{"id":404,"date":"2026-01-08T09:12:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/?p=404"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:12:25","slug":"9-movies-that-are-remakes-of-remakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/?p=404","title":{"rendered":"9 Movies That Are Remakes of Remakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re at the theater this weekend and happen to see the marquee for the Roman epic\u00a0Ben-Hur<\/em>, you might think studios are dry on ideas. Of course, some theater-goers might have felt the same way in 1959, when the Charlton Heston-starring\u00a0Ben-Hur<\/em>\u00a0was released: That \u201coriginal\u201d was a remake of a 1925 silent film,\u00a0Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ<\/em>, and both had\u00a0chariot races<\/a>\u00a0that wowed audiences of two different generations. Check out some other well-known films that could be classified as three-makes.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0Night of the Living Dead\u00a0<\/em>(2006)<\/h2>\n

Rather than ask why George Romero\u2019s influential zombie classic has been remade twice, it\u2019s better to wonder why it hasn\u2019t been remade more often. Because the distributor left a\u00a0copyright symbol<\/a>\u00a0off the 1968 original, Romero\u2019s basic premise\u2014the undead chase down a small band of human survivors\u2014can be legally swept up by anyone. Although several independent filmmakers have taken a stab at it, there are only two major theatrical remakes: a 1990 film directed by effects expert Tom Savini, and a 2006 effort titled\u00a0Night of the Living Dead 3D<\/em>. While Savini had\u00a0Romero\u2019s blessing<\/a>, the most recent version didn’t consult with him. It made just\u00a0$271,000<\/a>\u00a0in theaters.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0You\u2019ve Got Mail<\/em>\u00a0(1998)<\/h2>\n

In the 1990s, Tom Hanks could do no wrong\u2014and neither could Meg Ryan. After coupling in the 1993 hit\u00a0Sleepless in Seattle<\/em><\/a>, they re-teamed for\u00a0You’ve Got Mail<\/em><\/a>, which was also a hit\u2014as was the movie that inspired it. Producer Julie Durk had caught a television broadcast of 1940\u2019s\u00a0The Shop Around the Corner<\/em>, which featured Jimmy Stewart sparring with a business rival without realizing they\u2019re exchanging love letters; Warner Bros.\u00a0updated it<\/a>\u00a0to reflect the email era. But Durk wasn\u2019t the first to have the idea for a remake. Nearly 40 years prior,\u00a0The Shop Around the Corner<\/em>\u00a0had been\u00a0remade<\/a>\u00a0as a musical,\u00a0In the Good Old Summertime<\/em>, starring Judy Garland.\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Garland\u2019s version \u201cwonderfully rich entertainment,\u201d but later\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0Hanks had none of Stewart\u2019s \u201clanky grace or leading man patina.\u201d<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0House of Wax<\/em>\u00a0(2005)<\/h2>\n

Only Chad Michael Murray completists would remember this disappointing horror film about a wax museum that does a good job of preserving everything inside but the young tourists. The movie was a remake of the\u00a01953 version starring Vincent Price<\/a>, which is held in much higher regard: Price\u2019s version took some cues from a 1933 film,\u00a0Mystery of the Wax Museum<\/em>, but added 3D and a novel three-track audio.\u00a0Mystery of the Wax Museum<\/em>\u00a0was filmed using an early version of Technicolor, which needed lights so powerful that they\u00a0melted<\/a>\u00a0the wax props and even seared some of the actors\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Kiss of Death<\/em>\u00a0(1995)<\/h2>\n

Nicolas Cage turns in one of his typically subtle performances as unhinged gangster Little Junior Brown, leader of a crime ring that entraps reformed criminal Jimmy (David Caruso). The plot was taken from 1947\u2019s\u00a0Kiss of Death<\/em>, long hailed a classic by film noir buffs and\u00a0featuring<\/a>\u00a0a classic scene with psychopath Richard Widmark giggling while he pushes an old woman down the stairs. (Trivia note: the stunt person for the woman was Rod Amateau, who later directed 1987\u2019s movie.) 20th Century Fox remade the film as a Western titled\u00a0The Fiend Who Walked the West<\/em>\u00a0in 1958. It\u2019s notable for being one of the\u00a0last acting roles<\/a>\u00a0of future producer Robert Evans\u2019 career.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Down to Earth<\/em>\u00a0(2001)<\/h2>\n

