# Movies that should never be rebooted **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852 "2010-11-08T01:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/1 "2010-11-08T01:35:38Z")
How many of you get uneasy when you hear the word “reboot”? I immediately think "Okay, shallow movie exec has no new ideas, so spins the big wheel in his office, and when the pointer stops at _ **Goonies** _ yells _‘I’ve got it! We’ll change the setting from the Oregon coast to SanFran, and we’ll write in a troubled past for Mikey, maybe he’s a skater graffiti artist … and a love interest! If we can just get Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus it’ll be bomb-proof!’"_ In the [Reboot the Back To The Future films](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=584629) thread, _Stranger On A Train_ quips “… as foolish as trying to remake Rear Window or On The Waterfront”. Amen. If you could dig a fire-break around any films and say **“You! Shall! Not! Reboot!”** , which films would those be? And what reasons would you give those soul-less movie execs who are willing to re-imagine _ **Citizen Kane** _ with Will Ferrell: _(“Finally, Chuck RULZ Xanadu! In full color, full 3D, and full bodily fluid humor!”)_ ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/2 "2010-11-08T01:45:41Z")
_Casablanca_ /end thread ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/3 "2010-11-08T01:55:09Z")
_The Wicker Man._ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/4 "2010-11-08T02:08:46Z")
Well, for one thing, a single, standalone movie **cannot** be rebooted by definition. (In my ever-so-humble opinion.) It can be remade, but the term ‘reboot’ applies to a franchise or series, not to a single work. Which is not to say that ignorant people haven’t tried to use the term. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/5 "2010-11-08T02:21:43Z")
Well, a remake of Back to the future sounds like a recipe for disaster. You could still make a good actual movie out of the concept, but the original series took the concept and made it blossom in a way that seems very hard to replicate. Even if you took the same crew today (I of course take Michael J. Fox out of the equation here), they would be totally unable to repeat the feat. And that’s usually the indicator for films that shouldnt be remade. The concept of remake is more appropriate for B movies, where the execution wasnt necessarily perfect (see the Highlander thread). Sooo, I’m gonna go for CHUD here. They really shouldnt make a remake of that. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/6 "2010-11-08T02:40:07Z")
> [@digs](#): > > In the [Reboot the Back To The Future films](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=584629) thread, _Stranger On A Train_ quips “… as foolish as trying to remake Rear Window or On The Waterfront”. > > Amen. I don’t know. I could really see a remake of Rear window happening. How about starring Shia LaBeouf? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/7 "2010-11-08T02:44:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > _The Wicker Man._ :smack: [Oh it would be hard to top Nicholas Cage’s version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/8 "2010-11-08T02:45:26Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > I don’t know. I could really see a remake of Rear window happening. How about starring Shia LaBeouf? I think that Rear Window was also remade by Christopher Reeve, as a made-for-television movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/9 "2010-11-08T03:06:03Z")
Forget _Chinatown_. It’s jake. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/10 "2010-11-08T03:13:40Z")
The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Every few years the rumours start up again (remember when Marilyn Manson was going to play Frank N. Furter?) and every time it sounds like an awful idea. Even if the remake was good - and that’s a pretty huge if - the fans would never accept it and the critics would rip it to shreds. The only way it could work is if it was changed so much that it almost became a new film rather than a remake - like if they took the songs or the characters or both and put them in a different story with a different setting. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/11 "2010-11-08T03:47:51Z")
Note to producers: Do not consider remaking a movie where the original succeeds on the strength of _performance,_ in spite of an unremarkable script. _The Pink Panther_ minus Peter Sellers will not go well. _Arthur_ minus Dudley Moore will not go well. This is a universal formula, but by way of an example: I wouldn’t want to see _Young Frankenstein_ revisited. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/12 "2010-11-08T03:50:10Z")
I don’t know if you knew this already, but _The Pink Panther_ was already remade, starring Steve Martin and _Arthur_ is currently being remade, starring Russell Brand. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/13 "2010-11-08T03:50:23Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > The Rocky Horror Picture Show…The only way it could work is if it was changed so much that it almost became a new film… How about as a RomCom? _ **“When Brad met Janet”** _! ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/14 "2010-11-08T04:07:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > _The Pink Panther_ minus Peter Sellers will not go well. I disagree. The Pink Panther could have been done well by the right performer. Steve Martin was not it. I have no idea what would make anyone think he was it. I always figured that part was made for Martin Short, but probably not any more though. The Pink Panther was a great franchise, but surviving that SM travesty will be a shot in a million. Of course, not all of the Peter Sellers PP were great. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/15 "2010-11-08T04:12:59Z")
**Gone with the Wind** **Casablanca** **the Wizard of Oz** **the Exorcist** **Star Wars** (the original tilogy) **E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial** **the Godfather** (I or II) Probably more, but these films are too indelibly ingrained in the collective pop culture consciousness to ever be remade successfully with a different cast. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/16 "2010-11-08T04:26:52Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > I disagree. The Pink Panther could have been done well by the right performer. Steve Martin was not it. I have no idea what would make anyone think he was it. I always figured that part was made for Martin Short, but probably not any more though. The Pink Panther was a great franchise, but surviving that SM travesty will be a shot in a million. > > Of course, not all of the Peter Sellers PP were great. Sasha Baron Cohen. What were they thinking casting an American as Clouseau? Only a Brit can properly mock French pompousness, it’s an earned thing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/17 "2010-11-08T04:37:14Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Sasha Baron Cohen. What were they thinking casting an American as Clouseau? Only a Brit can properly mock French pompousness, it’s an earned thing. I would go see that. Just had a thought. If I were the movie exec in the OP, I’d have a change of heart and tell my staff: "Hey, what if, instead of remaking a movie (because we like it and think it has potential with the public)… …we just RE-RELEASE IT, and market the heck out of it, and introduce a new generation to Hitchcock or Lean or Kubrick on the big screen?" ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/18 "2010-11-08T05:30:37Z")
**The Matrix**. For one thing, what would they call it? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/19 "2010-11-08T05:43:45Z")
_Star Wars._ By which I mean refilming the the original trilogy with a new cast or, preferably, no cast at all. And don’t tell me Lucas hasn’t thought of it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/20 "2010-11-08T05:45:44Z")
_The Terminator_. It needs Arnold. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852.md?page=2)