This is the rub - hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted year after year in re-making films that don't need re-making, which are then generally panned anyway. They possibly even make the money back, but if what's left is a joke, a waste of time, then what's the point.
The Wickerman or Inspector Clouseau, why bother?
Take the Italian Job, why not just make a good new heist movie and aim to make it a great piece of work instead of trying to leapfrog on the back of another film which is already iconic in it's own right, and therefore much loved and cherished and protected by film fans.
As pointed out here 'Looking for Eric' is a perfectly good imaginary friend story, it worked, it was funny and touching and genuine, but a remake of Harvey stinks before I've even sat down to watch it because it won't be Harvey, just an attempt at making some money out of an idea that has already been done very well.
Unlike song cover versions, you can't just knock off a $100million film and put it on the B-side, or have it as an extra track on your album. It has to stand on it's own as a piece of work, and a film remake is already deemed a cop out and a failure by anyone that knows the original.
There is an argument that new versions draw audiences towards old versions, but it's a lot of money to spend getting people to look at an old film.
As for remakes of foreign films, The Japanese version of Ring had it's distribution in the US curtailed when the film studio bought up the rights to the remake. I'm sure this won't be the only foreign film that's been effectively shelved for the benefit of the US version's release. And most of them are shite. The Departed had none of the energy, intelligence and talent that Infernal Affairs offered.
But, hey, when we reach the time when Herzog starts re-making old films then we're really fucked
