Hollywood out of ideas, remakes 'Total Recall'
POSTED BY: HAKEN
UPDATED: Sunday, August 9, 2026 15:24
VIEWED: 15277
PAGE 3 of 8
Maybe they should just go ahead and turn it over to Uwe Boll and let him finish it once and for all. 
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Quote:
Originally posted by HAKEN:
Hollywood has finally run out of ideas (how many times have people said that before?) because after making sequels after sequels, rebooting old TV shows into movies, and turning comic books into movie franchises, they are now tapping into their recent movies to be remade.
Next on the list, Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Total Recall.' It was announced today that Collin Farrell will lead the cast with Len Wiseman in the Director's chair.
Supposedly Wiseman will be more true to the Phillip K. Dick source material, but we'll see.
Could they not give Summer the lead female role in that case? :-)
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Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves: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
if they movieficate a book they should try to do it to the Book Dystopia by the danish author Dennis Jurgensen. and give Summer the lead female role, and perhaps Thomas as the male lead
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Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
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
Actually, they are basing it more on the book, they're just keeping the more marketable title.
"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."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:
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
Actually, they are basing it more on the book, they're just keeping the more marketable title.
Fair enough. I can't say I've kept up with news on this version, partly because of the Arnie version. But if they do stick close enough to PKD's work then I'll probably keep closer attention to it nearer release date.
"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall
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Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Actually, they are basing it more on the book, they're just keeping the more marketable title.
Except "Total Recall" vs. "We Can Remember For You Wholesale" is on my short and select "film better than the book" list.
Bear in mind that the "book" is a short story < 20 pages long - there's barely enough to make an "Outer Limits" episode, let alone a feature film, and the plot is a bit potty. Heresy, I know. The concept is a great bit of brainfrack, but I think the film did a better job of turning the idea into a story.
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They should really remake "Battlefield Earth". That was an awesome book which I waited 25 years for the movie only to wish they hadn't made it at all..
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Columbia Pictures financed Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, the sequel to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, while passing on the opportunity to participate in Million Dollar Baby, Ray, The Aviator, Sideways and Finding Neverland, all of them original, all of them Best Picture Nominees at the Oscars.
I grabbed the above factoid from Roger Ebert's review of Deuce Bigalow 2 (rating: zero stars - " . . . Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks." ) at http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050811/REV
IEWS/50725001/1023
What could this mean other than Columbia Pictures, in the years 2004-2005, was making decisions based only upon money and nothing else?
There is a little justice in the world -- the sequel made half the money of the original, although more than Serenity. How did that happen?
Deuce Bigalow 1 Gross: $92,938,755 www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deucebigalowmalegigolo.htm
Deuce Bigalow 2 Gross: $45,109,561 www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deucebigalow2.htm
Serenity World Gross: $38,869,464 www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=serenity.htm
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
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I have to admit that Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalow is one of my favorite movies, yes, for serious, it is one of my favorites, at least one of my favorite comedies, but Deuce 2 was an _awful movie, it was an embarassment to all fans of Deuce, I notice that though DBMG is played a lot on TV they never ever show the second one, that is because it sucked brick. It was just stupid. Some things shouldn't have a sequel, period.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
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Thanx, I was inspired.
SGG
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