This weekend will see a lot of people saying aloud or to themselves, “They remade Flatliners?” That same question will resurface in a few months when it’s released on home video, and then the film will most likely never be spoken of again. While it should eventually recoup its low $20 million budget (plus marketing costs), it will most likely be used as another example of audiences’ supposed rejection of reboots, remakes, and sequels.
Why would Sony/Columbia even produce a remake of a middling sci-fi/horror thriller from nearly three decades ago? First, there’s always a chance it could catch on with audiences. (It won’t, but a chance is a chance, and more studios should follow suit with reasonably budgeted films.)
Second, the studio’s history with genre remakes suggests it’s actually a winning formula. Sony/Columbia/Screen Gems has produced 13 horror remakes over the years, and while the general perception is that remakes are bad business, the numbers suggest otherwise. (That still won’t help Flatliners, though.)
The Blob (1988)
The studio’s first venture into horror-remake territory could very well have been its last. It easily outgrossed the 1958 original, but that’s hardly a brag-worthy feat. Chuck Russell’s fun creature feature, starring Kevin Dillon in the Steve McQueen role (obviously), earned $8 million on a $28 million cost ($19 million budget x 1.5 multiplier for marketing expenses), making it a bomb by anyone’s standards. [Loser]
Sony’s horror remake ledger: -$20 million
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
George Romero’s 1968 classic was a monster hit relative to the cost, but it remains a lesson for filmmakers in ensuring they have lawyers look over the contracts. Romero never benefited directly from the film’s financial success, but happily it still gave him a career. Romero was (presumably) paid better for Tom Savini’s remake, but the film earned far less than the original and essentially broke even, making back its $6 million expenses. [n/a]
Ledger: -$20 million
Godzilla (1998)
Sony’s big break in monster remakes came with Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla. The film is fairly derided as a goof, especially in comparison to the beast’s more recent big-screen appearance, but it succeeded where it counts as far as the studio’s concerned. Its $379 million worldwide gross against a $195 million cost may not have been a massive success, but it brought them into the black in regard to horror remakes. [Winner]
Ledger: +$164 million
The Grudge (2004)
This was one of the first remakes of a modern Japanese horror classic, and it’s one of the reasons (along with The Ring) that studios keep making them. It earned a whopping $187 million worldwide on a budget of a measly $15 million, and it proved every bit the success of the far more expensive Godzilla. [Winner]
Ledger: +$336 million
The Fog (2005)
Remakes of John Carpenter’s films are dangerous business, and while some are harmless (Assault on Precinct 13) and others are divisive (Halloween), the entire world agrees that Rupert Wainwright’s remake of Carpenter’s 1980 gem is a crime against cinema and precipitation patterns in general. The original earned nearly 20 times its budget, and that’s a feat the remake couldn’t match. Still, though, it did manage $46 million against a $27 million cost, so while it’s reviled, it at least made some money. [Winner]
Ledger: +$355 million
When a Stranger Calls (2006)
The 1976 original, starring Carol Kane, remains one of the creepiest American films ever made thanks to that opening sequence, and audiences responded at the time by making it a relative hit on a minuscule budget. The remake followed a similar path as The Fog above, albeit in a more forgettable and less despicable fashion, as it went on to earn $67 million on a $22 million cost. [Winner]
Ledger: +$400 million
Premonition (2007)
Perhaps bolstered by an increasingly positive track record, the studio stepped up with its next J-horror remake and added an A-list star into the mix with Sandra Bullock. It paid off, and while the film wasn’t a huge hit, it did bring in $84 million, a profit of $54 million. As is the case with a lot of these, though, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who remembers seeing it. [Winner]
Ledger: +$454 million
Prom Night (2008)
Like most remakes of minor horror hits from the ‘70s and ‘80s, the reboot of this beloved Canadian slasher was a minor hit all its own. It lacks the pull of a real star — sorry Brittany Snow, but you’re no Jamie Lee Curtis — but it still nearly doubled its $30 million cost by bringing in $57 million at the box office. [Winner]
Ledger: +$481 million
Quarantine (2008)
After three Japanese remakes, Sony finally decided to branch out to a different geographic location with this Americanized take on the fantastic Spanish found footage film [Rec]. That 2007 chiller was an international hit that barely made a dent here in the U.S., and that made it ripe for an English-language remake. It’s harmless and basically follows the original beat for beat, and audiences responded with a solid enough $41 million gross against an $18 million cost. [Winner]
Ledger: +$504 million
The Stepfather (2009)
Another entry in the category of remakes most people won’t remember, this defanged reboot of Joseph Ruben’s bloody and occasionally sleazy original pales in comparison to the personality and thrills that the 1987 film delivers. Quality has never been an issue for audiences, though, and this one scraped its way to break even at the box office with $31 million — a profit of $1 million. [Winner, technically]
Ledger: +$505 million
Straw Dogs (2011)
All good things must come to an end, and for Sony’s string of financially successful horror remakes — it’s a horrific enough thriller that I’m considering it horror — that time came with their bland reboot of Sam Peckinpah’s controversial classic from 1971. At an estimated cost of $37 million, the movie needed to bring in audiences, but it only managed $10 million worth of paying customers. [Loser]
Ledger: +$478 million
Carrie (2013)
Brian De Palma’s 1976 classic is considered among the best of all 60+ Stephen King feature adaptations, and no one really felt a remake was necessary. But money is a powerful motivator. Kimberly Peirce may not have the stylistic chops of De Palma, but she delivers a solid-enough coming-of-age revenge tale all the same. The original made 10 times its $3 million cost, and while the remake couldn’t match that mathematically, it did nearly double its $45 million budget to gross $85 million. [Winner]
Ledger: +$518 million
Evil Dead (2013)
While most of the films on this list made a profit and are therefore considered successes, none of the previous 12 actually exceeded the originals in terms of quality. Fede Alvarez’s remake of Sam Raimi’s wacky, gory 1981 classic is the exception. Yes, you read correctly. It lacks Raimi’s slapstick shenanigans, but it adds visceral terror and nerve-shredding effects sequences to create one hell of a horror experience. Audiences embraced its brutally effective approach with a nearly $100 million haul against a cost of only $25 million. [Winner]
Sony’s horror remake ledger: +$591 million
Audiences are more often than not right to shrug their shoulders at the announcement of yet another horror remake, and regardless of the studio behind it, the odds are against it living up to the original. But that lack of quality is too often interpreted as an argument against their existence. Why does Hollywood keep churning out remakes when they all seem to suck? Well, as Sony’s horror remake ledger of $500 million profit shows, they make them because you keep seeing them. Enjoy Flatliners.
Rob Hunter lives in California, where he spends his days being wrong about Evil Dead and most other things.
