Why We Remake: The Politics, Economics and Emotions of Film and TV Remakes

This examination of film and television remakes focuses explicitly on why – since the dawn of cinema – studios have remade films over and over again. Each chapter provides insight into the business of Hollywood, the motivations of filmmakers and also the pleasures for audiences, and offers a separate explanation for the whys of remaking.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, the author draws from existing literature, close readings of films and a dataset of hundreds of film reviews, to provide a taxonomy and deep-dive into six unique rationales for remaking premade titles:

• the better remake
• the economic remake
• the nostalgic remake
• the Americanized remake
• the creative remake
• the fashionable remake.

This unique examination of the industrial activity of remaking will be of great interest to academics and students working in the areas of film and adaptation studies, narrative, media discourse, transmedia storytelling, American cinema and cultural studies.