IN WITH THE OLD…
Why blasts from the past are providing the best TV of the year
The word “reboot” might sound like something you do to a dodgy old computer, but it’s also the TV buzzword of 2024. Netflix’s adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel One Day, which was first turned into a film in 2011; Prime Video’s new take on the 2005 blockbuster Mr & Mrs Smith; and the new black-and-white reimagining of The Talented Mr Ripley on Netflix, now just called Ripley, offer just a few examples. And far from rehashing tired stories we’ve heard before, they are proof that this is the year of the reboot, and we should all be paying attention.
DÉJÀ VU ERA
One Day, Mean Girls, Road House, Ripley, Mr & Mrs Smith and even the BBC’S revival of the ’90s game show Gladiators are some of the biggest films and TV shows of the year so far. Evidently, there’s a strong appeal for creators, streaming executives, and audiences to invest in things we’ve seen and heard before. But that doesn’t mean it’s the lazy, easy, or even the boring option – in fact it’s often the opposite. heat ’s very own TV expert Boyd Hilton agrees. “Some of the very best TV shows and films of the year so far have been remakes, which only proves it’s misguided to assume brand-new stuff is somehow inherently better than reboots and reimaginings,” he says. “In fact, I reckon writers and directors work even harder to make new versions of existing stories because the pressure’s on to prove that remakes aren’t just the lazy option.”
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
One Day is a perfect example. It’s been in Netflix’s Top 10 since it aired on 8 February, was watched by more than 15million people in the first ten days (including Kim Kardashian), and #Oneday has received more than five billion views on Tiktok. Why? Because it’s a brilliant series.
David Nicholls, who wrote the 2009 book and executive produced the series, has been taken aback by the response from new fans – fans who may have easily skipped the (lightly disappointing) 2011 film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.
He’s said, “I was writing the book for my generation. Now, my daughter comes in from school and tells me her friends are watching and falling in love with Dexter and Emma, even though their story is receding further into the past. That’s really thrilling.” The new script is sharp, the cast is diverse, and the producers had 14 episodes to play with instead of 107 minutes
– proving that sometimes remakes actively encourage improvement.
Similarly, Prime Video’s adaptation of Mr & Mrs Smith has scored an impressive 90 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and received mostly four- and five-star reviews. Donald Glover, who created and stars in the series, even admitted that he “low-key f**king hates reboots”, but saw something hidden in the 2005 Brangelina blockbuster that was worth a second attempt. “When I saw the first one, I was like, ‘Oh, this is about loneliness’. I thought this was a good way to show long-term loneliness and why people still fall in love,” he said. “Eight episodes is good, you can’t do that in a movie.”
Then there’s Netflix’s Ripley. It’s from Steve Zaillian, the writer of Schindler’s List, indicating a quality show before it even hit the small screen. The monochrome reboot comes 25 years after the original film, and follows an entirely different creative vision with Andrew Scott in the lead role. Unsurprisingly, it’s another book-to-filmto-series pipeline success that proves no story is too good to tell twice.
THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
If 2024 has taught us anything, it’s that for reboots to stand out and add value, they need to breathe new life into something we’ve seen before, or entirely reimagine a story that didn’t quite work the first time around (with bonus points for doing both).
One Day is a great story that was waiting to be fleshed out. The thrilling Mr & Mrs Smith strays so far from the 2005 film that it’s similar only in name. And Ripley offers a classy retelling of Patricia Highsmith’s book that teases out the horror of the story in a whole new way.
If all that’s not enough to restore reboots’ reputation, then we’re not sure what is. n
‘Remakes are not just the lazy option’