Carrie Remake: A Sign of an Approaching Trend

Carrie

Among all the prequels and sequels that are appearing left and right, Alien‘s Prometheus, Tron‘s Tron: Legacy and Wizard of Oz‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful, there is also an alarming new trend of remakes approaching in the near future. It is not apparent yet, since most of the movies facing remake are still in the development stages, but there have certainly been signs, such as Footloose (2011), Total Recall (2012) and the upcoming Carrie (2013) with Chloe Grace Moretz. Though the number of previously mentioned might not seem as alarming to some, the list of potential films that are thought to be brought to the 21st century raises an interesting dilemma: are remakes something that people actually want?

The problem became apparent when Stephen King, the author of the novel Carrie, was contemplating on the idea that somebody would make a new version out of a movie that was already good. Of course there is the possibility of achieving something much more successful than the original, Ocean’s Eleven (2001) being a great example, but the chances of creating a better movie are quite slim for various reasons. Firstly, most people have a certain emotional connection to the classics which makes them dislike the idea of a remake and, secondly, the reasons those movies became good cannot be repeated to new generations as effectively due to cultural changes. Introducing the remade Footloose to the current younger generation has no apparent effect because they most likely do not have the same personal connection to the story that teenagers had in the 80’s.

Though Carrie‘s plot seems a bit more adaptable to the current time, the idea of change is as scary as the 1976 movie itself. Does Moretz have that same appeal that Sissy Spacek possessed and is the much-less-experienced director Kimberly Peirce able to come to Brian De Palma’s level of quality? These are the things people will wonder about when they are going to see the new Carrie because there is no way to hide from the original in terms of comparison. And the scariest part will be the fact that people will be waiting for something more amazing! That is what remakes should be all about, taking something old and making it a lot better with the seemingly limitless resources the movie industry has, but reality is far more vicious. A good example is Total Recall which was remade in 2012 with Colin Farrell: despite the technological advantages, the movie did not have the same impact as that the original (1990) with Arnold Schwarzenegger. So even with the better CGI, people were either less interested or did not enjoy the remake as much, which is an excellent example of a more dominant negative opinion towards remakes.

Since the success of the new Carrie is yet to be discovered, it premiers during the upcoming Spring, the fate of remakes will remain unknown. In some ways, the idea of Carrie‘s possible triumphant impact might influence the future of the movies in terms of remakes because there is a long list of classics that are being made or waiting to be made better or, most probably, worse. Those movies include Robocop (2014), American Psycho, Dirty Dancing, My Fair Lady, Scarface, The Bodyguard and The Birds. Having that list in mind, the idea of new versions seems actually frightening, and who knows where and when the remake trend will stop trying to make originals better?

What do you think? Leave a comment.

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27 Comments

  1. Paula

    Remakes are actually everywhere. It seems studio executives want to ensure they will make a big profit, as so much money is invested in films and end up thinking that an idea known by many people will be sold by itself and be enough encouragement for people going to the cinema to watch a specific film.
    It is funny that I come from a country where soap operas are huge, it is our Hollywood, and the remakes of soap operas are everywhere on our TV channels. Sometimes TV producers change the titles, adapt the plot a little, but it is still a remake.
    I know it must be a hard task to come up with something new so often, but the chemistry that makes a film succeed involves many factors, such as good and charismatic actors, director and even the mood of a specific target group in a given time.
    Let’s see how long the remakes trend will last.

    • Getter Trumsi

      Exactly.. I had all these ideas but I felt like it would have taken me a lot more to put it all on paper. Remakes create a lot of issues but there might be hope for some. Yet, as the list of them in the end seems rather scary to the remake era, I hope the trend will die off sooner than it gains more speed.

    • This reminds me of a conversation between me and a friend of mine about remakes and reboot. we talked a lot about the differences between the two. for example a remake is taking the same movie and updating it to fit the modern era. But a reboot makes changes to a film completely. There are no new stories, but how you tell your version of the story is what matters.

  2. battledash

    Don’t forget 21 jump street, as the movie itself evens quotes about bringing back old programs from running out of ideas and hoping no one notices.

