It looks like the legendary science fiction film Metropolis is going to be brought to the remake shop. We get the scoop from our friends at IESB:
Producer Thomas Schuehly (“Alexander”) has acquired the remake rights to Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” and is partnering with Mario Kassar on an updated version of the 1927 silent sci-fi classic.
The Munich-based Schuehly and Kassar are currently in negotiations with a number of top directors to helm the pic, with a final decision expected in the next few months.
I generally do not like remakes, and in a situation like this where we have a classic – I think it is better left alone. I will admit however that a remake of metropolis using modern technology and special effects is appealing on some levels. This is a movie I have wanted to see for some time, but I have not been able to track down a copy.
I would love to see this movie remade shot for shot like Psycho. I would also like it to remain a silent movie, although that may be suicide at the box office. The beauty of Metropolis to me, is the power of the futuristic images, with no spoken dialogue you are left to your own devices and you milk meaning from every image you see on the screen.
We will keep an eye on this one. I am reserving too much pre judgement until I see what Director is tapped for the gig. If a talented camera wizard is drafted, I know I personally will feel a lot better about the project. What do you guys think? Is a remake of Metropolis a god idea, and how would you like to see it remade?
pjdkruknt has a point, i know i am not good at lip reading but the movie shot with scene for scene redubbing might improve it, or at least give the movie more “hold” for the A.D.D. generation, i remeber once long ago comming home after a night out clubbing and watching the movie but playing house tunes with it, an updating of the sound track could also enhance the movie. as it stands now it only holds apeal for the die hard sci-fi fans. i am for a remake, but only if it holds true to the origional, and i whole heartedly agree that making it a cgi fest would destroy the movie.
The restored version is on netflix instant play.
i saw the original,
saw the bad 80’s version,
and i do think it should be remade with a thicker more solid plot with a lot of computer work.
personally i would love to see how Tim Burton would have done it but we’ll see how this comes along.
@ John. There was an “edit” done in the 1980s and it was terrible. The film was chopped up and made even shorter than the Paramount chop, cheesy 80’s color gels were added to entire shots and called “colorized” and bad bad bad bad 80’s pop music put over the whole thing. It looked worse than most film school class projects I’ve seen.
Call me crazy, but I seem to remember reading back in the late 1980’s or early 90’s that a remake of Langs Metropolis WAS made but never released.
I mention this because around the same time, I also read that the Fantastic Four movie had been made, but never released. I regarded both of these as “urban legend” for years. But that “B” grade Fantastic Four did finally surface, so maybe……..
paul verhoeven?!?! you’re an idiot. yeah lets get the director of “showgirls” to remake one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever. good call.
I’ve been thinking about a remake of this movie for years. Well, not a remake… a re-shoot. Take the original scripted dialogue and maybe modernize it a tad, take Lang’s original shots and speed them up just a tad to suit modern tastes, add sound and color (not much, it SHOULD stay austere like any other decent dystopian epic), but keep the Deco style… it would be a travesty to remake this movie and make it looks like some Speilberg drek like iRobot. There’s no reason to assume that in 2025 the world would look like TODAY. Why can’t it look like some fusion of Deco and Star Trek? Think Dark City or Army of the 13 Monkeys or Brazil here. And screw digital backgrounds, the ONLY movie to pull it off so far has been Sky Captain and that’s because it took nearly a decade to put together, models look far more realistic in every way. Soundtrack would also be important… it needs to be dark brooding, and predominantly “evil” sounding… I’m thinking Tool! You take Lang’s brilliant directoral style, the brilliant original story, which really doesn’t need any “updating”, you rebuilt the amazing sets and models and add a little more texture to them, push them further into the deco-futuristic realm, and add layers of modern social tragedy such as global imperialism and racism, and update the acting and dialogue to be more realistic and you’ve got an amazing movie on your hands. Unfortunately, what we will probably get is a movie that vaguely resembles the original, with lots of shoot-em-up scenes, over-the-top and uneccessary romance (with True Love thrown in for good measure), and distractingly bad computer graphics, terrible cast choices full of “big-name” Hollywood over-actors, and a sound-track of either one-hit-wonders or poorly chosen Top-10 acts, or recycled John Williams-style boring orchestral blah music. Just take one look at the incredibly terrible “I Am Legend” and it makes you wonder how these people even have careers at all.
Other possible directors could be Terry Gilliam, Jean Luc Besson or Kerry Conran (what done Sky Captain). Or any suitable Germans who could do a good job (not the German equivalent to Paul Verhoeven thought), since we should probably leave this film to the Germans. They deserve this.
However, they found the whole Original version…
YES YES YES YES YESSSSSS! Take that progress
I reckon they should get Michael Mann to direct, and Jack Black should star.
This film definitely deserves a remake, that more people will want to watch. Just try and explain the original to someone:
“Well it was made with no sound, by Germans, in the ‘Twenties, Written by a Nazi, Directed by a Odd Genius with a Monocle and essentially created serious Science-Fiction Cinema. Also there’s a Robot.”
