Films commonly mistaken as remakes
by Zuko-Halliwell | created - 23 Oct 2011 | updated - 23 Nov 2016 | PublicA remake is a film with a screenplay based on a earlier film's screenplay. The screenplays of the films on this list are based on literary works that had been previous adapted to the screen. Therefore, the films listed here are not remakes, but rather different adaptations of the same source material. However, there are a lot of idiots out there who think these films are remakes. I made this list in an attempt to clear up the confusion.
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1. And Then There Were None (2015)
TV-14 | 57 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ten strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious host, and start to get killed one by one. Could one of them be the killer?
Stars: Maeve Dermody, Charles Dance, Toby Stephens, Burn Gorman
Votes: 43,803
2. Around the World in 80 Days (I) (1989)
PG | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A Victorian Age English gentleman takes a wager that he can circle the globe in the unprecedented time of just eighty days.
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Eric Idle, Julia Nickson, Peter Ustinov
Votes: 3,490
3. Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
PG | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
To win a bet, an eccentric British inventor embarks, with his Chinese valet and an aspiring French artist, on a trip full of adventures and dangers around the world in exactly 80 days.
Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Jim Broadbent, Kathy Bates
Votes: 94,705 | Gross: $24.01M
4. Ben Hur (2010)
180 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Jewish prince seeks revenge after an old friend wrongly imprisons him and his family.
Stars: Joseph Morgan, Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily VanCamp, Kristin Kreuk
Votes: 2,208
5. Ben-Hur (2016)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, an officer in the Roman army, returns to his homeland after years at sea to seek revenge, but finds redemption.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov | Stars: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi
Votes: 46,801 | Gross: $26.41M
6. Carrie (2002 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Carrie White is a lonely and painfully shy teenage girl with telekinetic powers who is slowly pushed to the edge of insanity by frequent bullying from both her classmates and her domineering, religious mother.
Director: David Carson | Stars: Angela Bettis, Patricia Clarkson, Rena Sofer, Kandyse McClure
Votes: 11,451
7. Carrie (2013)
R | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A shy girl, outcast by her peers and sheltered by her religious mother, unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.
Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday
Votes: 148,109 | Gross: $35.27M
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Charlie, a young boy from an impoverished family, and four other kids win a tour of an amazing chocolate factory run by an imaginative chocolatier, Willy Wonka, and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 528,697 | Gross: $206.46M
9. Children of the Corn (2009 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
While traveling, an unhappy married couple encounter a cult of murderous children who worship an entity called He Who Walks Behind the Rows.
Director: Donald P. Borchers | Stars: Robert Gerdisch, Jordan Schmidt, David Anders, Kandyse McClure
Votes: 6,438
10. Conan the Barbarian (2011)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A vengeful barbarian warrior sets off to get his revenge on the evil warlord who attacked his village and murdered his father when he was a boy.
Director: Marcus Nispel | Stars: Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang
Votes: 102,683 | Gross: $21.30M
11. Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A South African preacher goes to search for his wayward son, who has committed a crime in the big city.
Director: Darrell Roodt | Stars: Richard Harris, James Earl Jones, Vusi Kunene, Charles S. Dutton
Votes: 2,031 | Gross: $0.68M
12. Doctor Zhivago (2002)
TV-14 | 113 min | Drama, Romance
Young and beautiful Lara is loved by three men: a revolutionary, a mogul, and a doctor. Their lives become intertwined with the drama of Russian revolution. Doctor Zhivago is about to get ... See full summary »
Stars: Keira Knightley, Sam Neill, Hans Matheson, Alexandra Maria Lara
Votes: 5,463
13. Doktor Zhivago (2006– )
416 min | Drama
In Doctor Zhivago, the life of a young doctor is intertwined with the fate of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Yuri Zhivago is orphaned at a young age, and his uncle brings him ... See full summary »
Stars: Oleg Menshikov, Chulpan Khamatova, Varvara Andreeva, Sergey Garmash
Votes: 568
14. Fair Game (1995)
R | 91 min | Action, Romance, Thriller
Max Kirkpatrick is a cop who protects Kate McQuean, a civil law attorney, from a renegade KGB team out to terminate her.
Director: Andrew Sipes | Stars: William Baldwin, Cindy Crawford, Steven Berkoff, Christopher McDonald
Votes: 13,826 | Gross: $11.53M
15.
The Dollanganger Saga (2014– )
Episode:
Flowers in the Attic
(2014)
TV-14 | 89 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Director: Deborah Chow | Stars: Heather Graham, Ellen Burstyn, Kiernan Shipka, Mason Dye
Votes: 10,096
16. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Kelley, Jeffrey Tambor
Votes: 291,310 | Gross: $260.04M
I'm actually not 100% sure if this film belongs here, since it features songs from the animated TV special, which is also based on the book by Dr. Seuss.
17. It (I) (2017)
R | 135 min | Fantasy, Horror
In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
Director: Andy Muschietti | Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis
Votes: 605,381 | Gross: $327.48M
18. Lord of the Flies (1990)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Stranded on an island, a group of schoolboys degenerate into savagery.
Director: Harry Hook | Stars: Balthazar Getty, Chris Furrh, Danuel Pipoly, James Badge Dale
Votes: 33,581 | Gross: $13.99M
19. Red Dragon (2002)
R | 124 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer. Aiding him is imprisoned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel
Votes: 290,658 | Gross: $93.15M
20. Salem's Lot (2004)
TV-14 | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Writer Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot and discovers that it is being terrorized by vampires.
