Tag Archives: David Cronenberg

Most & Least Successful Movie Remakes

Most Successful Movie Remakes

Movie remakes have been a staple of Hollywood for decades. They can reintroduce classic stories to new generations and update them with the latest technology, much like how online casino and online slots platforms reimagine traditional casino games for the digital age.

On the other hand, more cynical viewers might view movie remakes as easy “cash grab” attempts. Whatever your view on movie remakes, they come in all shapes and sizes, spanning genres, eras, and styles. While many fail to live up to the originals they’re based on, they occasionally match or even exceed them.

Charleton Heston scoping out mutants with an infra-red scope rifle in The Omega Man. More on this film below.

So, which are the most (and least) successful movie remakes of all time? To find out, our friends at Spin Genie ranked some of the biggest movie remakes based on their critical reviews, box office revenue, and Google searches. We’ve then done the same (sorry some of the figures shown on the charts below are in US dollars but with today’s exchange rate you can multiple by 1.37 for CAD) for the original movies they were based on and worked out the difference in scores.

The most successful movie remakes

Top 3 most successful movie remakes

1. I Am Legend

Original movie score: 3.34

Remake movie score: 7.78

Score difference: 4.44

The 2007 adaptation of I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, stands out as a significant improvement over the 1971 version, The Omega Man that starred Charleton Heston. The remake received good reviews (particularly for Smith’s performance) and, at the time, was the highest-grossing non-Christmas film to ever release in December. On the other hand, The Omega Man received a much more mixed reception and grossed just $7.7 million USD (adjusted for inflation). A sequel to the remake is currently in the works, with Michael B. Jordan set to appear alongside Will Smith.

2. Ocean’s Eleven

Original movie score: 3.55

Remake movie score: 7.92

Score difference: 4.37

The 2001 remake of Ocean’s Eleven transformed the original 1960 Rat Pack classic into a modern heist film with an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts. It improved on the original in each factor, being praised for its stylish direction, witty script, and ensemble cast. The remake’s success led to two sequels and a spin-off with an all-female lead cast. It also influenced the wider movie industry, with numerous heist films produced in the following years.

3. Dune: Part One

Original movie score: 4.81

Remake movie score: 8.81

Score difference: 4.00

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 adaptation of Dune brought Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction novel to life with stunning visuals, a stellar cast, and a faithful yet innovative approach. The remake vastly improved (debatable to those that grew up loving the original version) upon David Lynch’s 1984 version, which had been criticized for its convoluted plot and lacklustre special effects. (Also debatable to original fans, especially when a new much longer cut of the film exists to tackle these complaints.)

The sequel, Dune: Part Two, came out earlier this year and improved even further on Part One in its critical reception and box office revenue.

1st to 5th most successful movie remakes
6th to 10th most successful movie remakes

The least successful movie remakes

least successful movie remakes

1. Peter Pan

Original movie score: 8.37

Remake movie score: 5.04

Score difference: -3.33

The 2003 adaptation of Peter Pan failed to capture the magic of the original 1953 Disney classic, scoring significantly worse for reviews and revenue. The remake received ok reviews, but they were nowhere near the animated original, which is beloved for its timeless charm and classic story. Financially, the remake was a failure, grossing $207.9 million USD, which resulted in a financial loss compared to the film’s budget. 

2. Carrie

Original movie score: 7.26

Remake movie score: 4.08

Score difference: -3.18

The 2013 remake of Carrie failed to live up to the 1976 original, which is considered a horror classic. The remake’s attempts to modernize Stephen King’s tale didn’t impress critics or audiences, with an average review score of 55.5 and inflation-adjusted revenue of $114.1 million USD. The original film, known for its intense atmosphere and Sissy Spacek’s iconic performance, set a high bar that the remake could not reach.

