As we’re all aware by now, remakes, reboots, and “re-quels” have become increasingly popular in the last decade. Disney has found a lot of success in remaking their beloved animated films as live-action, andre-interpretations of classic horror franchiseslikeHalloween,The Exorcist,Hellraiser, andScream(just to name a few) have been very good for business for studios like Blumhouse and Paramount.
It may seem like remakes are taking over the cinematic landscape, but Hollywood has always had a proclivity for revisiting (and cannibalizing) well-worn wells. And while most remakes tend to come and go without much fanfare, studios often invoke the ire of fans and critics when they announce plans to remake classic films; films that are, by all accounts, near-impossible to improve upon in every regard.
Remakes will always be compared to their originals, but none will be judged more harshly than remakes of widely-acclaimed films, especially those that have won the Oscar for Best Picture. But that doesn’t stop studios from trying, and to varying degrees of success. From classic musicals to religious epics, here are all the Best Picture-winning films that have been remade over the years.
RELATED:10 Underrated Movie Remakes That Deserve More Love
13Ben-Hur (1959)
Not many are aware of the fact, but William Wyler’s 1959 religious epicBen-Huris actually a remake of a 1925 silent film. But even that wasn’t the first film made about the biblical character; that would be the self-titled 1907 short film. Of course, all of these works are based on Lew Wallace’s classic novel,Ben-Hur: A Tale of Two Christs.
The 1959 iteration was, at the time, the largest film production in history, employing a small army of cast and crew to bring the epic to life. It also carried the largest budget for any film thus far, costing MGM $15 million to produce, and another $15 million to market. (Adjusting for inflation, that’s $315 million all in.) But the tremendous investment paid off, as the Charlton Heston-led film became a massive critical and box-office hit. Not only was it number one at the box office for six months, it was the fastest and highest-grossing film of 1959, and eventually became the second highest-grossing film in history (at the time), second only toGone with the Wind. The film would go on to dominate at the Academy Awards that year, bringing in 11 wins, including Best Picture.
So it makes sense, then, thatdirector Timur Bekmambetov was initially hesitant to directa remake when MGM and Paramount approached him with the opportunity in 2013. But upon reading John Ridley’s script, he realized it had more in common with Wallace’s novel than it did the iconic film, and so decided to take on the challenge. It was a $100 million gamble for the company, but they had one thing the original didn’t: state-of-the-art 3D technology.
Unfortunately, the 2016 remake wasn’t nearly as successful as the 1959 version. (Rolling Stonelabeled the film “A Remake Disaster of Biblical Proportions.") Not only did it fail with critics, but it became the biggest box-office bomb of the year, with estimated losses falling somewhere between $70-$100 million. Whether it was the quality of the film, or simply a lack of general interest in religious epics, the impact of the 2016 remake was a drop in a bucket compared to the tidal wave that was Wyler’sBen-Hur.
12Rebecca (1940)
Just this year, it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. is planning a remake ofVertigo, a film argued by many to be Alfred Hitchcock’s masterwork. It feels like a pointless task to remake such a classic film; how could one possibly improve on what is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made?
Of course, this wouldn’t be the firstremake of a classic Hitchcock film: There was Gus Van Sant’s questionable shot-for-shot remake ofPsycho, and a remake ofRear Window, starring Christopher Reeves as a handicapped man stuck in his tech-assistive home. (Oddly enough, both of these were released in 1998.) And in 2020, Netflix released their critically-lambasted remake of Hitchcock’s romance-thrillerRebecca.
The 1940 original was released to critical and commercial success, and went on to win two Oscars (out of 11 nominations), including Best Picture. So when Netflix announced their plans to remake the classic film, with Armie Hammer and Lily James as the leads, fans of the original threw up their hands in frustration: there’s no way it could ever hold a candle to the original. But objections turned to reluctant curiosity when it was announced that Ben Wheatley - the twisted mind behindcult horror hitsKill ListandA Field in England- was on board to direct. It was certainly an inspired choice, and Wheatley’s involvement promised something unique that would, at the very least, stand apart from the original.
Alas, 2020sRebeccaproved to be neither unique nor very good. While critics unanimously praised the film’s cinematography and production elements, the story fell flat and Wheatley’s brand of weirdness was noticeably absent and sorely missed.
11Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Since 1923, there have been six film adaptations of Jules Verne’s 1872 novelAround the World in 80 Days. Easily the most prolific of the bunch is Michael Anderson’s 1965 adaptation, which starred David Niven as Phileas Fogg and Cantinflas as Passepartout. The adventure-comedy was not only a massive commercial success, but a critical one as well: the film won five Academy Awards, including the prestigious award for Best Picture.
