WAT
Hollywood to Remake Dune, Seven Samurai
By John Scott Lewinski
March 22, 2008 | 4:57:13 AMCategories: Film, Movies, Sci-Fi
Hollywood studios were so excited to get their creative and inventive writers back that it promptly put many of them to work rehashing old movies.
In the remake game, there are good reasons to reengineer a film. For example, if an otherwise promising story just didn't come together on the screen when a director melded script, cast, catering, etc., it's not the worst idea to let time pass and try again with a new helmer and crew. In that category, we have Paramount's new effort to produce Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi novel Dune.
The film was a sincere effort by writer/director David Lynch, but it's remembered more for Sting's over-the-top "I will kill him!" than for any genuine cinematic excitement. Now, Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) will direct what producers promise will be a more faithful telling of affairs on Arrakis.
Meanwhile, it's generally a bad idea to remake a classic movie because an executive thought what once was good will be even better the second time around. Examples? Psycho. King Kong. Halloween. Planet of the Apes. Godzilla.
We can only hope that Harvey Weinstein changes his mind about going ahead with a remake of Akira Kurosawa's early masterpiece, The Seven Samurai. Maybe someone can suggest that Weinstein just update it as a western. Oh, wait. Never mind.
RAAAAAAAAAAAGE