I was just reading in the last couple days about plans to make a new film version of “The Producers”. I haven’t heard but would have to assume that Mel Brooks would direct the remake. Which got me to wondering, are there any other instances of a director doing a remake of one of their own films? IIRC Hitchcock did it once or twice but I don’t remember the film (The 39 Steps?). Anyone else ever do this?
The Hitchcock film was The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1934 and 1956. Howard Hawks made Rio Bravo and * El Dorado* which are strikingly similar, but not strictly remakes.
Well, George Lucas originally made THX 1138:4EB as a short film while a student at USC, before redoing it as a feature titled THX 1138 and starring Robert Duvall.
Frank Capra made Lady for a Day and Pocketful of Miracles. George Sluizer made both the Danish and English versions of The Vanishing. Ditto Les Fugitifs and Three Fugitives, both directed by Francis Veber and Visiteurs, Les and Just Visiting, both directed by Jean-Marie Poiré.
Oh, and Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the stage version, will be directing the film, not Brooks.
More:
Ball of Fire and A Song Is Born, both by Howard Hawks.
These Three and The Children’s Hour, both by William Wyler.
Love Affair and An Affair to Remember, both by Leo McCarey.
Broadway Bill and Riding High, both by Frank Capra.
Destry Rides Again and the remake Destry, both by George Marshall.
Nattevagten and Nightwatch, both by Ole Bornedal.
Two versions of And God Created Woman, both by Roger Vadim.
Two versions of The Ten Commandments and three of The Squaw Man, all by Cecil B. DeMille.
Evil Dead, Sam Raimi.
Desperado, Robert Rodriguez.
Evil Dead II is definitely NOT a remake of The Evil Dead. Sam Raimi has said so many times.
And according to the IMDB, Desperado was not a remake of El Mariachi.
George Sluizer directed a terrible Hollywood remake, The Vanishing, of his earlier Dutch masterpiece, Spoorloos (The Vanishing).
How about an actor, Clint Eastwood who starred in Man With No Name, who directed the remake He Rode a Pale Horse.
Apologies, ArchiveGuy, I missed you post first time round.
…on the other hand, wasn’t Michael Mann’s Heat a remake of his earlier LA Takedown?
I suppose **Sam Raimi ** can say whatever he wants but all you have to do is watch them to know better.
And notice that the flashbacks in Desperado aren’t footage from El ? Also Carlos Gallardo played the original mariachi but in Desperado he is one of El’s companeros.
At best it’s a remaqual.
Sam Raimi*did[/i remake **The Evil Dead[/B, even if you don’t count Evil Dead II. IIRC, Evil Dead started out as a small student flick, and they reshot it all for the offical “first” film.
I was going to say Cecil B. deMille for Ten Commandments and Hitchcock for Man Who Knw Too Much. Didn’t know abut the others. There are probably quite a few student film that got reshot, like Evil Dead, but I’m not sure we should count them.
How about actors who starred in remakes of their own films (not just cameos)? Clark Gable in Red Dust/Mogambo, and Sean Connery in Thunderball/ Never Say Never Again.
Judge Priest (1934) and The Sun Shines Bright (1953), both directed by John Ford.
Der Golem (1915) and Der Golem (1920), both co-directed by Paul Wegener.
Forbidden Paradise (1924) and A Royal Scandal (1945), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
Kiss Me Again (1925) and That Uncertain Feeling (1941), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
The Marriage Circle (1924) and One Hour with You (1932), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
I don’t have any examples to add, but according to the New York Times article on the remake of The Producers Mel Brooks will write the screenplay along with the guy who helped write the stage version and the movie will be directed by the person who directed the stage version. (It will be her first movie directing gig.)
I have watched them and I do know better.
Evil Dead II is not a remake. They wanted to use footage from the original Evil Dead to setup part II but couldn’t get the rights. So they reshot a few scenes to make the viewer know this is the second day.
And Evil Dead was never a “student film.” The original intention was to get it in as many drive thrus as possible. It was always a “serious” attempt at filmmaking.
I recall reading that Michael Mann remade one of his earlier movies into Heat
On the Evil Dead II discussion, although not technically a remake they two movies are incredibly similar so it almost qualifies.
He wasn’t talking about Evil Dead. I believe there was a short made before Evil Dead titled “It Came from the Woods” or something of the like, which was made to get investers interested in producing Evil Dead 1.
Also, regarding the remake/sequel arguement. Well, here’s the story I heard, which may or may not be true: What I heard is that Evil Dead 2 was the film that they originally wanted to make but they lacked the budget. So what they did is make the short film to get people interested in producing the full-length film, Evil Dead, which would give them some credibility as filmmakers and allow them to secure funding for a second film. They were taken as serious filmmakers after the release of Evil Dead 1 and could now get the funding to make the film they intended to make in the first place, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. I cannot remember where I read that and it could very well be pure bullshit but that’s what I heard, okay?
There are no movie called Man With No Name or He Rode a Pale Horse–at least not in the USA.
Eastwood’s Pale Rider is not a remake, but Harlan Ellison called it a ripoff of Shane.
Not an earlier movie, but an earlier TV show. Anyone who watched “Crime Story” regularly knows that Mann re-used whole scenes and a lot of dialogue from that TV series in “Heat.”