This is not new news, but I must confess it slipped under my radar. Last year the Swedish vampire movie “Let The Right One In” (which I listed at #6 on my Best Films of 2008 list) got huge buzz from just about every living soul who saw it. Unfortunetly that doesn’t equal a lot of souls as the vast majority of people out there still haven’t seen it.
Well… they’re making a North American remake of the film and it’s going to be titled “Let Me In“.
Ok, now I know a LOT of people are going to be up in arms about this because the original is so damn good. But I like this idea for a couple of reasons:
1) It’s a fantastic story
2) If the remake sucks, it doesn’t hurt the original in the least
3) Most people have not, and WILL NOT watch the original. It’s a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
So yes, mark me down as one of the people who are totally down for a “Let the Right One In” North American remake. If its good, then more people get to see this great story… if it sucks, no harm done.
Did you see the original? If so, what do you think about the idea of a remake?
I loved the film! And I have no interest in this movie even though I liked Cloverfield.
Let Me In was the title of the US book. Let the Right One In I believe likely has more of a poetic side in Swedish. I dont know why they went with Let Me In.
I too was perplexed as to why call them Owen and Abby. Oscar is a widely used American name. Abby to me sounds too cutsy. Matt has already stated that he will not include the gender change. I dont believe you can include the experience of Elias to the film. You can tell they thought about that with original film because when Eli is whispering to Oskar to see it her way then that swooshing sound to go to a memory, like in the show Lost, but then nothing. Alot of audiences were confused when they showed that in the original film. One person thought that it was self mutilation. If youre going to have the character androgenous then you need the backstory and I dont think you can do that in a film. IMO
I agree with quite a bit of the argument against the remake. I am a really big fan of the book. Fairly big fan of the movie. Yes there is lots of stuff left out of the book that did not make it to the original release, and I have also read where the author has expressed happiness for the US remake, and that the source material for the new film will be the novel, but there are a few things that makes me slightly wary. One is the title, which doesn’t have anything to do with the song Let the right one slip in, and which is a major theme of the novel and more or less of the original film. The second is the leaked renaming of the characters to Owen and Abby, and the gender change of Eli/Abby in the us remake.
These are big things to the original story, much more than keeping snow, and the 80’s era. I only hope that its not an edgy remake of Twilight.
I think people are also forgetting that there is a book in between all of this. Most of the remakes that many have listed all were originals. I think remakes of films should give Beginning Credits to the Original Film by ALL means. Book renditions are fair game. Matt would shoot himself in the foot big time if he tried to imitate the Swedish take. Matt is doing the book and not the film. The author Linqvist has expressed his excitement for an American take. If you also look to see the studios making it are Overture and Hammer, check their movie releases, they were not big blockbusters like Transformers or anything. I believe Matt is very dedicated to making this film good, since he stopped another project he had on hand. I dont want a version to overshadow the other either. Classics can be retold without pitting them against each other, ie Romeo and Juliet, Christmas Carol etc
Loved the original, and I’m not opposed to a remake. A poor remake of this movie would be better than a lot of other stuff that’s out there (or in the works) right now.
Oh, come on, they CAN be good? Sure, maybe one percent. But the truth is they DO suck 99% of the time.
I don’t have a problem with remaking movies from 30’s like Scarface, but remaking every single good non-english movie into an awful pile of junk just a year or two after it’s original release is beyond me, and i strongly disagree with your opinion that remakes are a good idea.
Actually, remakes are not a good IDEA, remakes are LACK OF IDEAS.
You can’t argue with that.
Oh, sorry for the double post, but i just got an idea. Imagine remake as Mona Lisa. It’s italian picture in france, so americans need to “remake” it. So imagine a picture of Mona Lisa with huge fake boobs, Gucci dress and explosion in the background. That’s what remakes are all about. How can anyone, let alone the guy who has a movie blog, support such things is beyond me.
your mona lisa example proves my point and shows the error in yours imo.
Everyone on the planet has seen, knows of and can continue to see the Mona Lisa. What would be the point of “remaking” it? none.
Infernal Affairs is a movie NO ONE in North America ever heard about (a few of us did, and it’s my favorite cop film of all time). But then Scorsese remade it with “The Departed” and it won the Oscar for best picture… suddenly people knew about the original and a LOT more people have seen it as a result.
You also very erroneously said:
i find your opinion that remakes are good quite silly.
First of all, I never said remakes are good. I said they CAN be good. Scarface and the Departed are two examples that come to mind.
Sorry, but you’ve failed to show, in any way, how a remake of “Let The Right One In” would harm the original at all. Not one way. If it’s great… it’s great. If it sucks, then it doesn’t harm he original at all.
