I am lucky enough to live in the wilderness wonderland that is Utah. with the recent passing of Robert Redford, I found myself pulled to rewatching Jeremiah Johnson. As I am fresh in the world of screenwriting, I found a PDF copy of the script and read through it before watching the movie, it was interesting how much of I didn’t think of the script layout when watching the movie before, and how I found myself watching points in the movie and expecting parts to be there that were cut. I envisioned the scenes so much while reading the script, I forgot what was in the movie afterwards.
Somewhat crazy to think about now. it is also interesting to know where they shot many parts of the movie, not far from me at all, but knowing some of those places don’t exist the same as the did.
I don’t imagine it would be easy, but it would be fun to remake Jeremiah Johnson.
Does anyone else have feelings about old movies they would actually like to see remade rather than some of the remakes that are coming out now?
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Really interesting post! Classics truly reveal themselves in new ways when you look at them through the eyes of a screenwriter. I also often think about which older stories could be reimagined with a different approach.
I’m currently working on my own series, and discussions like this really motivate me to keep moving forward
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Reading the script for a movie either before or after watching it is a great idea, Redd Nuesmeyer! It can help you get better at writing scripts. I'd like to see old movies remade, like The Stuff.
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I am not morally (haha) opposed to remakes but creatively I wish they were not as common of an approach as they are. Many times we (or at least I) don't even realize a movie is a remake and when I find out - ESPECIALLY if I liked the movie - I am always a little disappointed to learn it was a remake. Music is the most important non-family thing in my life and I appreciate the validity of cover songs but most of the time they are useless. The world needs more unique art, not a rehash of previous.
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hello I also live in Utah although I'm not quite as excited about it as you are I was born and raised here and I hate this state however it does have some very beautiful scenery.
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Redd Nuesmeyer I agree with Maurice Vaughan that reading the script for a movie before or after watching it is a great idea and full of details and stuff the film may cut out or variate from the novel.
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Jay Gladwell I think it’s more the thought of remaking the film in the same way, not so much doing an actual remake. It would be interesting to go through the process as it was done in the 70’s but with limited new technology. How possible would it actually be to do the same without using CGI, or other commonly used tech currently and would we want to? Would some of the shots end up better using things like drones for filming? Could you still keep an audience engaged with the minimal amount of dialogue? How could you overcome the differences in culture and ethics as they were back then?
As many people say, you probably couldn’t get away with making a movie like Blazing Saddles in this current era. Do you think something like Jeremiah Johnson could be the way it was written then?
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Remakes are hardly well done in my opinion. It's all about respecting the source material. If a screenwriter and a director can't or won't, then you've lost it. Case in point: The Resident Evil franchise.
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Redd Nuesmeyer Why is it that we, as screenwriters, always let emotion take over and become attached to what’s in our imagination? That’s a mistake.
Alright, I’ll ask you a few questions:
Will remaking this film create a larger audience?
Will it be cinematically better than the original with a genuine, 100% guarantee of profit for the companies producing it?
Is there a distribution company willing to pay for a film that has already been released in the past?
If your answer is yes, then let’s rewrite it. But if the answer is no, then let’s focus on new ideas — ideas better than those that merely stir our emotions and end up forgotten in a drawer.