Where did co-writers Chris Rock and Louis C.K. get the idea for a comedy about a man who dies young and returns to earth in another body? From Warren Beatty\u2019s 1978 film,\u00a0Heaven Can Wait<\/em>, which\u00a0featured<\/a>\u00a0Beatty as a pro quarterback instead of Rock\u2019s comedian character. Where did Beatty get the idea? From\u00a0Here Comes Mr. Jordan<\/em>, a 1941 comedy with\u00a0Robert Montgomery<\/a>\u00a0as a boxer who gets a chance at delaying the afterlife. While Beatty likely didn\u2019t solicit advice from Montgomery, Rock said he had lunch with Beatty prior to watching\u00a0Heaven Can Wait<\/em>, which he hadn\u2019t yet seen. Beatty, he said, was just \u201cthe guy from\u00a0Dick Tracy<\/em>.\u201d Both\u00a0Beatty<\/a>\u00a0and Montgomery received Oscar nominations for their performances.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0The Jazz Singer<\/em>\u00a0(1980)<\/h2>\n

When Neil Diamond decided he wanted to get into the acting business, a remake of 1927\u2019s\u00a0The Jazz Singer<\/em>\u00a0was considered a viable option\u2014even with one dated and offensive element. The original featured Al Jolson as a would-be cantor who goes against his family\u2019s advice to become an entertainer.\u00a0Notable<\/a>\u00a0for being Hollywood\u2019s first synchronized film with dialogue and music on the film strip, it also has scenes of Jolson in blackface, a scene Diamond emulated in his own poorly-reviewed film. Before Diamond, the film was remade with Danny Thomas in 1952; Diamond\u2019s version was only modestly successful in theaters, but the soundtrack sold more than\u00a0four million<\/a>\u00a0copies.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0The Postman Always Rings Twice<\/em>\u00a0(1981)<\/h2>\n

Jack Nicholson\u2019s fated affair with Jessica Lange played out once before with Lana Turner and John Garfield in the leading roles. Sandwiched between that 1946 feature and Nicholson\u2019s remake was a\u00a0lesser-known<\/a>\u00a0riff, 1953\u2019s\u00a0Roadhouse Girl<\/em>, which was made on the cheap. All three are based on James M. Cain\u2019s pulp novel.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0The Magnificent Seven<\/em>\u00a0(2016)<\/h2>\n

Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke are set to appear in a remake of the 1960 original later this year. But\u00a0The Magnificent Seven<\/em>\u2014about a band of gunfighters hired by a town to protect them from pillagers\u2014didn\u2019t begin life as a Western. The film is an American remake of 1954\u2019s , an Akira Kurosawa epic about a band of samurai in feudal Japan with the same objective. Commenting on the Steve McQueen version, Kurosawa seemed more\u00a0puzzled<\/a>\u00a0than flattered. \u201cThe American copy is a disappointment, although entertaining,\u201d he once said. \u201cIt is not a version of\u00a0Seven Samurai<\/em>. I do not know why they call it that.\u201d<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0The Squaw Man<\/em>\u00a0(1931)<\/h2>\n

Cecil B. DeMille got his start in Hollywood by directing smaller films, including this adaptation of an Edwin Milton Royle stage play about a respected British officer (Warner Baxter) who is blamed for his cousin\u2019s theft of a charity fund. It was\u00a0previously<\/a>\u00a0filmed in 1918 as a silent feature, also directed by DeMille; the director had also made the 1914 original. While the 1931 version took advantage of the “talkie” era, there was another reason he kept returning to the same tale. \u201cI love this story so much that as long as I live I will make it every 10 years,”\u00a0DeMille once\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s believed DeMille is the only director in the history of film to remake his own work on three separate occasions, but he could\u2019ve stopped at one and still made history: The 1914 film is\u00a0considered<\/a>\u00a0Hollywood\u2019s first full-length feature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re at the theater this weekend and happen to see the marquee for the Roman epic\u00a0Ben-Hur, you might think studios are dry on ideas. Of course, some theater-goers might have felt the same way in 1959, when the Charlton Heston-starring\u00a0Ben-Hur\u00a0was released: That \u201coriginal\u201d was a remake of a 1925 silent film,\u00a0Ben-Hur: A Tale of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}