I know a LOT of people who saw Ju-On after the horrible remake “The Grudge” came out… and they never would have if it weren’t for the remake.
So feel free to disagree. That’s fair and I respect your opinion even if I don’t agree. You can call my opinion “quite silly” all you’d like… it doesn’t stop it from being right.
Sorry John, but i find your opinion that remakes are good quite silly.
Not only that remakes are a clear example of everything that’s wrong with hollywood today, but also remakes diminish and insult the original moviemakers. If i made a masterpiece, and then americans took my idea and sh!t on it by remaking it, i would be deeply insulted.
I see nothing wrong with the original.
No need to remake it.
If they do, they cant make it better.
@John
1) It’s a fantastic story
Yeah, so why ruin it by dumbing it down?
2) If the remake sucks, it doesn’t hurt the original in the least
Yeah it does. People who see the american version won’t watch the original one, and therefore lose a true cinematic experience in favor of US friendly version
3) Most people have not, and WILL NOT watch the original. It’s a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
Then those people aren’t true movie lovers and don’t deserve to enjoy such a masterpiece.
Hey Huggy Bear,
You said:
2) If the remake sucks, it doesn’t hurt the original in the least
Yeah it does. People who see the american version won’t watch the original one, and therefore lose a true cinematic experience in favor of US friendly version
That’s total nonsense. First of all… if they haven’t seen it already… it’s a 99.9999% probability that they aren’t ever going to see it anyway.
On top of that, I know people (myself included) who never saw original classics like The Grudge and got interested in seeing it after the horrible north american remake.
A remake does nothing to hurt the original whatsoever in any way, shape or form.
What’s with americans not being able to watch non-english movies? Bizzare. It’s like a nation-wide defect.
The remake will suck, of course, as 99% americanisations suck.
It sucks that no one has seen the movie, but it is the truth…What’s more frustrating is the fact that most people I’ve told this movie about, respond with they don’t want to read subtitles. To me, that’s the most annoying excuse for not liking/watching a film, next to “it was too long”. People need to get a bigger attention span. Absolutely ridiculous.
NO!
Some things you cant fucking remake! This goes against Johns top whatver rules before a remake AND my rules, this will fucking suck! The original is great- LET IT END THERE!
These are just people who know the first one was amazing and no one saw it, so theyre going to remake it in english with lots of ads so that people will go see it and theyll make millions, its a cash grab, a good idea finantially, but…NO!
Damnit.
Hey Hazmat,
Every movie ever made is a cash grab. They make movies to make money.
And why not remake it? Seriously… why not? How does it hurt the original?
who says it WILL suck? You don’t even know who would direct ir or star in it or anything. All you know is that it has a great story.
Yes, but isnt it too early to remake this? its unnecessary
Obviously you liked it, so did I, okay how do you see this movie being better then the original? Its just something i wouldnt trust at all
If they can make it better, i would love that, if its the same or worse then it would be stupid
And as for the actors, i liked not knowing the actors,It was cool and it made the movie better, if they cast a bunch of famous people, itll have a total different feel to it
Also…If it sucks then that will be a litteral kick in the balls for the original, its like when the day the earth stood still sucked and my friends all said that the original probably did
“Why dont you just watch the original you prick!?”
But youre right, if its good, then awesome, i dont know if itll be bad or good, youre right, what im saying is, it probably wont. If they cant remake King Kong the day the earth stood still then they cant remake this, it was too good, and it wont be as good as the original, i just dotn want this made period.
Some movies just…ugh…if ever i see idiocracy being remade…or office space…titanic..In my irrelevant opinion: some movies CAN NOT be remade
Never seen the original or even heard of it. But you’ve got my interest and now I plan to go find it and watch it.
As for the remake, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I myself don’t usually mind American remakes of foreign films, sometimes they actually do turn out good or even better then the original. I am currently anxiously awaiting to see the Battle Royal remake. The original is awesome and can’t wait to see how the remake turns out.
Isn’t the cloverfield director doing this remake? Or I heard…well I’m looking forward to the remake, but the original is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. Hope they DON’T fuck it up!
Man I hated Cloverfield. I felt cheated after I watched that.
I can see this remake now – it will be high school teens rather than the innocent kids in the original. Somehow, hollywood just loves to reign in the teens. It will be some nerd who gets bullied in high school and a young hot vixen as the vamp. A love story, rather than just friendship and some wire-fu kick ass fight scenes instead of the great off camera killings that happened in the original. That’s stupid hollywood for you. Have we forgotten the remakes to La Femme Nikita, Vanishing, Solaris, Diabolique, etc.? Now they want to remake LTROI, Lives of Others and I hear Das Boot?? Is someone killing off all the great screenwriters in hollywood and we’re left with copycats?
I have no interest in this remake, which I imagine will change the beauty of the original story into an updated mess. I will definitely be surprised if they don’t age the characters. The producer and director have been so arrogant in their comments regarding this remake, thinking they can do a better job, it is insulting. Yes, there is always a chance they’ll make a good movie, but I’m not holding my breath. I love this Swedish film; it was one of the few gems that came out of 2008.
People need to stop being so stupidly lazy and watch a foriegn film or two because if they gave them a chance they’d realize there is a whole other world of cinema to explore.
ITS IMPOSSIBLE, according to the natural laws of this universe, to be able to pull this off remake without turning it into a giant piece of shit.
The original is too damn perfect. It’s a shame for people to think that Matt Reeves actually has SOMETHING TO ADD to the story, some other vision.
The only vision he has is a fucking pure ball of shit enveloped with dollars.
The original is already too awesome. One of my favorite vampire movies. I like all those actors. It’s a shame people can’t just enjoy a foreign film if it’s good.
Remakes are difficult because if they try to hard to recreate the original then you’d get a redundant movie. ie. Psycho remake. If you try to improve by changing the formula then you lose whatever made the first one work. It take a very good film maker to capture the essence of the original yet make it fresh enough to not be a simple rehash. ie. The Departed. A Fist Full of Dollars etc.
Or you can go bat shit insane and hope people who’s seen the original will be completely surprised with what you’ve done with their beloved work. For LTROI I would star JCVD as the caretaker, Unknown actress (or Michael Jackson) as Eli, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Mclovin) as Oskar. Play it dead serious, with score by Lennie Niehaus, Chris Doyle behind the camera. Make JCVD’s accent as thick as possible. Add the MJ creeping “we are the world” Voice to Eli. Near the middle of the film for no reason what so ever include a sing and dance number. Sounds good to me.
This reminds me of how Hollywood is remaking Old Boy, Thirst and basically all of Jooh Ho Bong’s films. So damn pathetic!
If not many people will ever see the original, it doesn’t mean it should be remade.
I said it before and I will say it again, think of something new.
Everyone wants to see the “English Version.” Watch a foreign film and read the subtitles, it isn’t that hard.
Does the North American Old Boy still count as a remake? It’s going to be based on the manga, not the Korean film.
Love the original, and while I don’t particularly mind the idea of a remake, I’m very nervous.
What jumps to mind for me is Insomnia. Brilliant original, and average, yet very different remake. Did people see the original because of the remake? Not many.
This has more of a stir behind it though, and with all the comparisons people will make, it may drive people to the original.
The first movie was haunting and sweet at the same time…..though I am not clear why there scenes in the movie that were not followed through on so maybe should have been left out altogether. Those who read the book know what I mean.
I know there have been some bad US remakes of foreign movies…The Vanishing comes to mind….but we also made The Departed and The Ring….which were much better than the originals….and of course that is my opinion.
Two of the elements that made the original a good movie was the Swiss setting plus the kid that played the vampire was dead on…no pun intended. Good luck on matching both of those.
I don’t know much about this director so I will cross my fingers.
“Swiss setting”
Don’t you mean Swedish?
John, I would agree that it meets two of your criteria, number 1 and 3, but I disagree with number 2. Although if it sucks we still have the original, it does hurt the NAME of it (even though they’ve changed it somewhat in this case). Most people will see the North American remake simply becaase it’s in English (as you say, a sad truth that most people won’t watch foreign language movies), and will only think of that remake whenever the idea, story, name gets mentioned.
It happened (and continues to happen) with great Asian horror movies – Ringu to The Ring, The Grudge, Into the Mirror to Mirrors, A Tale of Two Sisters to The Uninvited – people (mostly teens) will see the English language remake and always think of that and not the original.
It also happens with regular remakes i.e. English language to English language update. Take Highlander (as I remember you have mentioned on Uncut once or twice): Most teens, when they hear the name “Highlander,” will think of that TV show with Adrian Paul, and not the classic original (most likely you will get a blank stare if you remind them it was an ’80s movie originally).
So, even though I agree those of us who love the original still have that original, no harm, no foul for us. But it hurts the original in that MOST people will think of the remake and not the original.
(Btw, I’m not completely against remakes… just most of them^_^)
The Departed. Oscar for best film of the year and inspired a lot of people to watch the original that had never even heard of it.
but the departed didnt suck ross is basically saying that if the let the right one in remake sux, they’ll remember the remake, if hypathetically this remake does win best picture, then people will be more aware and interested in the original
Hey Slumdog
You said: if the let the right one in remake sux, they’ll remember the remake
Totally irrelevant since they haven’t seen, and wouldn’t see the original anyway. No harm done.
what i meant was that if the remake sux they wont be interested in seeing the original, they’ll remember the remake and think “yea that movie sux why would i be interested in the original
what you said about the departed, once it came out people were interested in seeing the asian original, if the remake of LTROI is good maybe they’ll be inclined to see the original
Hey Slumdog
It’s irrelevant, because the vast vast vast majority of people haven’t and aren’t going to see the original one anyway. So it’s a moot point.
I still have to see the original. But why is it being remade? Bad movies should be remade. Fucking Alexander should be remade. Just like with them planning to remake the spanish horror film, The Orphanage. That movie was fantastic, but why remake it? It doesn’t have to be in English to be good. Pan’s Labyrinth proved that. I haven’t seen Let the Right One In yet (though I plan to), but I heard it was so fantastic. So why remake it?
Oh yeah, money. I forgot.
Money is the reason every single movie is made. No exceptions
John, thank you! I have been saying this for a while now. The movie industry is a business like any other.
Whats the worst that can happen? The movie sucks. You lose 7 to 10 dollars (even cheaper if you wait for it to hit the dollar savers), which you will probably make back next week if you have a job.
this goes agianst 1 of the 4 rules for makin a remake, “it could benefit from updated technology” but it was made last yr.
Slum, that is NOT one of the TMB rules of a remake.
You are misquoting #4, “The story would benefit from a modern telling”. Has little to do with technology. It refers to whether an updated retelling (setting or style etc) is valid.
its a little confusing between them because from time to time on some of the older uncuts john’ll re phrase it.
The remake title should be called…
Leave Well Enough Alone
Yes, it’s great story. But the film had gotten lots of word of mouth, and people did see it and/or still want to see it. Why settle for a pale imitation? That people would be curious enough to get off their butts and go find the original, which they should have done in the first place?
Let The Right One In remake…
Leave IQ levels out.
Let me put it this way: should Pan’s Labyrinth be remade, John? Given your “three reasons:” it qualifies, does it not? I mean, if “North American” audiences are less likely to tolerate a foreign language film of any kind…
but more people have seen pan’s labyrinth than let the right one in
Hey Darren,
It’s a bad comparision. Pan’s HAD a north american wide release in over 1000 theaters and made over 30 million in North America alone.
No one saw LTROI (dirty shame). Had no release other than a small 50 theater release.
And I never said they “SHOULD” make a LTROI remake, I simply said there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.
People haven’t seen the orginal… and won’t. I wish they would, but the FACT is that the vast majority won’t. So a remake doesn’t hurt anything at all.
Pan’s Labyrinth would not work in English, goddamn it!
Who in Gods name would refuse to see this? And why? And why do you think that makes for a good reason to film this? This is going to be a guarantee crap fest. There are no directors that would be able to pull this off without the movie turning into a giant cornball.
They refused cause they saw Twilight instead. JK.
I loved the original movie and even more so I loved the book, but that’s neither here nor there as most books are better than their film counterparts. I would be willing to give an English/U.S. version the benefit of the doubt as long as the don’t go overboard with tons of special effects or make the story more complex than they need too. The beauty of the original movie is in its simplicity. Fingers crossed they make an amazing movie.
Not sure how a remake will do in US. The studios sometimes have the wrong people making decisions which may hurt the US version. The Swedish version is great, so innocent at times. I’m afraid some studio exec will think he/she has a great idea to improve it. Which we all know means will make it worse. I think the US movie watchers need to embrace foreign films. There are some amazing films out there, like Let the Right One In.
starring zac efron and vanessa hudgens.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah! My thoughts exactly
That is funny, and youre joking too, but i fucking see them do that
God this better not happen
Loved this movie in the theater, loved this movie on Bluray when I got it, loved the book when I read it soon after getting the Bluray, and now I look forward to seeing what North America does with it. I do expect them to follow more along the lines of the movie than the book. There is just to much in the book that would be hard for a North American audience to watch or accept.
*spoilers*
Such as the man taking care of Eli is a pedophile and Eli is a boy. I also doubt they would include the reflections on Eli’s past in regard to his castration.
*/spoilers*
That said, if they did go the route of the book, it could be an amazing powerful movie… not that the current movie is not.
huh.
I don’t see all the hate about remakes. It brings in new viewers and if it sucks, it doesn’t hurt the original in any way.
Can’t wait t see this.
My thoughts exactly.
The original strangely has more in common with The Crying Game than it does with Twilight lol. What’s the worst that could happen?
I saw the original, LOVE it, and will avoid this remake like the plague.
What happens if it turns out to be a remake like Insomnia? Still avoid it?
If it turns out good, I may watch it one day, but I’m not going to actively seek it out.