    • Getter Trumsi

      Didn’t want to touch that one since I still have mixed feelings about it. But yes, another remake that makes me wonder if Hollywood is out of ides, wants to make more money or is simply stupid enough to try and fix what is not broken.

    • OhBless
      0

      21 Jump Street was a good surprise!

    • I was not happy with that film, even if they were honest about rehashing the old stuff it still did not make for a good film.

  3. OhBless
    0

    While remakes are normally a no-no in my eyes, there was one that is superior to the original: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’m still wondering what the crack was about the original? The book was great but not the film. David Fincher never disappoints.

    • Getter Trumsi

      Well, then there’s a question of foreign movie remakes – while Hollywood has better resources it is possible that it is unfair to compare the Swedish version (which I disliked for the casting) to the American version (where I found Mara’s accent to be annoying). Still, I do agree, Fincher is amazing.

      • OhBless
        0

        Not sure if its the budget. Just look at Let the Right One in! The american remake was good but not even close to the original (even though the remake had a higher budget)…

      • ooo Excellent point about a remaking being made from a foreign film. some times the audience a film is made for has some cultural differences that the new audience wont get in context. so that changes the way a film has to be presented. and that might change the overall impact of a story.

        and I second the Fincher comment.

  4. Ben Harper

    Hollywood won’t be satisfied until there are two versions of every classic horror film out there; even just ones that live on cult status. Dawn of the Dead, TCM, The Thing (prequel or remake; it remains a rehashed idea), The Omen, The Wicker Man…the lists goes on and on. The war can’t be won or the train stopped, you just have to hope that a few squeeze through that actually contribute something and are worth it. Carrie and the upcoming Evil Dead remakes are two that DO look interesting, but that is mainly because of the people behind them – less of a cash in, more unique vision etc.

  5. Jordan

    I screen write occasionally and I have heard from a number of people in the industry that they want to make remakes because that is what is making the most money – they can be assured there is an audience for what they are producing, this is why original content is rarely seen nowadays. Even most “original content” movies are based off some sort of book, magazine, or something…
    It is sad in a way, for people who have ideas to share, but the movie industry is really reluctant to take on any original project unless there are big names attached to it. I hope things change soon <3

    • Getter Trumsi

      Exactly, remakes or based on something is a dominant thing in the movie world at the moment. Names like Nolan and Tarantino made it big and now they are able to do their own thing without anybody having any doubts that they can. Ritchie started with his thing but is probably now stuck because he is expected to make money not just good movies.

  6. Mike G

    The only remake in all my movie watching over the years that I found to be light years better than the original was The Thing. It’s a horrible trend going on in Holloywood right now, but unfortunately it’s what’s selling in the industry at the moment. Just like comic book movies.

  7. good article! a very good read. I myself am a bit tired of all the retreads, reboots and remakes…but they still seem to be coming at us at light speed.

  8. shekhar rajwansh
    0

    hi am shekhar rajwansh in india………

  9. Tatijana

    I think part of what makes a good movie is being new and inventive. You give the audience something awesome they haven’t had before. Reusing an old idea, doesn’t deliver anything new, so it has to make up for it by being even better. that’s kinda hard to do.

  10. I have a hard time watching remakes and liking them. I have yet to see Stephen Kings’ new adaptions of “It” and “Pet Sematary” just because they were good in my opinion. I will eventually see them because I am curious, but will go in with low expectations. I have seen scenes from the 2013 “Carrie” and will never watch the entire movie. The 1976 version is just too good. Nothing will top it. But all that being said, I think directors should still keep remaking movies that they feel they could add an extra emotion to. That’s what movies should be about: making the audience feel emotion. That’s what I look for in a movie anyway.

  11. I personally don’t have an attachment to Carrie, so a remake of this wouldn’t bother me, but I could see someone more attached to the original being less forgiving.

  12. There was a sequel of “Carrie” before the 2013 version. It was more if a remake, actually (same plot), and it worked good enough for its time (the 90s).

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