Leonardo Di Caprio, star of Baz Luhrmann's remake of 'The Great Gatsby'

Celeb-spotters are on tenterhooks in New South Wales with the filming of Baz Lurhmann's 'The Great Gatsby' taking place at the moment. Marquee names such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan are part of the cast in the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale. Whilst based around the book, the tale has already seen many incarnations on the silver-screen including a Francis Ford Coppola version in 1974 starring Robert Redford. Luhrmann's film is one of many currently in production that highlights a trend engulfing the movie industry.

All over Tinsel-town movie executives have become besotted with the dreaded 'remake'. Original screenplays are being tossed aside in favour of pre-existing movies. The trend appears to fall in to three particular sub-divisions;

- Scour the 80s and 90s for cult childhood films

Movies rumoured to be in production include 'Flight of the Navigator', 'Short Circuit' and 'Gremlins'

- 'Reboot' franchises that have gone stale

Already under the 'reboot' process are 'Spiderman' and 'Superman' and rumours are rife that 'Daredevil' and 'Fantastic Four' will be reworked after initial failures

- Produce English-speaking versions of critically acclaimed foreign films

Granted this is not a modern trend but nonetheless there have been recent examples such as the remake of the Swedish film 'Let the Right One In', 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' and the upcoming remake of Korean classic 'Oldboy'

Special mention must go to the other trend of adding a sequel to a film franchise that has already run its course (think 'Die Hard 4.0', 'Batman & Robin', 'Ocean's Thirteen').

The most ill-fated of sequels, 'Batman & Robin'

Of course it is far too easy to bash remakes as uncouth and uncultured in their execution and refinement. There is the occasional reasoning for such treatment however, particularly when it is clear that the remake is purely about a quick buck. There is plenty of evidence on the contrary that suggests the remake should be tolerated. Without remakes we would be without 'The Departed', 'Scarface' or 'True Grit' and without reboots we wouldn't have 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight'.

There is no doubting that a remake can be executed well, and in special cases it can complement the original. Perhaps the issue at present is the sheer volume being produced is beginning to drown out originality. If we look at the nominees over the past two years for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, of the 20 films there is only one remake ('True Grit') and one sequel ('Toy Story 3'). This tends to show that the films that receive the best reception are the ones with an original concept. A large part of the cinema's attraction is immersing oneself in an original plot and not knowing what is to come. With a remake the plot is to a large degree already mapped out, removing some of the joy that comes with watching.

In short, it is time for Hollywood to pay more attention to original screenplays. If the industry continues to pollute our cinema screens with inferior remakes then they might go the way of the spoof; reaching a crescendo with the likes of 'Airplane!' and 'Austin Powers' to dying a slow and painful death in the shape of films such as the 'Scary Movie' franchise and 'Meet the Spartans'. Remakes have however shown that over the course of time they are more than welcome at the cinema and should not be discouraged.

Inevitable Remakes

Jaws

Home Alone

The Shining

Labyrinth

The Goonies

Blade Runner

Apocalypse Now

and my own personal hope for a remake... 'Weekend at Bernie's'