3. House of Wax

Original movie score: 4.59

Remake movie score: 1.78

Score difference: -2.81

While the original House of Wax didn’t score very highly, with 4.59, that’s still an improvement of 2.81 on the 2005 remake, putting it in third place. Despite its modern special effects and star-studded cast, the remake couldn’t match the original’s eerie atmosphere and Vincent Price’s memorable performance. The original has an average critic score of 69, and its reputation has improved over the years, unlike the remake.

Much maligned- The Remake of Planet of The Apes by Tim Burton. Not as bad as you remember.

1st to 5th least successful movie remakes

Which remake has the best reviews?

Best Reviews - A Star is Born

A Star is Born – 82 out of 100

The movie remake that resonated with movie critics the most is the 2018 version of A Star is Born, with an average score of 82 out of 100. The musical romantic drama was Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut and is the third remake of the 1937 original. It was one of the biggest films of 2018, and critics raved about the performances of Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, and the soundtrack. It also won numerous awards, getting eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards.

Which remake made the most money?

Made the most money - Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast – $1.6 billion USD / $2.2 billion CAD (inflation-adjusted)

Financially, Disney’s 2017 Beauty and the Beast is the most successful movie remake, with an inflation-adjusted box office total of $1.6 billion USD. It opened to a record-breaking debut, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the tenth-highest of all time. The enduring popularity of the original and the nostalgia of adults who grew up with no doubt helped the film’s incredible box office success.

Which remake is the most searched?

Dune: Part One – 52.3 million annual searches

The remake with the most online popularity is Dune, with over 52 million searches. This is undoubtedly helped by the fact that the series is currently extremely popular due to the release of Part Two earlier this year, but it shows just how successful the remakes have been. The series has been considered a tough one to adapt due to the intricate nature of the novel, but the films have proven hugely successful.

Dune Part 1 remake was released on 3D Blu-Ray for even more dramatic effects.

Methodology

We compiled a list of movie remakes and their originals using IMDb, looking at the most-reviewed remakes. We included the original version of each movie and compared it to the most recent adaptation. For movies remade multiple times with multiple popular remakes, we included each popular remake. We did not include spinoffs, prequels, or sequels. We did not include TV films, streaming releases, or rental earnings. We removed all movies for which the relevant data was unavailable.

We calculated each movie’s average review score using IMDb and Metacritic review scores on 03/06/24.

We sourced the box office earnings of each movie using Box Office Mojo. Where unavailable, we used Wikipedia, The-Numbers, IMDb, Variety, Den of Geek, Or of Involving Motion Pictures, and AFI Catalog. We included earnings from the original release of each movie, looking at worldwide earnings wherever possible. All figures were sourced in USD and adjusted for inflation as of 2024 using the US Inflation Calculator. Figures were converted to CAD using Google Finance on 07/06/24.

We sourced the number of Google searches for each movie using Google Ads Keyword Planner, looking at global Google searches from 1/05/23 to 30/04/24.

We gave each original movie and each movie remake a normalized score out of 10 for each factor before calculating the average score out of 10 for each movie. We compared the score out of 10 for each original film and its remake to reveal the most and least successful remakes. For the Silo, Charlotte Green.

True Cases Of Phantom Transmissions And Hijacked Television Signals

The call letters KLEE-TV had not been broadcast since July 1950, more than 3 years before a viewer in London, England picked up their transmission on his television set.

Adding to the mystery was the fact that while in operation KLEE-TV was based out of Houston, Texas- an entire continent and ocean away. Since this was an era before satellite t.v. transmission how could the images be picked up? Was it simply a hoax?

klee tv signal cardThough debunkers have stated that this story first appeared in Readers Digest, it actually was first reported in 1953 by TV Guide: a viewer based magazine that organized and listed television programming and reviewed highlighted television shows. Hugely successful and widely distributed- it seems counter-intuitive to consider how this might affect an already paranoid and anxious viewer body. After all, the Cold War and the Space Race were underway. Many Americans were building nuclear bomb shelters and keeping their eyes to the skies.

Television was still a new form of media and to many it transcended the boundaries of space of time.

