10 Pointless Movie Remakes That Had No Reason To Exist

Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Published Jul 17, 2026, 7:45 AM EDT Liam Gaughan is a film and TV writer at Collider. He has been writing film reviews and news coverage for ten years. Between relentlessly adding new titles to his watchlist and attending as many screenings as he can, Liam is always watching new movies and television shows. In addition to reviewing, writing, and commentating on both new and old releases, Liam has interviewed talent such as Mark Wahlberg, Jesse Plemons, Sam Mendes, Billy Eichner, Dylan O'Brien, Luke Wilson, and B.J. Novak. Liam aims to get his spec scripts produced and currently writes short films and stage plays. He lives in Allentown, PA. Sign in to your Collider account The word “remake” doesn’t have to be a derogatory one, as there are many examples of redoing the same film and finding success. John Carpenter’s The Thing is a horror classic that supersedes the original 1951 film, Ocean’s Eleven from Steven Soderbergh was a far classier take on a “Rat Pack” star vehicle, the Coen brothers’ version of True Grit was actually close to the novel, and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed significantly adjusted the themes of Infernal Affairs to create an instant classic in the gangster genre that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A remake should exist if it has the opportunity to significantly improve upon or change something about the original film, but it shouldn’t occur purely to bait nostalgia. Unfortuantely, many remakes are made just to cash in on a popular name, and don’t have a legacy of their own. 10 ‘Robocop’ (2014) Robocop is one of the most rewatchable films of the ‘80s, and its a lot smarter than it is often given credit for. Paul Verhoeven satirized American media and consumerism with his ruthless analysis of corporate culture, and infused some Biblical themes into the story of how the police officer Alex Murphy (Frank Weller) is resurrected into a cyborg hero. The Robocop remake cuts out all of the satire for the sake of making a bland dystopian film, and it doesn’t do enough to flesh out what Murphy goes through, even if Joel Kinnaman is trying his best with the material. Worst of all, the Robocop remake is PG-13; there’s no point in making a film in the franchise if it can’t include the ultra-violence that is inherent to the themes, as even the bad Robocop sequels were able to pull that off. 9 ‘Total Recall’ (2012) Image via Sony Total Recall is another Verhoeven classic that was compeely neutered when it was remade because Len Wiseman didn’t have the same creative eye for action and worldbuilding. The original Total Recall is a genuinely thought-provoking psychological thriller that questions the nature of reality and says something about projections of escapist fantasies; it’s one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best performances, and the remake sadly wasted the talents of Colin Farrell by giving him one of the most boring character arcs imaginable. In addition to being PG-13, the Total Recall remake felt less imaginative because it didn’t even go to Mars, and simply felt like just another totalitarian sci-fi thriller. Given that the film has almost no interest in looking beyond the surface of anything that Verhoeven had done with the original, it might as well have not even been called Total Recall. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 8 ‘Ghostbusters’ (2016) Image via Sony Ghostbusters lit a fire within Internet discourse in 2016 when online trolls rejected the idea of an all-female reboot of the 1984 classic from Ivan Reitman, but the unfortunate reality is that Paul Feig’s reimagining had very little to say. Despite the presence of four talented actresses in the cast, 2016’s Ghostbusters is virtually a beat-for-beat remake of the original film, only with more fart jokes, product placement, and terrible improv. 2016’s Ghostbusters looked ridiculously cheap, as the film’s terrible CGI was nowhere near as effective as the practical makeup and effects that had been used in 1984. Worst of all, it tried to bring back original cast members Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd for pointless cameos that broke the canon of the series; while the most recent Ghostbusters sequels have been criticized for being too dour, they at least tried to do something new. 7 ‘Point Break’ (2015) Image via Warner Bros. Pictures Point Break is one of the most influential action films of the ‘90s, and struck a very unique tonal balance between irony and sincerity; ironically, it took a female director in Kathryn Bigelow to make one of the most profound action films ever that tackled the pressures of masculinity. The Point Break remake had none of this attention-to-detail, as it decided to revamp the fun world of surfing with a bland exploration of extreme sports, which already felt dated in 2015. The biggest issue with the new Point Break is the lack of chemistry between the two leads. The dynamic between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in the original was so strong that Luke Bracey and Edgar Ramirez paled in comparison in the remake; Bracey and Ramirez are both good actors, but they were not given the opportunity to flesh out their roles. 