Remakes and reboots in Hollywood are often a dime a dozen, with movie studios constantly turning to cinematic greats for inspiration and ideas. While many of these pictures have been praised and lauded, and there are some remakes better than the originals, countless efforts have been deemed unnecessary and a shameless money grab by the entertainment business. Regardless, the silver screen has been home to a slew of adaptations that truly resonate with audiences, which may explain why producers see dollar signs when updating popular and lucrative flicks. From romance to action, horror to musicals, no genre is left untouched when it comes to the remake treatment.
Iconic creature features like King Kong and Dracula have continuously been re-imagined, reworked, and adapted, providing moviegoers with a thrilling plethora of spooky movie magic. There have also been countless movie adaptations of books, with multiple films inspired by the same great literary work. Novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is a beloved cinema staple that steadily undergoes both big and small screen renditions, and there have been dozens of A Christmas Carol movie adaptations that have dazzled fans of the famed Dickens novella, garnering appreciation from new generations of viewers. The following movies have been remade more than any other.
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9 A Star Is Born
Warner Bros.
The 1937 Technicolor romantic drama A Star Is Born features Janet Gaynor and Fredric March as an aspiring young actress with big entertainment dreams and the alcoholic, fading movie star who helps launch her career. The original picture was a hit both commercially and critically, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Story and earning over two million dollars at the box office; it was the first film to show that movies depicting Hollywood life could be successful with audiences.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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The 1954 remake starring Judy Garland and James Mason garnered the dynamic actress a Golden Globe Award while breathing life back into her career, while the 1976 Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson installment switched up the occupations of the leads to musicians and became the second highest grossing picture of the year. A 2018 version of A Star Is Bornproved that moviegoers still felt a connection to the story of one of the saddest romantic movies, with the Oscar-winning picture featuring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper dominating the box office and music charts.
8 Seven Samurai
Toho
Widely regarded as one of the most influential action films of all time, Akira Kurosawa’s middle-period Japanese epic Seven Samurai follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven rōnin (masterless samurai) to take on bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. The picture is credited as what made the “assembling team” trope popular in cinema and other media, and has since become one of the most reworked films of all time, becoming a common premise in countless action and heist flicks.
The visuals, plot, and dialogue of Seven Samurai have inspired a wide array of filmmakers, such as Quentin Tarantino, Zack Snyder and George Lucas. The actual drama itselfwas remade as the 1960 Western classic The Magnificent Seven featuring Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner, which has since been touted as one of the greatest Westerns of all time. Battle Beyond the Stars and Seven Swords are also reworked versions of the beloved Japanese epic, among endless others.
7 Jane Eyre
Focus Features
Beloved English novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë wrote the renowned classic novel Jane Eyre, which centers on the eponymous heroine and depicts her growth to adulthood and blossoming love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding and mysterious master of Thornfield Hall. The literary masterpiece has long since been adapted on both the big and small screens, with at least 70 versions of the novel being released in various forms in the media such as television, film, radio, and theater.
The 1910 silent short drama Jane Eyre was the first American and first English-language installment, and was the second or third worldwide movie adaptation overall. Since then, the Brontë staple has had many successful remakes, most notably the 1943 Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles version, the 2006 Ruth Wilson-led BBC television adaptation, and recently with 2011’s Mia Wasikowska starring in a rendition of the enduring romantic tale with a great Michael Fassbender movie performance.
6 Dracula
Universal Pictures
Adapted from the Bram Stoker gothic horror novel of the same name, 1931’s Dracula is the first sound installment of the literary classic and memorably features the great Bela Legosi as the infamous Count Dracula, a vampire who travels from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims. The cinema wonder has had an immeasurable influence on pop culture, establishing the character as a cultural icon as well as the archetypal vampire in later depictions and works.
Christopher Lee portrayed the creature of the night in seven Hammer Horror films, beginning with the 1958 British gothic horror picture. The dynamic Gary Oldman brilliantly appeared as the famed vampire in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version Bram Stoker’s Dracula, while Luke Evans starred as the famed movie monster with the 2014 origin story Dracula Untold. The horror staple has repeatedly been adapted into a slew of memorable and thrilling silver screen versions with no signs of it slowing down in Hollywood installments.