It sounds mental. But get an actual artist (like Ridley Scott, as mentioned) to direct, stick to the original story (though feel free to jazz it up some to make it work) and respect the integrity of Lang’s work, and you have a film. It should have sound, because Lang himself used sound when it became available (he only rejected it for ‘Frau im Mond’ because it didn’t fit with the silent film he’d made.
Also; NEVER EVER Paul Verhoeven. Sure, I like Total Recall and Starship Troopers, but let’s face it, not for any of the right reasons. Ridley Scott would do beautifully.
Incidentally, a TEN-HOUR MINI-SERIES?! How is that even supposed to work?
If they’re going to keep it a “silent” film (i put that in quotes because even if it is it’ll at least have a musical score, as the original did) then I’d love to see a remake done in the style of Baraka.
If they want to make it a more traditional modern-day film then mark my words they best tread lightly. No roping in big name actors simply because of their box-office appeal, and no excessive 3d effects.
The problem with old sci-fi is they didn’t have the tools to achieve the realism they wanted. The problem with today’s sci-fi is they have more than enough tools, and as such they overuse them, stretching the believability so much that it becomes comedy. They think that just because they CAN make a movie like “Wanted” that that means it’s a good idea. CG for CG sake is lame (I’m looking at you Indy 4/Spiderman).
They key is to find the golden mean.
Personally i would love to see a remake based on the original idea by thea von harbou and sticking to the extravagant excess of fritz langs style but using our now present day vision of the next generation of our future
(im still waiting for floating cars and transforming robots).
given the unnecessary slaughter of the original film and its subsequent loss in its original form,maybe a remake would be a homage to one of the foundations of our science fiction genre.
roping a big name modern day producer to over produce the film would probably ruin it, we need someone with vision.
i have yet to come up with a name trustworthy of such a mammoth task.
Fankie J: Metropolis is a 1927 film by Fritz Lang. It is about a futuristic society split between the thinkers, who have ideas, but do not have the means of accomplishing them, and the workers, who live beneath the splendor of the thinkers. The workers power the Thinkers’ city. One day, the son of the lead thinker, Freder, meets one of the Worker women. He follows her down into the Worker’s City, and sets off a chain of events that make up the movie. Hope this helps.
ridley scott would be a cool director to do it. blade runner is awesome and pays lots of homage to metropolis
I’m addressing this to Herby..i really don’t think anyone really cares what you think and how much the old film means to you. I think its a great idea and will be a big success. Who gives a fuck about your kino???
I think it’s an AWESOME movie!!! Because young people don’t know yet about this great movie , its a fantastic way to introduce them to it while at the same time making it interesting. All you old fossils that don’t appreciate a great film, go back home and stick to your original old Metropolis, but STOP making unnessary comments and trying to cast doubt on the movie just because you feel that way!!! Most of us (the young generation–and some old generation I’m sure as well) are very thankful that this movie is being remade. I’ve said enough and hopefully have made my point clear!
I had just read about this potential ‘remake’. It would really be in the best interests of all if it were not made under the title of “Metropolis”. So much worked for the original film because of the period it was created in. To think that a computer enhanced modern version would simply be better or even worth doing for the sake of technological advancements in the movie industry is really flawed.
Hopefully whoever becomes involved in this will choose to do a movie and storyline “inspired by” the original and not a “remake”.
The only way I’ll accept a remake is if they do a word-for-word miniseries of the book. No less than 10 hours long. And make Futura more frightening, fascinating, and beautiful than she already is.
I think it’s the perfect movie for a remake. If Fritz Lang had made it today, he wouldn’t have made a black and white silent movie. Besides:
“The F.W. Murnau Foundation released a 123-minute, digitally restored version in 2002, undertaken by Martin Koerber. It included the original music score and title cards describing the action in the missing sequences. Lost clips were gleaned from museums and archives around the world, and computers were used to digitally clean each frame and repair minor defects. The original score has been re-recorded with an orchestral ensemble. Many scenes have still not been recovered, however, and are considered lost.” – Wikipedia.org
Title cards. Need I say more?
This is very interesting news that could be good or bad. I just hope they give one of Fritz Lang’s masterpieces (yeah, he has more great films!) the respect it deserves.
When I read that, I couldn’t help but curse aloud. Remake Metropolis? No. That is just not right. It works beautifully in the format it is in, but I think the story would just be corny in a modern format.
I’d hate to see this movie “parodied” shot-by-shot like Psycho. I have a good copy of the original and (aside from an interest in getting the Moroder “rock version”) I’m happy with it as is.
I’d prefer to see it done as a NEW film with no references to the old. Sort of in the style of “I Robot”. ie: Virtually a new film – since a lot of the political references would need to be adjusted.
My pleasure Doug, enjoy.
thx for the linkage to the best version Herby
I’m no expert but I believe that Metropolis lacked the following:
– Sound
– Colour
– Dialogue (apart from the full screen signs?)
– Special FX from this milennia.
They should definetly go with a retro future a la Sky Captain.
Just my two cents…
For 1, did you forget the music?
For 2, that was due to the tech of the time, and it doesn’t detract from the film.
