Movies

Which 5 Contemporary Filmmakers Should Redo ’80s Classics?

by Eric Diaz
Aug 9 2019 • 2:30 PM

In a lot of ways, the 1980s were the beginning of the film world we live in today. Many of the film franchises we love so much began back then, and let’s be real–without ’80s movies, we don’t have Stranger Things. So it’s no wonder that so many ’80s properties are being revived and reinvented some thirty plus years later. But recently a Twitter user named Travis Stevens posited the question, what if we paired five contemporary filmmakers with a classic ’80s film to remake/reimagine? The results have been fascinating.

While some of these are head-scratchers, I have to admit I would be intrigued by a Ryan Coogler re-do of the Cold War actioner Red Dawn. The remake they did a few years ago was so forgettable I actually did forget about it for a second. But Coogler doing an in-period version would be dope. And if he brought in much of the cast of Black Panther and Creed? I’d be down.

Not a single one of these is a bad idea on paper. The Entity is a nearly forgotten horror gem that James Wan could do wonders with. And Taika Waititi might be the only person who could make a Masters of the Universe movie work. Sign me up.


A del Toro Swamp Thing film would be the stuff of dreams.

I would usually be morally opposed to anyone touching a John Waters film, but if anyone has earned the right to try it’s Pedro Almodovar. And a Nicolas Winding Refn re-do of Mommie Dearest is too bizarre and campy a notion for me to resist

In a perfect world, no one would remake Kubrick’s The Shining. But Ari Aster delivered the only two horror films in recent memory to have the same pervasive feeling of dread and deeply unsettling imagery that The Shining had with Hereditary and Midsommar. So yes, I’d be intrigued by this notion. Although, none of the other movies in this tweet are from the ’80s. Just sayin.’

Wait, didn’t we just kind of get this one? Sort of?

It’s very debatable whether the world needs The Goonies remade, but a Wes Anderson version at the very least needs to be a YouTube parody. And Christopher Nolan has been riffing on Blade Runner for so long, he might as well get the chance to remake it.

An Ava DuVernay version of The Color Purple would be very intriguing indeed, and maybe one of the only times I’d endorse someone remaking Spielberg. But Richard Linklater kind of already remade Fast Times at Ridgemont High, he just called it Dazed and Confused.

While I’d rather Jordan Peele create new horror, the idea of a version of They Live from his is a divine notion. Also Mike Flanagan proved he’s the right guy to tackle the classic ghost story of The Changeling after the brilliance of The Haunting of Hill House.

Of course, there is always one smart Alec in the bunch.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures