Film remake

Afilm remakeis afilmbased on a previous production.

The concept is popular withfilm studiosandproduction companiesbecause it reduces thefinancial risks,as fans of the original work are likely to want to see something similar to the film they already like.In some cases, the producer or studio which made the original film still retains thefilm rights,so doesn't require a newfilm optionor need to develop a new story, reducing the financial cost.

Remakes are sometimes near copies, such as the 1952The Prisoner of Zenda,nearly identical to the1937 black-and-white version,but shot in Technicolor; andPsycho(1998),ashot-for-shotcolor remake of the black-and-whitePsycho(1960).More frequently they introduce some changes or new elements e.g. in the originalThe Front Page(1931), a male newspaper editor tries to keep his male star reporter from quitting; in the remakeHis Girl Friday(1940), the reporter is female and the editor's ex-wife.Black Caesar(1973) is ablaxploitationretelling ofLittle Caesar(1931).

Technological advances can allow a remake to include features that were not possible at the time the original was made. A silent film can be remade as a "talkie",a black-and-white movie can be remade in color, or a 2D motion picture can be remade as a3D film.Severalanimated filmshave been remade aslive-actionproductions, such asAlice in Wonderland(2010)andCinderella(2015).

Remakes can be made in different languages or in a differentsetting.The English-language color filmThe Magnificent Seven(1960) is a remake of the Japanese black-and-white filmSeven Samurai(1954), transferring the story fromSengoku periodJapan to the AmericanWild West.Musical remakes have been made, such asLost Horizon(1973),a musical fantasy version ofLost Horizon(1937),originally a drama.

Examples

• List of film remakes (A–M)
• List of film remakes (N–Z)
• List of English-language films with previous foreign-language film versions
• List of Disney live-action remakes of animated films