For 3, why exclude the title cards?
For 4, special fx of this millenia are all cgi, and Metropolis does not need cgi filled shots of the city. The beauty of the original was its ability to do that without computers, and modern fx. And guess what? The old fx still hold up.
They don’t mention if it’s gonna be a talkie or not.
BLASPHEMY!! DESTROY THE INFIDELS!!!
Metropolis is my favourite film of all time, leave it alone.
BTW Doug the best version of “Metropolis” on DVD is at http://www.kino.com
Not only has the film been restored (although some scenes are lost forever, title cards move the action along) and digitally enhanced, but a full orchestra does the score from the recently discovered 1927 sheet music.
WOW!! FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!
Yeah but doesn’t a classic sci-fi film deserve a classic sci-fi soundtrack? Something futuristic, rather than stale and bland? Also I read somewhere that the missing footage had been found in a Chile University, does anyone know when they’ll be releasing that version?
The 2002 animated Metropolis is a semi-remake. It was absolutely fantastic thematically, and it managed to keep what made Fritz Lang’s film so moving intact. If an anime film could so it, so could a remake. Potentially.
It’s kinda weird that it’s never been remade ’cause it’s a brilliant film. I would imagine the new one will have a lot more action, romance and ‘movie stuff’ going on than the original though…’cause I don’t think today’s audiences would dig the pace of the old one.
Actually, it’s kinda been remade as an anime film a few years ago – as Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis. The movie was written by Katsuhiro Otomo, who created Akira!
To: Jan
I think the studio can make look awesome. Remember Sky Captin and World of Tomorrow? Say what you will about the plot but that movie looked awesome.
I have seen this movie ( Masterpiece )and all i can say is that there is no way in hell they can make this without it looking a bit …. well stupid.
One of the things that make this movies amazing is in its expressionism, the actors where so dramatic that every time they turned their heads it looked like they had seen a ghost.
The movie was made in 1927 and thats where it should be. Let there at least be one film left that we can look back on and see how creative man could be in that time and not destroy the mythology by doing a remake
Hate to say it but it’s the acting that lets the film down (and of course the missing clips and a decent sci-fi soundtrack). So long as the remake pays homage to the stunning visuals without going OTT on CGI then I’ll be happy. The acting in the twenties was appalling! It takes them a whole minute to overact a single line of dialog, and the way they hold themselves is like ridiculous. I agree that Casablanca and Citizen Kane should be excluded from remake consideration, however this film is ripe for it. Can’t wait to see if they do it justice.
It was a silent film. The only way people could really understand what was happening between captions was with a bit of overacting. And it was German expressionism. Might not be for you but for 90 percent of people it was part of the charm. Why watch a silent movie if you’re looking for bruce willis acting methods or something. Isn’t it just interestingto see where it started?
I must agree. I just saw the reconstructed version (has most of the lost 27 minutes restored) last night on TCM. The film is truly a Sci-Fi masterpiece, and may of the effects look stunning even by today’s standards. But the acting, and some of the directing are so very dated and melodramatic. The principle behind the film, that the work of the hand, and the brilliance of the mind must be mediated by the heart, is more true today than ever. In this age where big business is re-creating slave labor in foreign countries and decimating he middle class, the message needs to be told again, just as Lang did it in the twenties. But it should be updated. I think Peter Jackson has agreed to direct and he will be exceptional because he will bring the pathos and the truthfulness of Lang’s message to a new audience.
This is simply a horrible Idea.
Good call Henrik!
Wow! I’ve seen this movie and I never would have thought that it would be remade. I thought it was lost in annals of movie history. The concept and story is brilliant of course they have to add more dialog.
Thay should make it a silent movie and show they really respect the original otherwise leave it be.
The only man who could do this is Paul Verhoeven. If he doesn’t do it, it will be a travesty.
What?! The director of sci-fi muck like Starship Troopers, the Hollow Man and the Surrogate?! He doesn’t have the ability to display the visual depth required to remake a classic expressionist film like Metropolis. The only 2 people I can think of that will do anything other than try and make a CGI blockbuster outta this is Alex Proyas, Or Tarsem Singh. Or maybe Guillermo del Toro. It needs to be visually appealing. Not a sci-fi CGI wankfest.
Paul “Showgirls” Verhoeven? You mean that Paul Verhoeven? What kind of travesty do you prefer? The only worse choices possible might be McG or Ed Wood.
From IMDB Frankie:
It is the future, and humans are divided into two groups: the thinkers, who make plans (but don’t know how anything works), and the workers, who achieve goals (but don’t have the vision). Completely separate, neither group is complete, but together they make a whole. One man from the “thinkers” dares visit the underground where the workers toil, and is astonished by what he sees (Synopsis Written by Murray Chapman)
Ddin’t the japanese remake this some years ago? Anyways this might actually might be good. If they are going to remake something it’s better to remake something from 1927 than 1987
The anime wasn’t a remake. Tesuya (or whatever the diredtors name is) came up with the idea after only seeing the poster for the original and never actually seeing or knowing anything about the original.
Can you breifly tell what its about