Carrie Remake: A Sign of an Approaching Trend

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?

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