Movie remakes are a dangerous business. Sometimes they can do well at the box office, gain positive reviews from critics and viewers alike, and even introduce the story to a new audience. Other times, they can fail spectacularly and be just a shadow of the original they remade. There’s no certain way how to make a remake succeed, it’s about luck.
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Science fiction moviesget remakes just as often as movies of other genres, especially those that belong to popular franchises. Despite that, there are plenty of old sci-fi movies that should be remade. Either because the previous movie had a good idea but didn’t reach its full potential, or simply because the special effects are much better now than they used to be and would lead to a creation of an imaginative sci-fi story.
5Paris Qui Dort (1925)
MeaningParis that Sleeps, the short silent movie tells exactly the type of story its title promises. A crazy scientist has built a sleeping ray andused it on Paris. Only a handful of people are awake, and it’s up to them to find the person responsible and hopefully figure out a way how to get things to normal. Such a story could work in any major or small city and with the right plot, it could even be prolonged into a feature film.
What’s more, there’s something magical about a city full of people that aren’t moving. With just over 1770 ratings on IMDb,Paris Qui Dortis one of the underappreciated classic sci-fi movies, and a remake could not only offer a captivating story but also draw more attention to the original and silent science fiction movies in general.
4The 10th Victim (1965)
The Italian sci-fi movieLa decima vittimais another original sci-fi piece that didn’t get a lot of love from the Anglo-American audience. That’s despite the fact that the story easily works today as well, and a potential remake wouldn’t even have to change the basic concept.
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The story is set in a world where people are killing others without punishment because it’s all a part of a television hunt. Similar movies have been done before, butThe 10th Victimbrings a romantic subplot into it, making it much more than just a typical action piece about killers and their victims. Once again, the story’s idea could be set in almost any country, and it would work, without needing a lot of special effects.
3Hibernatus (1969)
Louis de Funès was and remains a big star in France, as well as other European countries, but not so many people know his comedy work outside of Europe. Funès starred in many comedies andthis is one of the few that works with science fiction elements. A frozen man is found, thawed out, and he’s identified as the grandfather of Hubert de Tartas' (Louis de Funès) wife Edmée. That drives a wedge between the couple since Edmée is happy to have her grandfather back, but Hubert doesn’t want him to have anything to do with the family business.
This situational comedy focuses on family relationships which is a topic that works just as well today as it did 53 years ago. There are plenty of talented comedy actors in Hollywood and outside of it who could take on the leading parts and make the audience laugh as they would watch the improbable story with many surprising twists. The American and French style of humor is different butHibernatusis one of the comedies that have the power to attract an international audience.
2Stay Tuned (1992)
It’s time to look at more modern American movies.Stay Tunedis a sci-fi comedy about a married couple that’s going through a rough patch because the husband spends all of his time watching TV. When they end up as characters in TV programs after Roy had made a deal with a mysterious man Spike, it’s up to Roy and his wife Helen to figure out how to beat the game and get back to their children.
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30 years isn’t a long time but the development of television and technology in general progressed fast in the last three decades. As such, the remake could alter the story a little andfocus on streaming services, or even current computer games, which could work just as well as the original story. The sci-fi elements of the story are subtle enough, soStay Tunedhas the potential to be a multi-generational movie, not so dependent on the current level of special effects, as different sci-fi movies are.
1Memoirs Of An Invisible Man (1992)
Another 1992 sci-fi movie that would deserve a remake, or at the very least a sequel, brings back the concept of a funny invisible man story.2020The Invisible Manportrayed the titular invisible man as a killer and an abuser, but in the 1992 movie, the invisible man is the good guy, pursued by a dangerous CIA agent who’s after him. The original movie has excellent acting performances, most notably Sam Neill as the evil agent Jenkins.
It’s a mixture of comedy, action, and romance, and considering how popular all three genres are these days, a remake of this movie could do very well at the movie theaters, especially since it would give people the chance to relax and see the invisible man in a different light than in horror movies. Plus, today’s special effects would allow for even more creative tricks, no matter how high-quality the effects in the 1992 movie were.
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