6 ‘Clash of the Titans’ (2010) Image via Warner Bros. Clash of the Titans is a remake that theoretically should have worked, as the original film from 1981 has not aged very well. However, the 2010 reimagining somehow managed to take the enormity of Greek mythology and make it bland, as the conflict between Zeus (Liam Neeson) and Perseus (Sam Worthington) felt uninspired. Clash of the Titans immediately dated itself with terrible use of 3D, which was created using a post-production conversion effect that didn’t feel fluid. This was a time in which studios were desperate to cash in on the success of Avatar, which had become the highest-grossing film of all-time, but Clash of the Titans didn’t have James Cameron’s attention-to-detail when it came to worldbuilding. Despite the fact that Greek mythology inspired much of modern storytelling, it wasn’t until Christopher Nolan made The Odyssey that there was a genuinely great film about Greek myths. 5 ‘The Lion King’ (2019) Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures The Lion King is among the most cynical remakes ever made because it does absolutely nothing to distinguish itself from the 1994 classic, as it is virtually a shot-for-shot recreation. While Disney has shown that it can make good remakes like Pete’s Dragon that do something inventive and new, The Lion King’s only additions are bad songs and morose visuals. The Lion King can’t be described as “live-action” because there are no human characters, and the effect of seeing photorealistic animals talking and singing is downright creepy. It was the stylization and color within the 1994 classic that was critical to the storytelling, and the remake sucks out all of that energy with its attempt to have the same grounded realism of an episode of Animal Planet. Its success is among the most dispiriting box office stories of the 21st century. 4 ‘Wuthering Heights’ (2026) Image via © Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection Wuthering Heights is a novel that has never been perfectly adapted, as even the Best Picture-nominated 1939 classic was only based on half of Emily Bronte’s novel. Instead of taking the opportunity to make a more thorough adaption, Emerald Fennell reduced the material even further by cutting out major characters and inserting more raunchiness; this is a complete misreading of the source material, as it is the unfulfilled longing between Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) that is supposed to heighten the sexual tension. Fennell’s film casts actors who are far too old to realistically be playing their characters and uses shock value to visualize Catherine’s sexual awakening; the result is a film that feels made by someone who had only skimmed the novel and didn’t understand what it was actually trying to say about loss and love. 3 ‘Going in Style’ (2017) Image via Warner Bros Going in Style had the potential to be a great remake because the original 1979 film is a classic, but also a product of its time that isn’t as well-remembered as some of the other comedies of its era. The casting of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin was spot-on, but the issue with the new Going in Style was its director, Zach Braff. Braff didn’t have the same sensitivity and earnestness that had made Martin Brest’s take on the same story such a thoughtful exploration of aging and moving past one’s prime. The 2017 version is rife with slapstick gags and ridiculous heist movie shenanigans, as it basically revolves around most characters being idiots in order to be logical in the slightest. It’s a true shame that three all-time great actors couldn’t redeem this massively disappointing new take. 2 ‘Lilo and Stitch’ (2025) Image via Disney Lilo and Stitch is another completely cynical endevour from Disney becaue it catered to nostlagia without having anything new to say about the beloved 2002 film. As is the case with most of Disney’s live-action versions of their animated classics, the Lilo & Stitch remake is devoid of color and filmmaking skill. The film was originally planned to be a Disney+ release, and it’s obvious because of the low production values and poor acting; it feels like a made-for-television film, and frankly looks less cinematic than many of the shows that air on HBO today. It’s confusing why Disney decided to hire a new creative team for the remake when the first film’s director, Chris Sanders, is still putting out great work; Sanders recently directed the Oscar-nominated animated masterpiece The Wild Robot, which is far more emotional and moving than the Lilo & Stitch remake. 1 ‘The Mummy’ (2017) Image via Universal Pictures The Mummy is among the most embarrassing failures in contemporary Hollywood history because Universal tried to launch its own cinematic universe to rival Marvel with the “Dark Universe,” which was promptly cancelled after the first installment in the series failed. Rarely has a film been so blatantly made purely to set up sequels and spinoffs; there’s almost lore to the actual Egyptian mythology in The Mummy, as it is mostly focused on setting up characters like Dr. Henry Jekyll (played by Russell Crowe in a hilariously bad performance) who were planned to recur. Tom Cruise gives one of the very few genuinely terrible performances of his entire career, even if he can’t be totally blamed for the film’s failings, given that there are few writer/directors working today who have had track records as disastrous as that of Alex Kurtzman. The Mummy Release Date June 9, 2017 Runtime 110 minutes