What Original Cast And Crew Say About Reboots

Stephen King speaks without holding back about his work's adaptations. His views often feel like gut reactions, and they shift as an adaptation ages, unless we look at Stanley Kubrick's.The ShiningThe Dark Towerin 2017King said:

They told a great story here. It connects many parts of the novel.The Dark Tower.

Months after the film dropped, box office and critics groaned. Still, he toldEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly

The real issue, for me, is their approach. They made this movie, and I think it was a studio order. This is going to be a PG-13 film... People went to it and said, “Yeah, but it’s really not anything we haven’t seen before.”

This shows audiences often need to take King's praise with a grain of salt. However, after the 2017 adaptation ofIT King admittedhe felt nervous about the final outcome:

I hoped for something, but I did not expect how good it was. It is different, and audiences will connect with it. They will like the characters. For me, it is all about the characters. If you like the characters... if you care... the scares work. My fans will enjoy the movie. I think they will really enjoy the movie. Some will go back two or three times and truly feel things differently the second time.

Comic book moviefans argue aboutthe best BatmanUntil the cows come home, every new Batman version adds a new point for discussion. Adam West started Batman in the late 1960s on a goofy TV show. That show still works. It is silly and goofy, and it knows what it is doing.

Modern Batman takes are usually very serious and grim. While he lived, West backed actors who wore the cape and cowl—especially Christian Bale.Speaking withParade Magazinein 2013, West explained he was initially protective of the character but accepted there would always be a new Batman:

I had a feeling of ownership at first, but I quickly saw they were doing their job. Christian Bale was great inThe Dark Knight.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory(1971) is a classic fantasy film about a whimsical chocolatier. It balances its strange visuals with a warm story. People love this movie. Remaking it was hard. The hyper-styled Tim Burton update did not please everyone—especially original Willy Wonka Gene Wilder.

Wilder buried Burton's remake while sitting for an interview with 92nd Street Y in New York City in June 2013.He said:

I think it’s an insult. Johnny Depp is a good actor, but I don’t care for that director [Tim Burton]. He is talented, but I dislike what he does.

In the late '90s,Charmedprovided fun horror-fantasy entertainment for strong women who wanted to see themselves on television. ItEastwick-meets-BuffyThe tone still helps viewers who want magic in their lives.

Rose McGowan, Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano, and Holly Marie Combs starred as a family of witches in San Francisco. McGowan replaced Doherty in Season 4. The series built a strong cult following that continues today.

When the CW rebooted the series in 2018, the new version excluded original cast members. McGowan called the reboot "sucks," while co-starMarie Combs stated:

I value the jobs and chances theCharmedThe reboot created. I will never grasp what is fierce, funny, or feminist about making a show that suggests the original actresses are too old for a job they did twelve years prior. I hope the new show beats the marketing; the real legacy stays.

Richard Dean Anderson built explosive devices in the 1980s using chewing gum and old radio parts on the hit seriesMacGyver, so you would expect him to return to the role in a reboot decades later. That did not happen.

Whilespeaking about theMacGyverrebootAnderson admitted in 2019 that the new version of his series did not pass his test:

I’m not crazy about it, to be honest. They contacted me early on—they tested the show and found it wasn't as appealing as they wanted—and then they asked if I wanted to be involved. I said, “Noooo.” I am glad.

If anyone offers a deep take on the bad 2010Nightmare on Elm Streetit is the original Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund.

Film outlets asked Englund how hard he would criticizeElm Street (2010), but even though he knows the movie fails, he does not blame his replacement.

In 2012,Englund told Comingsoon.net:

I thought the movie felt cold. We did not get time to see the kids when they were normal, before they became frantic and haunted by Freddy. That made it harder to connect with them, harder to care about what happened to them. Haley made Freddy his own.

Whilespeaking about the filmat Wizard World in 2015, he explained:

Jackie Earle Haley is a great actor. If you have seen [him] inShutter Island, you see him working well. He is the best thing inWatchmen and he is great inRoboCopI did not like the remake. Jackie is terrific; he is a wonderful actor. I pass the baton to him. Some bad advice existed.

Brendan Fraser starred as Rick O'Connell in the 1999 film.The Mummyand its two sequels.The Mummy ReturnsandThe Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.In 2017, Universal tried and failed to use the Marvel route for its reboot of the series set to launch the Dark Universe.Dark UniverseThis cinematic universe connects all classic Universal monsters.

Fraser, who says he is open to a fourth Mummy movie, spoke about the Tom Cruise-starring reboot.Tom Cruise-starring reboot:

The ingredient we aimed for in our Mummy film, which I missed in that movie, was fun. That was what was missing. That version was too much straight-ahead horror. 'The Mummy' should be a thrill ride, not terrifying and scary. I know it is hard to make it work. I tried three times.

He then adds that this combination is 'difficult' to pull off successfully.

How do you follow a groundbreaking horror movie likeThe Blair Witch Project? In a perfect world, you do not. But here, in the darkest timeline, the masterful and intense sleeper hit followedBook of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, a by-the-numbers cabin-in-the-woods ghost movie that slips into so-bad-it's-good territory.

Whilespeaking with NME in 2019co-director Daniel Myrick openly discussed his problems withBook of Shadowswhile doing his best not to throw shade:

We were not very enthusiastic about Book Of Shadows.Book Of Shadows, which came right after Blair Witch.Blair Witch. We thought it was made for the wrong reasons, just trying to use the first film's hype. I like Joe Berlinger, the director, but I felt he was forced into this impossible situation. Still, to defend the film, if it lacked theBlair Witch name, I think it might have been better received. It was stylistically so different from the first film; I think it would have been attacked...

Audiences often see Anthony Hopkins when they think of Hannibal Lecter, which makes sense. He stole the show in Jonathan Demme'sThe Silence of the Lambsand kept playing the character in later films, butSuccessionandRushmore's Brian Cox is the first actor to play the gentleman cannibal in Michael Mann'sManhunter.

Speaking about what makes Lecterinherently frightening, Hopkins credited the character's mystique and said that when audiences learn too much about Lecter, he loses his power:

Hannibal Lecter works in relief. Focusing on him ruins his mystery. Hannibal Lecter was a mysterious character. You did not know his source, so he became more dangerous because of that mystery. Tony [Hopkins] did a great job, but scripts focused too much on, “Who is Hannibal Lecter?” The strength of Hannibal Lecter is that we do not know him; the audience makes their own conclusions. That is much more interesting.

Dawn of the Dead(1978) is a stone-cold classic. It stands alongside its predecessor.DawnDawn created a blueprint for a horror sub-genre that others copy but rarely match. Romero's film mixes ideas about class, race, and capitalism into a scary yet fun movie. A group huddles in a mall while the undead roam outside.

Zack Snyder remadeDawn of the DeadSnyder remade it in 2004, keeping only the mall. Zombies now move fast and attack hard. Characters lack depth, but the action feels cool.Romero said as muchin a talk with Simon Pegg after Shaun of the Dead came out.Shaun of the Dead:

It was better than I thought. I thought it was a good action film. The first 15 to 20 minutes were great, but it lost its purpose. It became more like a video game.

Netflix's horror-focused remake ofSabrina the Teenage Witch, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, keeps the original series's light tone but adds black magic. The reboot drops the sitcom feel and uses moody tones from the Archieverse showRiverdale.

The show is fun with many fans. However, the original Sabrina, Melissa Joan Hart, does not feel the series speaks to her. In 2019, she toldher viewsW Magazine:

I do not think it appeals to me. I watched some episodes on Netflix through a social media campaign. But it does not appeal to me. My kids are too young, and I am too old for it.

John Carpenter is an opinionated director. Some call him ornery. He gives opinions like cheap dollar slices at Sbarro's. As the maker of many top 20th-century horror and science-fiction films, he deserves to criticize remakes of his work.

Carpenter's issue with Rob Zombie's brutal 2007HalloweenThe Halloween remake focuses on Michael Myers (or “the Shape” if you prefer) and how Zombie changed the character from a “force of nature” to an ordinary killer.He stated:

Explaining too much about the guy took away the story's mystique. I don't care. It should be a force of nature; he should seem almost supernatural. He was too big. He was not normal.

Only a short.list of actorsActors have led franchises across decades and through ups and downs.HalloweenThree actors define the franchise and its quirks: Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Danielle Harris.

Harris played Jamie Lloyd inHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myersand its sequel,The Revenge of Michael Myers. A child could not easily take on Curtis's final-girl role, but Lloyd looks great in both films. Harris reappears as Annie Bracket in Rob Zombie's remake, so she protectsHalloween.

After the release ofHalloween(2018), Harris criticized the reboot's handling of Jamie Lloyd and how it changed her from a survivor to a shut-in.She told ComicBook.com:

It would not make sense. Jamie would never end up like that. I do not know how to explain their writing, but I thought, “That would not make sense. Not for Jamie, not for me.” I do not play characters afraid of their shadow. I play much bolder characters. I am more Jamie Lee Curtis than I would have been her daughter, you know?

The MCU's huge success means superhero movies will likely stay in our lives. Spider-Man is more popular than any other comic book character. He is an everyman who mirrors the audience (unless he is with a tech billionaire).

Toby Maguire's Peter Parker feels too childish, but it fits director Sam Raimi's tone. Kirsten Dunst is the real focus of Raimi's trilogy; she acts great as Mary Jane.

With reboots, multiverses, and remakes in theaters, people ask Dunst about the many Spider-Men. In 2017,Dunst dropped the mic:

I do not care... Everyone likes our Spider-Man. Am I right? Listen, I prefer the first ones over the new ones.

No picture is as striking as a young Drew Barrymore in flames on the cover ofFirestarter, the 1984 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel about a telekinetic girl. The originalFirestarter movie remains a reference point for millennial horror fans; you see its influence in everything fromStranger ThingstoThe Black Phone.

It makes sense for Barrymore to protect one of her early big roles, but that is not her style.

In 2022, Barrymore did more than promote the Firestarter remakeFirestarterOn her talk show, she invited the film's star, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, to the studio for a bonding session about playing Charlie McGee.Barrymore told her young replacement.Firestarter appears in the list 'What Original Cast And Crew Say About Reboots'.

I watched the movie. It is so good. You are so good in it.

Luca Guadagnino's work is discussed in the list 'What Original Cast And Crew Say About Reboots'.Suspiria is in the list 'What Original Cast And Crew Say About Reboots'.The Suspiria remake is one of the most divisive horror films of the last 20 years. He took Dario Argento's masterpiece concept and made it an exploration of generational trauma and femininity. Tilda Swinton's head explodes in the film's climax.

Argento really disliked Guadagnino's updates. In 2019,He told something about Suspiria.Interview Magazine covers this topic.

It did not excite me. It betrayed the spirit of the original film. To me, the remake ofSuspiria is in the list 'What Original Cast And Crew Say About Reboots'.does not look like a well-realized project. It lacks fear, music, tension, and scenic creativity.