Film Remakes

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive and systematic account of the phenomenon of cinematic remaking. Drawing upon recent theories of genre and intertextuality, Film Remakes describes remaking as both an elastic concept and a complex situation, one enabled and limited by the interrelated roles and practices of industry, critics and audiences. This approach to remaking is developed across three broad sections: the first, remaking as industrial category, deals with issues of production, including commerce and authors; the second, remaking as textual category, considers genre, plots and structures; and the third, remaking as critical category, investigates issues of reception, including audiences and institutions. The film remake emerges as a particular case of repetition, a function of cinematic and discursive fields that is maintained by historically specific practices, such as copyright law and authorship, canon formation and media literacy, film criticism and re-viewing.These points are made through the lively discussion of numerous historical and contemporary examples, including the remaking of classics (Double Indemnity, All That Heaven Allows, Psycho), foreign art-films (Yojimbo, Solaris, Le Samourai), cult movies (Gun Crazy, Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Dead), and television properties (Batman, The Addams Family, Charlie's Angels).

Constantine Verevis is Lecturer, School of English, Communications & Performance Studies, Monash University, Australia.