in characters they watch, including in main roles. However, some people are criticising the casting of racial minorities in the roles of originally white characters as lazy and forced representation, like production companies are trying to tick a box. If the film industry wants to be truly diverse progressive, why not write new, thoughtful stories with racial minorities in leading roles, instead of trying to fit them into past ones, especially in cases where it wouldn’t make sense in the story’s cultural/historical context? Additionally, do writers rooms actually reflect the diversity portrayed on screen, which will bring authenticity to writing these characters, or is it just being done to gain credit with audiences? But there is also the point – if the actor/actress can successfully embody the personality and spirit of the character, do their looks really matter at all?
Whilst the pros and cons of remakes are heavily contested, it is certainly true that striking a balance between honouring the original but adding a creative new take is crucial for the success of remakes. If they do continue to be produced, we can only hope the individuals making them don’t sacrifice quality originality of writing, creativity and thoughtfulness in the process.