Don’t Look Now remake: Why Hollywood keeps resorting to reboots
Don't Look Now, the 1976 horror film, is the latest classic film to get a modern makeover.
The spooky psychological thriller, directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of all time and is widely regarded as a classic of the genre.
A new version of the film will be produced by StudioCanal, the maker of the hugely successful Paddington film, with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman helming the project.
Rona has previously worked on films such as Scary Movie 3 and Dracula 2001, and collaborated with Heineman on teen comedy Project X and Liam Neeson vehicle Non-Stop. The pair are currently attached to a remake of John Carpenter's much-loved 1981 film Escape From New York.
The style and tone of Don't Look Now's reboot is still a way off with a writer, director and cast to be named, yet that is unlikely to quell movie buffs' concerns over yet another remake of a treasured film.
Read more: Why a return to a classic franchise isn't always bad news for film fans
With studios becoming increasingly risk-averse when it comes to new movie concepts, remakes of previous successes represent a safer bet. Well over 100 remakes have been theatrically released since 2003, with horror a particular popular option. Since the turn of the century 52 remakes of horror films have been released, generating an average box office take of $34.5m (£22.5m)
Other genres have enjoyed even better box office returns, such as action ($56m across 18 films), adventure ($81.7m across 12 films), comedy ($47.7m across 35 films), family ($71.4m across 19 films), sci-fi ($91.2m across 14 films).
When you consider that over the past five years, the average box office take for all films has only once (back in 2009) surpassed $20m, it's not hard to see why studios keep returning to well-trodden ground.