Hollywood out of ideas, remakes 'Total Recall'
POSTED BY: HAKEN
UPDATED: Sunday, August 9, 2026 15:24
VIEWED: 15277
PAGE 2 of 8
Quote:
Originally posted by jameron4eva:
Marketing guys DONT run everything, If you want proof, look at Star Wars.
The entertainment industry is a very different industry than it was 35 years ago... thanks in large part to STAR WARS and other similar movies.
Marketing DOES rule these day these days, when a studio will sometimes spend as much marketing the movie as it does making it. (I'm not sure if it's still true, but at one point, the latest Harry Potter movie was actually a financial disaster--despite having made over 700 million in ticket sales--because so much was spent on marketing).
As Storymark points out, the industry is all about "buzz" and there are only so many things that reliably generate buzz: an A-list star or director, a VERY high-end writer or creator, a recognizable property/name... on rare occassions, a cool concept or interesting plot.
Consider INCEPTION. Twenty, thirty, forty years ago, it might not have starred the equivalent of DeCraprio. The innovative concept and A-list director might have been enough. But most studios wanted nothing to do with the script until more talent was attached.
Heck, even STAR WARS suffered from the effect! Lucas did not want Alec Guinness as Kenobi, but wanted instead to cast Toshiro Mifune. The studio nixed that, saying that there was no way they would let a relatively untested director make a movie starring a bunch of unknowns and a Japanese guy. They needed a bankable star like Sir Alec to put in the trailer. (And don't forget that Star Wars almost didn't get made: every major studio had passed on the project. In fact, I believe 20th Century Fox had actually passed, or was about to pass, before a staff change among the executive decision makers brought in a guy who liked Lucas's work.)
People can trash re-makes all they want, but re-makes, sequels, and other crappy popcorn movies with giant stars and no plot generally bring in the big amounts of ticket sales because of the aforementioned buzz. And the money from those "sure things" allows studios to balance their slate by taking risks. For every Planet of the Apes remake or Batman sequel, they can take the risk on an Inception or a Matrix.
www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
On writers: I see a few people trashing Wimmer for his limited sci fi chops... but no one is commenting on the fact that his most recent credits are SALT and LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN. SALT, in particular, carries many of the same character-based sensibilities as TOTAL RECALL.
Note also that Wimmer is only one of three writers credited with writing the script (at least one of whom has a good deal of experience with big budget action). Assuming the writers weren't all working together (which is doubtful), Wimmer was likely brought in to do a character polish (probably based on the buzz from his work on the similarly-themed SALT) *after* the other writers had adapted the basic plot and put most of the act into place.
Heck, the thing that concerns me most about Wimmer is that he has sole writing credit for ULTRAVIOLET!
www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Lwaves wrote:
Quote:
And this is slightly off-topic, but related, and is something that has started to bug me a little bit recently.
If they go back to PKD's source material for this film is it really a 'remake'? I noticed it more recently with True Grit and Let Me In with people saying they were remaking them, especially when folks say they are remaking the John Wayne film. If the Coens went back to the novel (which they did) then how could it be a remake of the Wayne version. Surely it's a alternate version, or whatever you want to call it.
Interesting point Lwaves. The book is there for personal interpretation. Much like the various incarnations of A Christmas Carol or the Midsummer Night's dream, and as such perhaps fall outside the confines of a remake...
However by they mere fact they are already calling this 'Total Recall' and not 'We Can Remember It for You Wholesale' suggests they're maybe not sticking to the source material... We'll see.
Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Quote:
Agreed, Storymark and Haken, marketing rules the day. Take a look at Tron:Legacy, a SFX-laden (and a bit over produced IMHO in that aspect), 3D venture that had no story and no redeeming value (save Jeff Bridges) who was absolutely wasted in this sequel. You would think that after 28 years they would have a better end product.
But its all marketing. "Make it in 3D and then we could sit back and count the money. The fools will flock to anything with the Tron name attached to it." And so, I did. I watched the trailer a dozen times, I read the stories about how Pixar was asked to try and fix the storyline (I'm not sure if they did accept the assignment, but from the looks of it - apparently not). I bought my ticket (my son along as well) and sat there like a lump. Disappointment comes directly to mind.
I have lots of issues with the new Tron film, not that the first one was Dr. Zhivago (or Star Wars for that matter), but it had something. It was quirky fun, something never before seen, the precursor to The Matrix, if you will. But the new Tron was sour, devoid of fun. It made the same mistake that Lucas made with the Star Wars Pre-logy. Episodes 1,2, & 3 took itself too seriously and didn't have FUN. That's what made the first Tron such a cult classic, of course the cool cheesy graphics helped, but FUN. The story in Tron: L was just plain lame (the acting, particularly by Hedlund didn't help). What makes matters worse is that they built the whole story around the father/son relationship but they forgot to tell Hedlund to emote that. Poor direction? Who knows!
