A Star Is Born (2018)
This classic tale of an ingenue whose career is aided by an older man whose own star is fading has been remade no less than three times. Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson’s 1976 rock incarnation might be the best-known version but, most importantly, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s 2018 film has the biggest tunes.
The Fly (1986)
Horror master David Cronenberg’s gross-out sci-fi takes Kurt Neumann’s 1958 B-movie and turns it into a Hollywood blockbuster. Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum, as the mad scientist turned insect, are brilliant as two weirdos drawn together. The film begins like a romcom before descending into a gory nightmare of heartbreak and corrosive vomit.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s bestselling crime tome was faithfully adapted by Niels Arden Oplev in 2009. The English-language remake was hot on its heels. Directed by David Fincher just two years later, it’s cooler, meaner and way more stylish, with a memorable opening credits sequence soundtracked by Karen O’s cover of Immigrant Song.
Coda (2021)
In 2014’s La Famille Bélier, the hearing daughter of deaf parents dreams of becoming a singer. Cringy, raunchy French comedy doesn’t exactly scream global smash, yet Sian Heder’s English-language remake was a huge Sundance hit. She ups the sincerity and, unlike in the original, wisely casts deaf actors in the deaf roles.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Steven Soderbergh’s Las Vegas-set heist has a blast bringing the Rat Pack circa 1960 to a 00s audience. George Clooney does Frank Sinatra, Don Cheadle fills Sammy Davis Jr’s tux and Brad Pitt is a modern Dean Martin. Crucially, there’s chemistry here, unlike in 2018’s gender-flipped spin-off.
The Parent Trap (1998)
A rare example of Disney improving one of its existing properties: America’s greatest working classicist, Nancy Meyers, ingeniously deploys a precocious Lindsay Lohan as identical twins who meet for the first time at summer camp. (Arguably, Lohan’s Freaky Friday trumps the original, too.)
The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
Anthony Minghella wasn’t the first to adapt Patricia Highsmith’s scammer novel for the screen – that would be René Clément with 1960’s Plein Soleil. Minghella’s take retains the sultry, seething vibe of Clément’s film but raises the stakes by amping up the gay subtext between grifter Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) and the object of his obsession, Dickie Greenleaf (a golden, sculpted Jude Law).
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
John McTiernan’s glossy thriller riffs on Pierce Brosnan’s suave Bond persona, recasting him as the delinquent playboy portrayed by Steve McQueen in 1968. Even more inspired is Rene Russo, aged 44, as the insurance agent Faye Dunaway played at 26. Russo is whip-smart and slinky, with convincing alpha energy (and the power suit to match).
The Departed (2006)
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s 2002 mob thriller Infernal Affairs made strong source material for Martin Scorsese, who saw unlikely parallels between Hong Kong and Boston. With an A-list cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon, at the peak of their powers, it’s no wonder it won four Oscars, finally securing Scorsese a win for best director.
Casino Royale (2006)
Daniel Craig’s nihilistic, 21st-century take on the character of 007 was a far cry from David Niven’s in the 1967 spy spoof movie, adapted from the same Ian Fleming novel. It’s easily the best of Craig’s James Bond films, the actor’s wounded masculinity adding much-needed grit to the otherwise camp and dated franchise.