It seemed possible that ghostly transmissions from another time and another place could occur. TV Guide pointed out in its story that at the time of the phantom KLEE-TV transmission, no other t.v. station in the world used those call letters.

For the next 12 year this enigma was forgotten but then in February 1962 Mrs. Rosella Rose of Milwaukee, Wisconsin witnessed the following. The KLEE-TV letters were flashed onto her screen as well as the images of an unknown man and woman arguing on a balcony, followed by the flashing of the word “HELP!” Then suddenly, her screen went blank. It seemed as though Mrs. Rose had witnessed an electronic netherworld. Could an alternate universe be superimposing its reality onto hers? The simplest answer is that Mrs. Rose was a victim of her time.

Phantom signal transmission in Stranger Things.
Phantom signal transmission in Stranger Things.

Perhaps as mentioned in Haunted Media Static and Stasis, “….The fleeting and inexplicable transmissions of KLEE are eerie in that they are symptomatic of a general loss of self presence felt socially in electronic communications as a whole.” I think it’s safe to say that Canadian Film Director David Cronenberg felt this way and successfully incorporated these themes into Videodrome. I think it’s also safe to say that the success of the recent Netflix series Stranger Things is due in some part to this notion of a technologically created netherworld. And what about the Australian reports of a Coke bottle and drinking flask being transmitted during the Moon Landing?

Today there are reports of phantom webcam transmissions, of strange beings quickly seen on a monitor or a tablet. If we are able to view images on our devices then is it so far fetched to imagine that we ourselves can be seen by others through our devices? And if that’s possible to what end are we being surveilled? For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

The Max Headroom Signal Intrusion Incident of 1987

Captain Midnight HBO Transmission Hijacking

Recommended Reading- Haunted Media Electronic Presence From Telegraphy to Television by Jeffrey Sconce

US Premiere of Small Wonders: The VR Experience At Metropolitan Museum Of Art

Walking through 500-year-old artOnce I put the VR headset and headphones on, it truly felt like I was transported to another world. You could walk through the levels of sculpture and detail in the bead, which was a frieze of heaven on top, purgatory in the middle, and hell below it. There were easily 20 fully carved objects – humans, demons, and animals – in the five centimeter bead, with multiple layers of objects on top of one another to create a three-dimensional image. I was astounded to be able to see, as close as I wanted to get, the bead in all its detail.”— Stefan Palios,betakit

The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab), Seneca’s School of Creative Arts and Animation, and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) are pleased to announce their groundbreaking virtual reality (VR) collaboration, Small Wonders: The VR Experience. It will screen for a special four-day limited-run as part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition, Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures, February 22-27, 2017 at The Met Cloisters (99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park, New York, NY 10040).

From February 24 to 27 during public hours, visitors can don a VR headset and explore a 3D rendering of a miniature boxwood carving from the AGO’s collection. The experience is free with general admission, reservations required, and marks a significant first for The Met Cloisters—the integrated use of VR to enhance the exhibition experience.

The exhibition Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures, which runs through May 21st, brings together for the first time some 50 rare boxwood carvings from museums and private collections across Europe and North America. The exhibition offers new insight into the methods of production and cultural significance of these awe-inspiring works of art. Small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, these tiny masterpieces depict complex scenes with elegance and precision. Without fail, they inspire viewers to ask how a person could have possibly made them, a question that can only be answered today and a challenge perfect for VR technology.

“Much of the success of new VR will hinge upon the quality of experiences being created. Everyone is searching for that sublime encounter one can only have in VR. With the boxwood miniatures and their high-resolution scans, we have found the perfect, transcendent landscape to explore in this medium,” says Ana Serrano, Chief Digital Officer, CFC, and Producer, Small Wonders: The VR Experience.

