# Remakes of films by the same director **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910 "2010-08-20T20:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/1 "2010-08-20T20:20:12Z")
I’ve just been watching both versions of Hitchcock’s **The Man Who Knew Too Much,** and it got me wondering what other directors have remade their own films. I’m thinking more of remakes using the same title than films with very similar plots but different names, such as **Rio Bravo** and **El Dorado** , but they could be interesting too. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/2 "2010-08-20T20:25:26Z")
[The Vanishing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163/) (1988) – directed by George Sluizer. In Dutch. Riveting. [The Vanishing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108473/) (1993) – directed by George Sluizer. In English. Terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/3 "2010-08-20T20:30:42Z")
Sam Raimi did “Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead II” but the second one was pretty much a (slightly) higher budget remake of the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/4 "2010-08-20T20:52:32Z")
Another Foreign Language to English conversion: Director Hideo Nakata made the Japanese horror films “Ringu” and “Ringu 2” in Japanese. The first was remade in English (“The Ring”) by Gore Verbinski, but its sequel (“The Ring 2”) was directed by Hideo Nakata. Disclaimer: although I have seen both “Ringu” and “The Ring” and can state that the English remake follows the original plotline of the Japanese version very closely, I have not seen either “Ringu 2” or “The Ring 2” – it is quite possible that they have very different plots. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/5 "2010-08-20T21:02:26Z")
**Escape from New York** and **Escape from L.A.** are both written and directed by John Carpenter though I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be sequels or remakes. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/6 "2010-08-20T21:04:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Sam Raimi did “Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead II” but the second one was pretty much a (slightly) higher budget remake of the first one. The first one was also played pretty straight horror while the second was hilariously funny. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/7 "2010-08-20T21:07:02Z")
Cecil B. DeMille did two _The Ten Commandments_, one as a silent in the 20s, the other being the 1950’s production. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/8 "2010-08-20T21:10:02Z")
John Woo remade his film [Once a Thief](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_a_Thief_(1991)) as [an English language film with real TV-level B actors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_a_Thief_(1996_film)) in the hopes of pitching it for a TV series. I watched the first 5 minutes of it and had to turn it off, the acting was too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/9 "2010-08-20T21:16:31Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Cecil B. DeMille did two _The Ten Commandments_, one as a silent in the 20s, the other being the 1950’s production. Ah that’s the sort of thing I was looking for. I know several remakes of silent films, but with different directors. Actually, I’m sure I remember reading that Hitchcock once did it the other way round, and released a silent version of his first talkie as a lot of cinemas here in the UK didn’t convert to sound immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/10 "2010-08-20T21:35:45Z")
Michael Haneke redid _Funny Games_ for the American market in 2007. I haven’t seen either version yet, but the ratings on imdb are much higher for the original, 1997 version. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/11 "2010-08-20T21:45:33Z")
[Night of the Living Dead](http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/) (1968) and [Night of the Living Dead](http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0100258/) (1990) almost qualify. George Romero wanted to remake NotLD for several reasons (one of which was to sabotage another company’s attempt to remake it without his involvement), but didn’t direct the remake himself; he wrote the script and had Tom Savini direct. ---
**Author:** ![Mustardseed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mustardseed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mustardseed)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/12 "2010-08-20T22:05:20Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Another Foreign Language to English conversion: > > Director Hideo Nakata made the Japanese horror films “Ringu” and “Ringu 2” in Japanese. The first was remade in English (“The Ring”) by Gore Verbinski, but its sequel (“The Ring 2”) was directed by Hideo Nakata. > > Disclaimer: although I have seen both “Ringu” and “The Ring” and can state that the English remake follows the original plotline of the Japanese version very closely, I have not seen either “Ringu 2” or “The Ring 2” – it is quite possible that they have very different plots. they are completely different films (seen both). funny enough neither of them is a remake of the original ‘Ringu’-sequel titled ‘Rasen’. Rasen flopped horribly in Japan, but is the only one that followed the plot of the books another J-Horror Example: Shimizu Takashi kind of remade his first four Japanese Ju-On films as the Hollywood ‘The Grudge’. Because the movies are an collection of short vignettes playing in and around a haunted house, the American Grudge is basically a best-of remake (with Sarah Michelle Gellar as clueless Gaijin in Tokyo), unfortunately not as effective as the originals. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/13 "2010-08-20T23:55:11Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > **Escape from New York** and **Escape from L.A.** are both written and directed by John Carpenter though I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be sequels or remakes. _L.A._ is definitely a sequel, not a remake. Ozu’s _A Story of Floating Weeds_ (silent and B&W) was remade by him in color and sound 25 years later as _Floating Weeds_. Both versions of _Nightwatch_ (the original in Danish, the remake w/Ewan McGregore) were directed by Ole Bornedal. Both versions of _The Grudge_ (the original in Japanese, the remake with S.M. Gellar) were directed by Takashi Shimizu. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/14 "2010-08-21T00:05:34Z")
Alan Clarke made a TV film called [Scum](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200095/)for BBC. It was banned, so he remade it [for cinema](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079871/)two years later. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/15 "2010-08-21T07:35:15Z")
I think Michael Mann made Heat a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/16 "2010-08-21T09:17:39Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Cecil B. DeMille did two _The Ten Commandments_, one as a silent in the 20s, the other being the 1950’s production. Slight hijack: some not-quite-correct/not-quite-incorrect trivia that goes around on email from time to time is that DeMille used Jell-O to simulate the parting of the Red Sea. The not-quite-true part is that it’s usually implied if not outright said that it’s the famous Charlton Heston scene; the not-quite-untrue part is that it _was_ true of the silent, but many people aren’t familiar with that one and it gets pinned on the color 1950s one. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/17 "2010-08-23T14:06:22Z")
Since my choices have already been stated, I’ll point out two remakes that starred the same actor in the same roles: Clark Gable in **Red Dust** and its remake **Mogambo** Sean Connery in **Thunderball** and **Never Say Never Again**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/18 "2010-08-23T14:11:46Z")
Does this count? Different language remakes of the same film, as with the 1931 Dracula, but with the same director but different casts (except for the stars) **l"Atlantide/Herrin von Atlantis/Queen of Atlantis** , all directed by George Pabst and starring Brigette Helm, but with different casts (and languages) **F.P. 1 Doesn’t Answer/F.P. 1 Antwortet Nicht/ F.P. 1 Ne Respond Plus** , all directed by Karl Hartl, but with different casts (and languages) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/19 "2010-08-23T16:10:39Z")
Then how about _Reptilicus_? Two different versions filmed in different years, two different directors, two different languages (Danish and English) but the same cast and the same cinematography. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910/20 "2010-08-23T16:31:08Z")
I’m pretty sure every George Lucas film qualifies for this subject. I hear he’s remaking American Graffiti where the Greasers shoot first. It’ll have$100,000,000 of special effects added in so he can finally tell the story of his childhood the way it was always meant to be told. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-of-films-by-the-same-director/550910.md?page=2)