Are directors/producers who remake classic films incredibly arrogant?
I think that it is easier to take something that was known to be a hit and re-do it for the current teen audience (most of whom have never seen the old classic films) than it is to make up a new idea. Plus, theatre is meant to be redone over and over again – just look at Shakespear – he shows up in films all of the time, and he wrote his stuff hundreds of years ago (see: She’s the Man as the most recent – I think).
It is so much easier to take an old movie and put currently popular actors and actresses in it than to create something completely new that the lazy and unsure will take the easy route. As in the case of The Maltese Falcon, the remake was infinitely better than the original but the rest have fallen short of the mark.
Maybe arrogant, but more importantly lacking in originality and creativity. When they’re not remaking (that is, ripping off) classic films, they’re making movies out of old TV shows, comic books, even theme park rides (Pirates of the Caribbean). What’s really arrogant is that when they do these remakes they think they can make them “better” by changing them. None of your proposed punishments will work. These people respond only to box office numbers. Our only recourse, one I’ve long been using, is not to reward their crap by putting money in their pockets.