The AGO, CFC Media Lab and Seneca’s School of Creative Arts and Animation partnered to create Small Wonders: The VR Experience. Using one of the AGO’s micro-computed topography (micro-CT) scans of the miniatures, the creative and technical team led by interactive artist and designer, Priam Givord, developed an experience specifically for the HTC Vive platform. Viewers can explore the intricate carvings of the prayer bead from various angles and in detail otherwise inaccessible to the human eye. The soundtrack, Treasures of Devotion: Spiritual Songs in Northern Europe 1500-1540, echoes the ambience of the wider show. The result: VR enriches the contemplative and immersive experience.

Barbara Drake Boehm, the Paul and Jill Ruddock Senior Curator for The Met Cloisters said: “At first glance, the VR experience might seem anomalous in the medieval ambiance of The Met Cloisters. But, thanks to the efforts of the CFC Media Lab, Seneca and the AGO, VR opens a portal through which our visitors can tumble into a tiny world, and sense the meditative power that these centuries-old works of art were intended to convey.”

Small Wonders: The VR Experience was created by Lisa Ellis, Conservator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts (AGO); VR Creative and Technical Director Priam Givord (Interactive Artist/Designer); VR Producers Ana Serrano (CFC Media Lab) and Mark Jones (Seneca College); VR Technical Team Craig Alguire, Morgan Young (Quantum Capture) and Tyrone Melkitoy (Mobius Interactive); Composer/Vocalist Anne Azema, Artistic Director (The Boston Camerata); Narrator Gillian McIntyre; and Micro-CT Scanner Andrew Nelson, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Sustainable Archaeology (Western University).

The exhibition continues at The Met Cloisters through May 21, 2017, but the VR experience will only run during public hours, February 24–27. To learn more about the Small Wonders exhibition and to plan your visit, go to: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/small-wonders

At The Met Cloisters, Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures is made possible by the Michel David-Weill Fund. It was organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Social Media

Canadian Film Centre (CFC)
@cfccreates.comfacebook.com/cfccreates CFC Media Lab (CFC Media Lab)
@cfcmedialabfacebook.com/cfcmedialab
Seneca College
@senecacommsfacebook.com/senecacollegeArt Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
@AGOTorontofacebook.com/AGOToronto

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
@metmuseum | facebook.com/metmuseum

About CFC

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization whose mission is to invest in and inspire the next generation of world-class Canadian content creators and entrepreneurs in the screen-based entertainment industry. A significant economic and cultural driver in Canada and beyond, CFC delivers a range of multi-disciplinary programs and initiatives in film, television, music, screen acting, and digital media, which provides industry collaborations, strategic partnerships, and business and marketplace opportunities for talent and participants. For more information, visit  cfccreates.com.

About CFC Media Lab

The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) is an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank and award-winning production facility. It provides a unique research, training and production environment for digital media content developers and practitioners, as well as acceleration programs and services for digital entertainment start-ups and related SMEs. The Silo founder and Digital Editor Jarrod Barker and contributor Arthur Maughan are graduates and fellows of the CFC Media Lab. Program participants have emerged as leaders in the world of digital media, producing groundbreaking projects and innovative, sustainable companies for the digital and virtual age. CFC Media Lab is funded in part by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. For more information, visit  cfccreates.com.

About Seneca

With campuses in Toronto, York Region and Peterborough, Seneca offers degrees, diplomas, certificates and graduate programs renowned for their quality and respected by employers. It is one of the largest comprehensive colleges in Canada, offering nearly 300 full-time, part-time and online programs. Combining the highest academic standards with work-integrated and applied learning, expert teaching faculty and the latest technology ensure Seneca graduates are career-ready. Find out more at  senecacollege.ca.

About AGO

With a collection of more than 90,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens’s masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002, Ken Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Highlights include Galleria Italia, a gleaming showcase of wood and glass running the length of an entire city block, and the often-photographed spiral staircase, beckoning visitors to explore. The AGO has an active membership program offering great value, and the AGO’s Weston Family Learning Centre offers engaging art and creative programs for children, families, youth and adults. Visit ago.net to learn more.

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City— The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum’s galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City— The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum’s galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.