MORE than 30 Hollywood classics are to be remade, prompting fears that film makers have run out of original ideas.
A remake of Point Break, the 1991 surfing and bank-robbery action film starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, which was announced on Tuesday is just the latest in a line of recycled plotlines.
Movie-makers announced earlier this week they were set to film new versions of John Carpenter’s The Thing, a 1982 horror film where a group of Anctartic scientists are terrorized by a shape-shifting alien, and 1986’s Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery as “Immortals”, a race of beings who must decapitate each other until the last survivor gains immortality.
Adventure flick Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, is set to be re-released in 3D.
The lack of original idea is already causing a backlash, but a Tinseltown insider told The Times that studios are unwilling to take a chance on new material.
STUDIOS UNWILLING TO TAKE RISKS
The senior executive, who is unnamed, said: “The studios have lost their nerve.
“There’s original writing out there. What’s lacking is the balls to give it a chance. That’s why you are being fed sequels, superheros and remakes.”
Karate Kid and Fame have both been remade in recent years, while a new version of Footloose is also in production.
Next year will see the release of an updated version of Total Recall, with Colin Farrell taking over the role that Arnold Schwarznegger portrayed in the 1990 version.
Farrell is already starring in another remake, as a vampire in Fright Night, a film originally released in 1985.
Remakes of Poltergeist, Beverly Hills Cop, The Terminator and Ghostbusters are also rumoured to be in the pipeline.
While Red Dawn is set to replace the Russian bad guys with Chinese ones.
OPTIMISIM OVER FILM REMAKES
Sir Ridley Scott announced last month that he is set to remake 1982’s Blade Runner, a science fiction film starring Harrison Ford.
Producer Andrew Kosove, told the Los Angeles Times: “Everything Ridley does as a film maker is fresh. I believe he sees an opportunity to create something that’s wholly original.”
The people behind the new Point Break remain equally optimistic. This version is due to be set in the world of extreme sports, with an FBI agent infiltrating a criminal ring.
As the producers behind the remake said: “Who doesn’t love the Kathryn Bigelow original and its hart-pounding action and thrills?”
