# Would a remake of Airplane! work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374 "2011-10-31T12:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/1 "2011-10-31T12:45:38Z")
I watched Airplane! last night and I actually think a decent remake could be made. I’m sure they could do a good job of making fun of TSA security and all the annoying airline fees. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/2 "2011-10-31T12:58:41Z")
But **Airplaine!** wasn’t a satire about air travel. It actually was a remake of an earlier film, **Zero Hour** – with a surprising amount of the dialog intact. What you propose would only add about five gags to the film, not enough for a full remake. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/3 "2011-10-31T13:04:57Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I watched Airplane! last night and I actually think a decent remake could be made. I’m sure they could do a good job of making fun of TSA security and all the annoying airline fees. Surely you noticed that there WAS a “TSA”-like gag in there, even though this was long before TSA. He calls out “Hi, Jack!” to somebody, and several guards arise from behind planters and take him down. And stop calling me Shirley! ---
**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:** [October 31, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/4 "2011-10-31T13:09:45Z")
Remake what? The plot? The characters? The sole reason they exist is so that they’d have something to hang the jokes on. If you can find writers who can write gags as good - and as plentiful - as they had in _Airplane_, then it doesn’t matter what your movie is actually about. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/5 "2011-10-31T13:50:17Z")
Airplane was about putting Kentucky Fried Theater (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker) in front of a mainstream audience, and now they’re there and have said pretty much everything they had to say. (Are they even active in the movie business anymore?) A new comedy about commercial aviation? It would probably star Zack Galiafinakis, Russell Brand and Jonah Hill and be directed by Judd Apatow. Not sure it would be a remake, except in the loose sense that **Get Him To the Greek** was a remake of **My Favorite Year**. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/6 "2011-10-31T13:53:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Surely you noticed that there WAS a “TSA”-like gag in there, even though this was long before TSA. He calls out “Hi, Jack!” to somebody, and several guards arise from behind planters and take him down. > > And stop calling me Shirley! I thought you were going to point out the scene where all of the women walking past the scanners came out naked on the screens but all the men were still clothed. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/7 "2011-10-31T14:28:22Z")
So let me get this straight. You think that one of the top 2 or 3 comedy movies…ever, could be remade and be…what? Better? I think the chances of it being better are negligible and so what would be the point? I think you are smoking something fairly potent and now would be a good time to give it up. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/8 "2011-10-31T15:17:55Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think you are smoking something fairly potent and now would be a good time to give it up. Looks like he picked the wrong week to quit that… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/9 "2011-10-31T15:20:33Z")
Q: Would a remake of Airplane! work? A: No. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/10 "2011-10-31T15:24:22Z")
Not a chance without Lt. Drebin. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/11 "2011-10-31T15:28:01Z")
Somebody already tried. It was called **Airplane 2** and it was _terrible_. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/12 "2011-10-31T15:47:10Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Looks like he picked the wrong week to quit that… Frodo, was that the sound of a low-flying aircraft going past you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/13 "2011-10-31T15:49:42Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Frodo, was that the sound of a low-flying aircraft going past you? 😉 Surely you can’t be serious. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/14 "2011-10-31T15:54:51Z")
I have just one thing to say to anyone who tries to remake Airplane: “Good luck. We’re all counting on you.” ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/15 "2011-10-31T16:00:36Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > Somebody already tried. It was called **Airplane 2** and it was _terrible_. A sequel? Over Macho Grande? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/16 "2011-10-31T16:07:29Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > Somebody already tried. It was called **Airplane 2** and it was _terrible_. In 1984, I saw a preview of a rough cut of “Top Secret!”, the film which Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker did after “Airplane!” In the Q&A session after the screening, they told the story about how “Airplane 2” came to be, and how they came to not be involved in it. (Paraphrased) Paramount: “‘Airplane’ did great business! We need you guys to make a sequel!” ZAZ: “A sequel? But, we’ve already done all of the good disaster-movie jokes. We want to try something else.” Paramount: “No, no, we need a sequel. It has built-in box-office, and a new movie wouldn’t have that.” ZAZ: “We have no interest in working on a sequel.” Paramount: “Well, it really doesn’t matter what you think, because we own the rights to ‘Airplane’, so if you won’t work on it, we’ll find someone else who will.” (BTW, the three of them are, indeed, still active in filmmaking, mostly in producing, though they don’t appear to be working as a team any longer, and Abrahams has apparently only worked on one or two films in the past decade.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/17 "2011-10-31T16:09:54Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > A sequel? Over Macho Grande? Nervous? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/18 "2011-10-31T16:24:45Z")
The way it was made wouldn’t work today. The movie would have to be made in a completely different way, altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/19 "2011-10-31T16:30:19Z")
The movie would have to be made in a completely different way. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374/20 "2011-10-31T16:30:21Z")
It’s on my list of movies I’m going to make, as soon as I finish my remakes of Casablanca and To Kill A Mockingbird. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-remake-of-airplane-work/601374.md?page=2)