Hollywood hearts gender swap remakes.
Why? The phrase has the word “remake” in it, for starters. The industry sees remakes as safe bets, and that has some wisdom to it.
Nostalgia, plus the curiosity factor, brings out at least a small audience, guaranteed.
Plus, when the industry isn’t ignoring women over 40 or demanding starlets lose every ounce of viewable fat, it loves to promote female empowerment.
Unless your last name happens to be Carano, of course.
There’s still a problem with the industry’s love affair with gender swap projects. They very often flop either creatively, commercially, or both.
The 2018 hit “Ocean’s Eight” is a stark exception, although the film has yet to spark a sequel to date. Even that fizzy remake made less than the previous “Ocean’s Eleven,” itself a reboot of the 1960 model starring Frank Sinatra.
The following six gender swap remakes proved far less successful. Some were downright disastrous. None made the kind of money Hollywood craves when it cranks up the remake machine.
“The Hustle”
It’s only fitting to start with the worst of the worst. This remake of a remake (“Bedtime Story”) starred Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, ostensibly standing in for Michael Caine and Steve Martin from 1988’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”
What a great name for a movie, by the way.
“The Hustle” starts with the kind of flop-sweat opener that portends creative doom. And the rest of the movie didn’t disappoint, at least from that perspective. Critics savaged the film (13 percent “rotten” on RottenTomatoes.com), and rightly so. “The Hustle,” which flirted with woke attitudes before the film’s merciful conclusion, made just $35 million at the U.S. box office.
It’s a classic case of a remake stranding two genuinely talented stars.
“Ghostbusters”
On paper, this 2016 remake/reboot/reimagining scored serious coin — $125 million domestically. The problem? That’s chump change for beloved properties like “Ghostbusters,” and the film’s hefty price tag meant it had to crank out far more to turn a profit. As is? The film reportedly cost its studio, Sony, a not-so-cool $70 million and temporarily stalled the franchise.
The so-called “Lady Ghostbusters” did squeeze in cameos from original stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts, playing new characters who barely registered on screen. But the bad blood began when Sony and co. leaned into the film’s feminist trappings.
It got worse when the limp trailer dropped, confirming the project was more about pseudo grrrl power than telling a hilarious story.
The movie’s public image tanked after its release, forcing Sony to lick its woke wounds and serve up another “Ghost” story, the upcoming “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” with little (or no?) creative ties to the gender swap dud.
“Overboard”
The 1987 comedy “Overboard” didn’t set the culture, or the box office, ablaze. It was a rare chance to see off-screen partners Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell bond on the big screen. The film earned a loyal flock of fans since then, which clearly made Hollywood think a remake was in order.
Naturally, that meant flipping the genders around so that the stuffy rich lady/villain was now a man (Eugenio Derbez), with our sympathies centered on the female lead (Anna Faris).
Once again, critics thrashed the remake (24 percent “rotten”) and the box office proved modestly better — $50 million in pre-pandemic figures.
Modern culture writers found the original “Overboard” problematic – Russell’s character treats Hawn’s snob like an indentured servant at times, for starters. The remake couldn’t even play the woke card right, according to The Daily Telegraph, which said it “manages to feel far more dated, regressive and stale than the film it’s based on.”
“High Fidelity”
John Cusack’s 2000 rom-com, based on Nick Hornby’s novel of the same name, made the main character’s music obsessions part of the fun. Cusack’s record shop owner may technically be an adult with real world issues, but his passions felt like those of a teenager refusing to grow up.
Hulu took that template and made the main character a woman with her own relationship woes. Cusack may be handsome, but he played up his hangdog appeal for the original feature. That seemed more challenging for Hulu’s version, featuring the lovely Zoe Kravitz as the romantically lost lead.
The show earned solid reviews, which could be due to its feminist underpinnings (modern critics routinely grade content on a progressive curve), but Hulu pulled the plug on the show after just one season.
“Life of the Party”
What happened to Melissa McCarthy? The “Bridesmaids” scene stealer went from box office superstar to someone scrambling to find scripts worthy of her talents.
That proved true, again, with this quasi-remake of “Back to School.” That 1986 comedy gave Rodney Dangerfield his greatest screen role, and he made the very most of it. McCarthy’s 2018 quasi-remake, alas, strains to match the original’s whimsy or naughty nature.
“Maybe you can help me straighten out my Longfellow?”
“Party’s” $52 million box office haul isn’t bad, but the 38 percent “rotten” score and the film’s lack of memorable moments sure are. The film’s soft ticket haul coincided with McCarthy’s box office tailspin.
The actress’ films (like “Spy,” “The Heat” and “Identity Thief”) used to crush the $100 million box office barrier. No longer.
“What Men Want”
Mel Gibson’s 2000 comedy made a shocking $182 million, a huge figure both then and now. It helped that the movie played off of Gibson’s alpha male screen persona, following a rapscallion who suddenly had the power to read women’s minds.
He became a better, more evolved man as a result. The gimmick worked.
The remake cast Taraji P. Henson in the main role, a hard-charging executive who suddenly can hear what men are thinking. The film lacked the spark of the original, but it did throw in talking points about women’s struggles in the workplace.
The remake earned $54 million. That’s not terrible, but it’s nearly a quarter of the original’s haul 21 years after the fact.
Still need a reason to stop the gender remake brigade? Here’s the Independent offering just that.
At their worst, they demonstrate the film and television industry’s cynical profiteering from contemporary feminist ideals.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.