One of the best lines from The Quick and the Dead is said by The Kid, played by a young Leonardo DiCaprio, when he asked this question after he won his duel, “Is it possible? Is it possible to improve on perfection?”
And the answer is no, but that won’t stop a hack, creative fatigued Hollywood from trying. Even with a series of failed remakes behind them, the remake train continues to chug along, this time aimed at what some consider the greatest movie of all time.
As reported by Screen Rant:
“In some concerning news, Stephen King is terminating the Warner Bros. copyright license for The Shawshank Redemption. This doesn’t mean that a new version is on the way, but it does open up the idea that a new movie or TV series could be coming in the form of a remake.”
And they give a reason why this is concerning:
“The report also indicates that King is “very aggressive” about his terminations because there is still a large market for adaptations of his books.”
And King is not wrong. Nearly all of his stories have been remade in recent years: IT, The Stand, Carrie, Pet Semetary, and a new Running Man is on the way. But no one actually has had the cajones to touch the Frank Darabont made Stephen King movies like The Green Mile, The Mist, and, of course, The Shawshank Redemption.
You know when even Screen Rant is concerned that a remake of this classic movie is a bad idea. Yet, as Hollywood becomes more creatively bankrupt, it’s not beyond the pale of imagination that they will try. And this will be career suicide for whoever signs on to play the iconic roles of Andy and Red. Like I mentioned before, you can’t improve upon perfection and there is no part of the original The Shawshank Redemption that can be improved upon.
Even the side characters like William Sadler’s Heywood, Clancy Browns’ Captain Hadley and James Whitemore’s Brooks Hatlen put on performances that can’t be matched by modern Hollywood. Unless they get Daniel Day-Lewis to play every role. Hopefully this stays a rumor and not reality. Nothing can stain the original movies prestige, but when you come at the king you better not miss. A The Shawshank Redemption remake is a guaranteed miss.
WCBS does a great job explaining why this is not a good idea.
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