Stars: Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald Sutherland, Samantha Mathis
Votes: 11,299
21. Satan Met a Lady (1936)
Passed | 74 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A double-crossing woman, the two-timing P.I. she hired, the corpulent "empress of crime", and a gentleman thief are all after a legendary priceless eighth-century ram's horn.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Bette Davis, Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher
Votes: 2,449
22. Shadowhunters (2016–2019)
TV-14 | 42 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
After her mother disappears, Clary must venture into the dark world of demon hunting, and embrace her new role among the Shadowhunters.
Stars: Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood, Alberto Rosende, Matthew Daddario
Votes: 70,463
23. Silence (I) (2016)
R | 161 min | Drama, History
In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano
Votes: 122,858 | Gross: $7.10M
24. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
R | 105 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon
Votes: 383,643 | Gross: $101.07M
25. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from the machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe.
Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Irrfan Khan
Votes: 701,600 | Gross: $262.03M
I really thought I wouldn't have to put this film on the list, but apparently, there are some people out there whose sheer stupidity knows no bounds.
26. The Blue Lagoon (1949)
Not Rated | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In the Victorian period, two children are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific and fall in love while growing up together.
Director: Frank Launder | Stars: Jean Simmons, Donald Houston, Susan Stranks, Peter Rudolph Jones
Votes: 651
27. The Blue Lagoon (1980)
R | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In the Victorian period, two children are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific. With no adults to guide them, the two make a simple life together, unaware that sexual maturity will eventually intervene.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern, William Daniels
Votes: 76,462 | Gross: $58.85M
28. The Bourne Identity (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Votes: 575,838 | Gross: $121.66M
29. The Cat in the Hat (2003)
PG | 82 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Two bored children have their lives turned upside down when a talking cat comes to visit them.
Director: Bo Welch | Stars: Mike Myers, Spencer Breslin, Dakota Fanning, Alec Baldwin
Votes: 87,936 | Gross: $101.15M
30. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
R | 158 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 494,471 | Gross: $102.52M
31. The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
Director: David Yates | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Rory J Saper, Christian Stevens, Christoph Waltz
Votes: 188,574 | Gross: $126.64M
Believe it or not, they're are people out there who actually believe that this film is supposed to be a remake of Disney's Tarzan. They have no idea that Tarzan has been around since Walt Disney was 11 years old!
32. The Lorax (2012)
PG | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.
Directors: Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda | Stars: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms
Votes: 129,641 | Gross: $214.03M
33. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,491 | Gross: $2.11M
34. The Miracle Worker (1979 TV Movie)
Unrated | 98 min | Biography, Drama
Devoted teacher Anne Sullivan leads deaf and blind Helen Keller into the light of learnedness.
Director: Paul Aaron | Stars: Patty Duke, Diana Muldaur, Charles Siebert, Anne Seymour
Votes: 758
35.
The Wonderful World of Disney (1997–2023)
Episode:
The Miracle Worker
(2000)
TV-PG | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A television remake of William Gibson's classic play about Annie Sullivan's efforts to draw Helen Keller from her world of darkness, blindness, deafness and silence.
Director: Nadia Tass | Stars: Alison Elliott, Hallie Eisenberg, Lucas Black, Kate Greenhouse
Votes: 1,775
36. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
When both he and a colleague are about to lose their job, Walter takes action by embarking on an adventure more extraordinary than anything he ever imagined.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Jon Daly, Kathryn Hahn
Votes: 340,591 | Gross: $58.24M
37. The Shining (1997)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A recovering alcoholic must wrestle with demons within and without when he and his family move into a haunted hotel as caretakers.
Stars: Rebecca De Mornay, Steven Weber, Wil Horneff, Courtland Mead
Votes: 18,271
38. The Woman in Black (2012)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.
Director: James Watkins | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciarán Hinds, Emma Shorey
Votes: 192,522 | Gross: $54.33M
39. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,286 | Gross: $171.24M
40. War of the Buttons (1994)
PG | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
The children of Ballydowse and Carrickdowse engage in battles in which they cut off the buttons, shoelaces, and underwear of their captured opponents, in order to get the boys in trouble ... See full summary »
Director: John Roberts | Stars: Gregg Fitzgerald, Gerard Kearney, Darragh Naughton, Brendan McNamara
Votes: 4,591 | Gross: $0.01M
41. War of the Buttons (2011)
PG-13 | 109 min | Adventure, Family
Occupied France; Lebrac leads a play war between two rival kid gangs, but a girl he likes, who's Jewish, is in danger of being discovered by local Nazi sympathisers. Lebrac and the village must now respond to the reality of what's happening.
Director: Christophe Barratier | Stars: Laetitia Casta, Guillaume Canet, Jean Texier, Ilona Bachelier
Votes: 2,358 | Gross: $0.05M
42. War of the Buttons (2011)
Not Rated | 109 min | Adventure, Family
Set in the south of France in the 1960s against the backdrop of the Algerian War, a gang of young boys, led by the intrepid Lebrac, are at war with the kids of the neighbouring township, their sworn enemies.
Director: Yann Samuell | Stars: Eric Elmosnino, Mathilde Seigner, Fred Testot, Alain Chabat
Votes: 2,170
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