News culture There are 24 remakes of this film and yet few people know about it. Why not a Hollywood remake? There’s a reason for that
This film holds a world record: it is the feature film that has ever been the subject of the most remakes! While there is a French version, an American version has never seen the light of day, and there is an obvious reason for this.
If gamers complain about remakes, the world of cinema has long accustomed viewers to this practice. From the 1960s onwards, there were numerous films that picked up the exact plot of an earlier feature film by simply changing actors and directors. The practice is therefore not new, although today we complain the most. However, there are certain productions that have even had several remakes. This is the case of this film, which holds the world record with more than 20 different versions. And the worst part is that he’s not even ten years old!
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24 different versions of the same film
Published in 2016, Perfect strangers (Perfect Strangers in Italian) is an Italian comedy film written and directed by Paolo Genovese. On the occasion of a solar eclipse, Eva and Rocco invite their long-time friends to dinner. During the aperitif, the discussion turns to the mention that a few friends recently broke up after a deception was exposed through a text message. Then the dinner party realizes that phones have become our black box and wonders how many couples would break up if everyone had access to each other’s phones. The hostess suggests playing the game of truth for the evening: everyone puts their phone on the table and all incoming conversations, messages or calls are read and listened to by everyone.. And obviously this isn’t going to go as planned.
On paper the scenario is rather simple, but interesting in terms of our relationships via mobile phones and the consequences this can have for the couple. Thanks to this idea, The film won numerous awards in Italy and internationallyincluding the David di Donatello for best film in 2016. However, if Perfect strangers is known beyond the borders of Italy for this reason: It holds the Guinness World Record for the film with the most remakes of all time! There are currently more than 24 different versions of the film, be it in Europe (Europe, Germany, Greece…), in Asia (India, Japan, Vietnam…) or in America (Mexico…). Apparently, There is a French version called The game in which we find a cast including Bénérice Bejo, Vincent Elbaz, Roschdy Zem, Stéphane De Groodt… And yet there is no Hollywood-produced version. For what ?
An American remake that is not yet ready to see the light of day
Instead of adding subtitles to foreign films, We know that American audiences prefer to see remakes of international hits. We remember this, for example Inviolable had become The advantage in the US with Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman in the cast, while the Korean film parasite must also have an American adaptation. Apparently, Perfect strangers should have been entitled to the same treatment, but that won’t happen for one simple reason: the rights to the adaptation were acquired by the Weinstein Company. However, as everyone knows, the studio collapsed after its founder, Harvey Weinstein, suffered first allegations and then convictions of sexual violence. This is the draft of the American version of Perfect strangers appears to be stalled indefinitely.
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