After the success ofThe Mummy, Warner Bros - who owned the rights to the novel - wanted director Stephen Sommers and Branden Fraser to direct and star in the remake ofAround the World. However, plans fell through and director Frank Coraci - mainly known for his work on Adam Sandler and Kevin James films - boarded the project. Steve Coogan was cast as Fogg and Jackie Chan as Passepartout.
Coraci made a number of notable changes from the source novel (and thus the 1956 film), which made fans of both more than disappointed. The film went on to be a critical and commercial flop, earning neither praise nor money at the box office. (As a matter of fact, it was one of thebiggest box-office flops of the time, losing an estimated $35 million). Coraci’s deviations from the novel were a huge point of contention, but maybe they wouldn’t have caused quite a stir had the film been good to begin with.
The most recent adaptation of Verne’s novel came in 2021 with an eight-part miniseries from PBS Masterpiece theater, headlined by David Tennant as Fogg.
10All the King’s Men (1949)
All the King’s Menis a classic political drama starring Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark, an ambitious and ruthless politician who rises to power, then falls from it, in the American South. The 1949 film went on to earn seven Oscar nominations and win three: Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture.
In 2004, acclaimed screenwriter Steven Zaillian (The Irishman, Schindler’s List, Moneyball) announced his plans towrite and direct a remakeof the Oscar-winning film. Zaillian assembled an all-star cast to help bring his vision of the story to life, including Sean Penn as Stark, and Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, and Mark Ruffalo, among others.
Despite the gluttony of talent both in front of and behind the camera,All the King’s Menwas a critical and commercial failure when it debuted in 2006, earning a mere $10 million worldwide against a $50 million budget (not including marketing). Positive reviews were few and far between; A. O. Scott’s thoughts on the film were echoed by many of his contemporaries:
“Nothing in the picture works. It is both overwrought and tedious, its complicated narrative bogging down in lyrical voiceover, long flashbacks and endless expository conversations between people speaking radically incompatible accents.”
In an interview with the LA Times, Zaillian expressed his utter disappointment in the film’s failure, relating the entire experience to “being hit by a bus.” The pain was probably made all the worse by the fact thatJackass Number Two- the film’s mindless antithesis and main box-office competitor - made more money in three days thanAll the King’s Mendid in its entire office run.
9Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’smasterful deconstruction of the Western genre, sees the actor-director taking on the role of William Munny, a retired outlaw who reluctantly accepts one last job, joined by his old partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) and the Schofield Kid, a brash young gunman. Standing in their way is the relentless Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who intends to keep vigilante justice out of his town.
Unforgivenwas a massive hit when it debuted in 1992, enjoying both critical praise and commercial success. It would receive nine Academy Award nominations that year and win Best Picture. To this day it remains a staple in the Western genre.
In 2013, Japanese-Korean filmmaker Sang-il Lee re-interpreted Clint Eastwood’s iconic western as a Japanese period piece. Lee’sUnforgivenfollows essentially the same story, but transports the setting to Japan’s Hokkaido frontier during the early Meiji period. Ken Watanabe stars as Jubei Kamata, a former samurai who picks up the sword once more to claim a bounty. The film has been generally well-received, but it’s hard to compare to Eastwood’s classic.
8Grand Hotel (1932)
Edmund Goulding’s pre-Code filmGrand Hotel, based on the 1930 stage play of the same name, is an ensemble drama set at the luxurious Grand Hotel in Berlin. The film weaves together stories of love, ambition, and financial struggles as the lives of various guests and staff become intertwined over the course of a fateful weekend. The film earned the Oscar for Best Picture, and still holds the unique distinction of being the only film to win the top prize without receiving a single nomination in any other category.
In 1945,Grand Hotelwas remade by MGM and director Robert Z. Leonard asWeekend at the Waldorf,moving the setting from Berlin to the iconic Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Unlike the previous films on this list,Waldorfwas a modest critical and commercial hit in the year of its release, but never reached the same levels of success as its predecessor.
7The Broadway Melody (1929)
Harry Beaumont’s 1929 musicalThe Broadway Melodytells the story of two sisters, Harriet and Queenie Mahoney, who aspire to make it big in the world of Broadway. They leave their small-town life behind and head to New York City, where they become entangled in the glamorous but challenging world of show business.
The film would go on to set a number of cinematic landmarks: it was MGM’s first musical, the first sound musical, and the one of the earliest pioneers of Technicolor technology, whichinspired a wave of musicalsin the years to follow. The film became the top-grossing movie of 1929, and was the first all-talkie film to win Best Picture at the 2nd Annual Academy Awards. It spawned three sequels and a remake as early as 1940.
Said remake - titledTwo Girls on Broadway- was directed by S. Sylvan Simon, and earned the distinction of being the first remake of a Best Picture winner. Unfortunately the film wasn’t nearly as successful as the original: despite a lead turn from the massively-popular Lana Turner, the movie only netted a meager profit of $12,000. Critics weren’t all that fond of it, either, claiming that the underwhelming story - which was essentially the same asThe Broadway Melodyand its three sequels - was a disservice to Turner.
6Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
In 1935, Frank Lloyd directed the first adaptation of Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall’s novelMutiny on the Bounty, which told the true story of the 1789 mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty naval ship. The film, which starred Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, would go on to become the highest-grossing film of 1935, and one of MGM’s biggest hits of the ‘30s. Despite eight Oscar nominations,Bountyonly took home one award, but it was the big one: Best Picture.
In 1962, MGM planned their first remake ofMutiny on the Bounty; a big-budget, technicolor epic thatstarred Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, and Richard Harris. The studio had high hopes for the project, often referring to it as “MGM’sBen-Hurof 1961.” But the production was plagued with problems from the beginning, and felt doomed to failure.
First were the script issues: the original draft had undergone more than fifteen revisions and passed through the hands of six writers. When filming began, script edits continued to be made every day, if not every hour. Then there was Brando: the stubborn actor was a well-known problem on many film sets, andMutinywas no different. Brando often ad-libbed lines and frequently questioned director Carol Reed’s creative decisions.
After six months, Reed left the project under the pretense of “health issues” and was replaced by Lewis Milestone. The director quickly came to realize that saving the production wasn’t going to be easy; upon joining the project, Milestone discovered only seven minutes of usable footage from the previous six months of filming. As production continued, Brando became increasingly hard to placate and tensions flared among the actors. The script continued to change on a daily basis, and costs amassed exponentially due to on-location filming in Tahiti (as per Brando’s request). Milestone compared the experience to “being in a hurricane on a rudderless ship without a captain.”
At the end of the day, these troubles were all for naught: the film was a commercial disaster for MGM, who lost the equivalent of $58 million when adjusting for inflation. Although it was well-reviewed by some, the remake was ultimately viewed as inferior to the 1935 original. Still, the film was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, but would lose to David Lean’sLawrence of Arabia.
Ironically, David Lean was attached to direct thethirdremake ofMutiny on the Bounty, but dropped out after several years of development when his vision of the film surpassed the allotted $40 million budget. Roger Donaldson - whose biggest movie at that point in his career was the million dollarSmash Palace- stepped in to replace Lean. Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson joined the cast, followed by the likes of Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Laurence Olivier.
Simply titledThe Bounty, the 1984 remake fared better critically than the 1962 version, but was just as much a box office flop. But for what it’s worth, it’s considered by many historians to bethe most historically-accurate depictionof the infamous mutiny on-screen.
5It Happened One Night (1934)
Frank Capra’s iconic romanticscrewball comedyIt Happened One Nightis considered by many critics and film historians to be, simply put, one of the best films ever made. Released in 1934, the film stars Claudette Colbert as Ellie Andrews, a pampered heiress who falls in love with a reporter (Clark Gable) while on a cross-country trip to see her soon-to-be-husband.
It Happened One Nightwent on to be a critical and commercial smash, becoming the first film to win the “Big Five” at the Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Writing. (Only two other films have achieved the same feat:One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestandThe Silence of the Lambs.)
The first remake of Capra’s classic film came in 1945 withEve Knew Her Apples, which was a musical re-interpretation of the source material. This version starred Ann Miller as Eve, a radio performer who sneaks off to Las Vegas to escape her busy schedule. There she meets and slowly falls in love with Ward Williams, an ambitious young reporter. Reviews - or really any information about the movie - are hard to come by;on Letterboxd, the movie only has 16 reviews logged, with most finding it to be nothing more than a shallow knock-off of Capra’s film.
The film’s second remake came in 1956 withYou Can’t Run Away From It, a title that feels more suited for a horror movie than a romantic comedy. LikeEve, this iteration of the story was also a musical, but stuck much closer to the original’s story. Reviews for the film are few and far between, but those logged on Letterboxd suggest another tedious re-imagining of a much better movie.
4Cimarron (1931)
Wesley Ruggle’swestern epicCimarronmade a massive theatrical splash when it debuted in 1931. Spanning decades, the film follows the Cravat family as they settle in the newly formed town of Osage, Oklahoma after the land rush of 1889. They face the challenges of frontier life, familial strife, growing racial tensions, and rapid political change.
Produced for $1.5 million, it was RKO’s most expensive - and audacious - production to date. (Accounting for inflation, that’s $30 million).Cimarronwas a critical smash, and although it didn’t immediately recoup its investment during its initial run, it eventually made back its budget via re-releases. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards - more than any movie at the time - and won three, including Best Picture.
In 1941, MGM purchased the rights toCimarronfrom RKO and immediately began work on a remake. It would be nearly 20 years before the release of the Anthony Mann-directed remake, starring Glenn Ford and Maria Shell as Yancey and Sabra Cravat. Despite an increased budget and a star-studded cast, the overlong film failed to make a significant impact with critics and general audiences.
