With Beverly Hills Cop 4 being a huge success for Netflix, it seems the cynics were right: Hollywood is out of ideas. Sequels, reboots, remakes and spin-offs are all the craze, as recognisable characters increase the chance of commercial success. Instead of bemoaning the status quo, we decided to embrace it and propose four movies that desperately need to be remade!
Eragon
Success in Hollywood sometimes just comes down to timing. The fantasy movie Eragon lost that window of timing by about 10 years. Had it been released in 2016, a time when high fantasy ruled supreme, Game of Thrones was the hottest thing on TV and people were eager for more fantasy-related content, it would probably be a huge success. Or at least successful enough to spawn a franchise.
Alas, it was not to be.
Eragon was released in 2006 to mostly negative reviews and heavy fan backlash. The critics didn’t like it and the fans hated it. Despite its 100 million budget and blinding star power (Jeremy Irons, John Malovich, Rachel Weisz) it just didn’t stick.
Eragon tells the story of a young farm boy who finds a mysterious stone while trekking in the mountains. The stone turns out to be a fabled dragon egg that hatches for Eragon, making him a Dragon Rider. Boy and the young dragon are then thrown into a world of magic, court intrigue and a struggle to rule the world.
With six books in total in the Eragon universe, Eragon could be an IP that could generate billions.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Much like Eragon, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or LXG was a victim of timing. Had it been made today it would probably be successful or at least have found its niche audience. Written by the legendary Alan Moore – of Watchmen and V For Vendetta fame – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen tells the story of a Victorian-era where characters from literature are very much real and recruited by the British government to help them foil a plot against it. Sean Connery stars as the adventurer/big game hunter Allan Quatermain who teams up with Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde Mina Harker (the bride of Dracula, who is presented as a vampire), Captain Nemo, and the Invisible Man.
Despite being commercially successful, make no mistake, this is a bad movie. Instead of exploring their themes of immortality and character crossover, as the novel does, the filmmakers treated it as a superhero team-up, the equivalent of a child mashing toy dolls together. LXG is just dying for a reboot/remake and we may actually be lucky on that front as Hulu (owned by Disney) has confirmed that a series is in the works.
Needful Things
One of the most famous of Stephen King’s works, Needful Things tells the story of how the Devil came to a picturesque town in Maine and opened up shop, selling various antiques. Turns out that among those antiques are objects that the town’ people really, really need. Things that speak to them on a personal level and that they would do anything to get. Soon the town descends into chaos as the people turn on one another, with deadly consequences.
Needful Things was made into a movie in 1991, and as is the case with most of King’s works the movie deviated from the source material, mostly due to technological restrictions of the time. Restrictions that do not apply now.
With new CGI technology and the option of being made into a series, Needful Things is prime material for a remake, one that could give more emphasis to the horror elements.
Highlander
“There can be only one!” yells Connor MacLeod, a Scottish Highlander, as he decapitates his opponent with his sword. Starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, Highlander tells the story of the Immortals, ordinary people who are born immortal and are destined to fight each other through time until there is only one left.
A box-office failure at the time of release, The Highlander has become a cult classic and spawned sequels and TV spin-offs. People just loved the premise and they could not get enough sword-fights in parking lots! It’s been almost 40 years since its original release and the franchise is dying (hah!) for a reboot.
Which might happen sooner than you think! Henry Cavill has signed on to play the role of Connor in the rebooted franchise, with production expected to start sometime next year. Will the plan go through? Will it be successful? Or can it be only one?