Basically, Tron kicks Tron: L's ass out of the park big time, and this without the help of 3D. So what good is it to remake or rehash a movie/tv series if you don't bring a good story along with it? The remake of True Grit was good, solid movie making with emphasis on story.
It was different, John Wayne's perf notwithstanding, than the original. With varying degrees, both were well-made. The tone and pacing were somewhat different. Having said that I like The Duke's version slightly better (call me old fashioned).
Remakes: It's not that H-wood is running out of ideas, it's H-wood wants to make money - first and foremost. So the marketing dudes say "why not appeal to the aging baby boomers and their children by remaking X." It's sort of what Disney does every 7 years, they pull out the old standards to resell to those who watched when they were kids and show it to their kids. Anything new and untried is too uncertain for LaLa Land's accountants. Unless your name is attached to H-wood's royalty (Spielberg, Hanks, Lucas, etc.).
How do we stop it? Don't go. Of course if it's well done how could u not.
SGG
(That there Haken is exactly the kind of article we could use.)
Nice Shiny - must say you hit quite a few nails on heads with that one.
Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by jameron4eva:
Marketing guys DONT run everything, If you want proof, look at Star Wars.
Which isn't owned by a studio, but a private individual, and as such is a completely different situation from 99% of films. It's an irrelevant example in this context.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Not sure if RE-making Total Recall qualifies Hollywood as being "out of ideas". After all, wouldn't just MAKING the movie in the first place (from a Phillip K. Dick story) mean they were out of ideas?
Does making a movie from a movie make it any worse than making a movie from a book or short story, or even a play?
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
My dad really likes Total Recall, so I know he'll go see it in the theater, who knows, I might end up there with him. The original I felt was just ... too bizarre with the revolutionary critter coming out of the guy's belly etc. But my dad enjoys it.
As for remakes, I don't always mind, sometimes it bothers me though, it depends on which movie they are remaking. With True Grit I saw the remake, it was good, but the first one was better in my opinion, the new one wasn't funny like the John Wayne version was. And Waves, I thought the new True Grit was a lot like the old one in plot, it just wasn't as funny.
I think that they should call this new Total Recall something else, like the actual story title, that way people don't see it as a remake and they won't complain about remakes. For instance, I Am Legend was based on a book, the Charlton Heston film Omega Man was based on the same book, but people didn't realize that I Am Legend was a "remake" of Omega Man, so no one whinged about it and no one had hurt feelings about a new movie trying to take the place of the one they grew up with, unless they knew the book and thus knew what was really going on.
When they made a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory I refused to watch it, I still refuse, I can't handle a remake of one of my favorite childhood movies. I was irritated when Hallmark remade Annie but since it was only Hallmark it didn't bother me _as _much. We'll know society is at its end when someone tries to remake The Sound of Music.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
They should reboot the "Royal Wedding" with Jack Black as the groom.....trust me it'll be huge!
It'll be sooooo funny! He'll fart during the vows!
I want 15% of the gross.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I wanna see Blade Runner remade. What crap that was- Indy as cop fighting whiny synthetic peeps.
Hahahahahaha, just kidding!!! They remake THAT, and they truly WILL be out...
The laughing Chrisisall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Does making a movie from a movie make it any worse than making a movie from a book or short story, or even a play?
In a word - Yes.
Although I don't think that all remakes, reboots etc are bad. Just most of them.
Going from a book to a movie is changing its presentation to the public. It is releasing it in a different way, even if they stuck religiously to the same story, it is still different. Any transfer between movie, written word, radio play, theatre play or whatever puts it in a way that opens it up to wider appeal to the public - which is who it is ultimately aimed at.
Shakespeare's works are a good example that cover written word, plays and movies. There are folks out there who would never go to the theatre or read one of his stories but they'll quite happily sit through a movie. Then there are those that wouldn't even glance at the movie but would read his works or see a play. In more modern times the same might be said for Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. I myself would never have considered watching Les Miserables or Phantom Of The Opera on a stage but I did see the movie versions.
Each presentation opens the story up to a different type of audience. Whether the transfer is any good or not is another issue.
As for Total Recall being remade then (as mentioned further up) it comes down to the point that they are remaking Total Recall not We Remember It For You Wholesale. They are re-doing a film that already exists as a film, not basing it on the source material or another format. Transferring between books and movies is one thing but there is already a movie that exists for Total Recall. It would be like someone rewriting a popular novel as another novel.
And if your comment that making a film from a novel (or whatever) is 'remaking' it then everything but the original idea in someone's head is a remake.
"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME