Somewhere on this board (before the EZ Crash of 05) I posted a list of remakes and sequels--an astounding list of nearly sixty titles. (As someone who made a new version of Jekyll and Hyde, I made no comment--"he who has not sinned" sort-of-thing...)

Perhaps, in the long run, this is a good thing for the knowlegable filmgoer. In a sea of weeds, the new, original gem will stand out.

The one's that get me are the movies coming up based on musicals that are based on movies: Hairspray the movie to Hairspray the musical to Hairspray the Movie Musical, SUNSET BOULEVARD, THE PRODUCERS, etc. (gasp !!SUNSET BOULEVARD!! gasp)

I sometimes wonder when the executive will come along and realize that with a certain amount of marketing savvy, a studio could actually re-release great films in theatres again, and make a little bit of money. Conventional wisdom dictates that such re-releasing won't work, that DVD has destroyed a studios ability to regularly re-release films the way they did twenty or thirty years ago. Bottom line is the bottom line: re-releasing films won't make BIG money.

But I remain convinced that if thought out properly, and the lower monetary expectations from such box office returns where accepted, and re-releasing certain popular films in theatres were then released (say, nine months later--push the DVD release window BACK distributors!) it would work.

I had this thought while watching the BAD NEWS BEARS trailer recently. A studio could make a little coin re-releasing the original (it's not without its charms) strickly as a matinee item in the summer...

But then again, it would mean that Billy Bob Thorton would be out of work.

Mark Redfield
www.redfieldarts.com