A film remake is a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

based on a previous production. The concept is popular with

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

s and

production companies A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, an ...

because it reduces the financial 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 the

film rights A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, so doesn't require a new film option or need to develop a new story, reducing the financial cost. Remakes are sometimes near copies, such as ''Psycho'' (1998), a

shot-for-shot Shot-for-shot (or shot-for-shot adaptation, shot-for-shot remake) is a way to describe a visual work that is transferred almost completely identically from the original work without much interpretation. Production uses In the film industry, most ...

remake of ''Psycho'' (1960). More frequently they introduce some changes or new elements e.g. in the original ''

The Front Page ''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times. Plot The ...

'' (1931), a male newspaper editor tries to keep his male star reporter from quitting; in the remake ''

His Girl Friday ''His Girl Friday'' is a 1940 American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper edito ...

'' (1940), the reporter is female and the editor's ex-wife. '' Black Caesar'' (1973) is a

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

retelling of '' Little 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 sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...

", a black-and-white movie can be remade in color, or a 2D motion picture can be remade as a

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

. Several

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

s have been remade as

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

productions, such as ''Alice in Wonderland'' (2010) and ''Cinderella'' (2015). Remakes can be made in different languages or retell an existing story in a new

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

. The English-language color film ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'' (1960) is a remake of the Japanese-language black & white film ''

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...

'' (1954), transferring the story from

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Japan to the American

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

. Musical remakes have been attempted, though generally unsuccessfully, such as ''Lost Horizon'' (1973), a musical fantasy version of ''Lost Horizon'' (1937), originally a drama.

Examples

List of film remakes (A–M) __NOTOC__ This is a list of film remakes. Excluded in this list are films that are based on the same source material. For example, the 1962 version of ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' is not a remake of the 1935 film; both are based on the novel ''Mutiny ...

List of film remakes (N–Z) This is a list of film remakes. Excluded are films based on the same source material. For example, the 1962 version of ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' is not a remake of the 1935 film; both are based on the novel ''Mutiny on the Bounty''. Reboots are ...

List of English-language films with previous foreign-language film versions This list includes both English-language films that were based on previously released foreign-language films and those that were not based on any previous film, but merely share a common source material. Chinese Czech Danish Dutch ...

List of Disney live-action remakes of animated films This is a list of live-action or photorealistic remakes produced by Walt Disney Pictures of its animated films. The list also includes the film's sequels and spin-offs within their universe. This list does not include remakes of live-action/anim ...

References

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