Game of Thrones managed a credible 14-foot giant. With a budget 10x the size I’m sure Hollywood could come up with something.
This is not a vote they should, though.
There are movies that are great because of plot or action or other features that can be recaptured in a remake.
Then there are films/shows that are beloved basically because people fall in love with the characters and the actor’s portrayal of them.
As an example of the former, think Terminator, or Alien, or The Seven Samurai. A remake of terminator will be successful if it is as exciting and thought provoking as the original. The Seven samurai has been remade into great movies because it was the concept that matters.
For the latter type, I’d say The Princess Bride and Firefly are good examples. In these shows, it’s not the plot that matters, it’s the magical something that was captured by the entire ensemble that makes the movie or show much better than the sum of its parts. It’s hard to imagine a Firefly reboot without the original actors, because much of the enjoyment of watching the show came from just being around those people for an hour. The Princess Bride is the same.
Now, maybe if an act of miraculous casting happens the original magic of these shows/movies can be recaptured. But I highly doubt it. And the mere thought of watching TPB or Firefly with a bunch of different actors just feels wrong.
I feel the same way about rebooting the original Star Trek with new actors. The reboots were entertaining enough as space opera, but they didn’t come close to capturing the chemistry of the original cast, and the movie was something very different than the TV show.
Stage plays are meant to be re-made multiple times with different casts and crews. I think novels can be re-filmed.
The sequence where Inigo and Fezzik break into the dungeon to rescue Westley could have been done better. The Albino was better-done in the movie than in the book.
You would need an excellent director, though, and I don’t know who I would trust with it.
Dwayne Johnson is an awesome suggestion for Fezzik. He would need some Lord of the Rings-style camera tricks to turn him into a giant, but it could be done.
Robert Downey, Jr. is an interesting idea for Miracle Max, but I think you would need a Jewish actor, who could wallow in the stereotypes without offending the PC police. (Before anyone complains in this thread, let me point out that the book was written by William Goldman, a Jewish writer, and he wrote Miracle Max with the intention of lampooning of the stereotypes.)
But you would need a spectacular cast, with every actor perfect for every role, to compare favorably with the original.
I find out that Downey actually has a significant Jewish heritage. I still think you need a comedian, rather than a thespian, for the role.
Well specific to Miracle Max and his [del]Witch[/del] Wife the same pair could repeat their roles and with a lot less make-up this time.
We’ve been doing that for years.
See - if you wanted to do this - you could actually just make the sequel - yes, we’d be short a brute squad…
It would take a miracle…
The other case where it makes sense to re-make a movie is to update it, if the original has become too dated for modern audiences. But the bulk of The Princess Bride is set in an ambiguous, inconsistent, fantastical time (anyone remember all of the “Before X, but after Y” quotes?), and therefore will never be dated.
The one part that can become dated is the framing story, and even that only slightly. That’s why I suggested “re-making” it just by digitally altering what game console the kid is playing.
They can also just deadpool it.