‘Pet Sematary’: Inside Hollywood’s reboots and remakes

Have mercy on us all because the live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp was willed into existence and it was as terrible as we thought it would be. Film Daily believes that Difficult People leads Julie Klausner & Billy Eichner would have improved things if they were cast as the titular characters of this nightmare, but that’s just our fanciful opinion.

Lady and the Tramp is not the only remake that has let us down in recent years. We have been subjected to horrific takes on beloved properties like Alice in Wonderland, Charlie’s Angels, and some could even argue Star Wars! Here’s a rundown of the remakes that have disappointed us the most.

Men in Black: International

If you felt less than excited about the Men in Black reboot from producer Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One) and director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job), then you were absolutely justified. Men in Black: International was a trainwreck of a movie, as it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a subtle spoof of the tone of the originals or a mediocre, modern blockbuster. It ended up being both.

Perennial goddess Tessa Thompson tried her best, but her chemistry with Thor: Ragnarok co-star Chris Hemsworth was lacking. It felt like the two stars were forced to sift through daily rewrites, none of which had any good jokes. The only bright side to this abysmal remake is that it flopped hard, meaning the cast will be able to embark on films that are actually worth their time.

Maniac Cop set to go crazy again. At some point. Maybe.

Despite having been in development since 2012 – and recently assumed to have been smartly abandoned – cult exploitation flick Maniac Cop is apparently still being remade according to director John Hyams (All Square). Nicolas Winding Refn (Only God Forgives) is also still attached to produce and will hopefully ensure all the world’s neon supplies are in place to make the movie suitably incandescent.

According to Hyams, the movie is still creaking on and Refn is cheering for its production. “We’ve been working on it for a few years now, with some starts and stops. But it is going to happen. Right now, Nic Refn, our producer, who is an amazing filmmaker and a really great guy – he’s stuck by me this whole time and hasn’t let up, which I’m deeply thankful for and inspired by – is getting everything set.” So that’s a relief!

Pet Sematary

Because this has now become Stephen King’s world (and we’re all just renting a plot), y’all can now stream the Pet Sematary remake from Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes) & Kevin Kolsch (Holidays).

Pet Sematary is pretty much King’s dark night of the soul – pretty epic for a guy that deals in horrifying details for a living. It’s so grim the gothic writer almost considered not publishing it. This movie is just a pointless reboot of the Mary Lambert 1989 version, which had its flaws but managed to ring a cult classic out of the morbid source material.

The remake stars Jason Clarke, an actor who is perpetually being cast in terrible projects, as a grieving father driven to make horrible choices. There are a few decent scares, but the film is so desperate to be its own thing that it does away with the highlights of the original in favor of “subversive twists”.

Andy Muschietti, the director of the It films, previously expressed interest in remaking Pet Sematary, so there’s still hope that we get a classic version someday. Muschietti nailed the bizarre tone of King’s books with the It franchise, so the odds are good that he can spice up this otherwise flatlined property.