5 A Christmas Carol
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The enduring and beloved Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol is one of the most hallowed tales in literature, telling the fascinating story of the cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, and is shown the true meaning of the festive holiday. The Dickens masterpiece has been told in a myriad of ways, from silent films, musicals, animated flicks and black and white pictures to radio, operas and even ballet adaptations.
One of the very first surviving screen adaptations of the work is the 1901 British short Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost,which is three minutes and 26 seconds in length and is preserved by the British Film Institute. Some of the most well-known versions of A Christmas Carol include the Bill Murray-led 1988 comedy Scrooged, the children’s musical film The Muppet Christmas Carol, and the performance capture 2009 dark fantasy A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey.
4 Annie
Columbia Pictures
The original Broadway production of Annie opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, and is loosely based on the James Whitcomb Riley short poem “Little Orphant Annie” and the Harold Gray comic strip. There were two film versions of Annie released in the 1930s before the stage production helped gain popularity for the musical, which follows the titular red-headed orphan as she is taken in by a New York City billionaire.
The first adaptation of the musical was released in 1982 and included a star-studded cast including Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters and Tim Curry, with Aileen Quinn appearing as the spunky girl; she was chosen out of 8,000 other hopefuls who auditioned for the impressive role. A made-for-television rendition featuring Kathy Bates and Victor Garber earned two Emmy Awards, while the latest installment of Annie got an update and was released in 2014, starring Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and Rose Bryne.
3 Batman
Warner Bros. Pictures
Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and making his debut in 1939, the iconic caped crusader and DC Comics superhero Batman first appeared on-screen in two serial films in the 1940s: Batman and Batman and Robin. One of the most iconic pop culture characters of all time, Batman has been a hot commodity in Hollywood, inspiring a multitude of adaptations by gifted actors and directors that continue to capture the attention of devoted fans through the many Batman movies. Adam West brought the superhero to both the big and small screen, portraying him in the campy TV show in addition to the 1966 full-length theatrical adaptation.
After a brief lull, the masked vigilante returned to the cinema in full force with Tim Burton’s 1989 smash hit Batman, starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne. Three live-action films would be released in the 1990s, including the infamous 1997 George Clooney-led box office blunder Batman & Robin. The innovative Christopher Nolan helmed the rebooted franchise with “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” joining forces with Christian Bale; the critically acclaimed and commercial successes helped restore the widespread popularity of the superhero. Both Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson (to initial backlash) have subsequently taken on the coveted role.
2 King Kong
RKO Radio Pictures
One of the silver screen’s all-time greatest classics is the 1933 fantasy monster flick King Kong, which follows the giant ape as he attempts to possess a beautiful young woman (the dazzling Fay Wray) after he is captured and brought to New York City. The groundbreaking picture famously features stop-motion animation and became a pop culture phenomenon due to its iconic image of Kong scaling the Empire State Building while clutching the frightened Wray.
Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes as the greatest horror film of all time, King Kong was remade in 1976 and starred Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, becoming the latter’s professional debut. In 2005, famed Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson made a blockbuster adaptation, grossing over $500 million and winning three Academy Awards for its special effects and performances. A recent installment of King Kong was the 2017 reboot starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, and was a critical and commercial success. In 2021, King Kong was pitted against another creature made and remade throughout cinema history, Godzilla, in Godzilla vs. Kong.
1 Les Misérables
Universal Pictures
The first film installment of the acclaimed Victor Hugo novel of the same name was 1934’s Les Misérables, telling the harrowing story set in 19th-century France and following Jean Valjean as he is hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole and agrees to care for the young daughter of a factory worker. The original picture ran for a whopping four and a half hours, with many critics calling it the best rendition due to its more in-depth development of the themes and characters. Just a year later, Les Misérables was remade by Richard Boleslawski, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
The tale was then retold dozens of times throughout the decades all across the world before landing in Tinsel Town once more with Tom Hooper’s 2012 epic period musical. The latest Golden Globe and Oscar-winning adaptation had an outstanding ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe, and was heralded for its powerhouse Oscar-winning performances, along with elaborate and ornate production, direction, and musical numbers.
