Remaking and rebooting a film or a franchise is a practice that has grown in popularity in recent years due to the desire of filmmakers to revive the beauty of the original content via the use of contemporary technology in addition to commercial considerations. In 2022, numerous remakes were released, including Death on the Nile and the German Oscar-nominated picture, All Quiet on the Western Front.
When it comes to movies that have received Oscar nominations, Hollywood has been crafting remakes for decades, and some of them are even better than the originals, garnering record nominations at the Academy Awards. There are some incredible movie remakes that have received Oscar noms for Best Picture in the past, and fans should definitely check these out before the 95th Oscar Awards on March 13, 2023.
1 'The Departed' (2006)
Martin Scorsese’s The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs (Original title: Mou Gaan Dou) and partially based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang. The film follows the Irish mob leader Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) who infiltrates the Massachusetts State Police by installing Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as a spy. Simultaneously, the police designate undercover state trooper Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) to penetrate Costello's gang.
The Departed received five nominations in total at the 79th Academy Awards. The film ended up winning 4 out of 5 categories including Best Picture and Best Director for Scorsese. Despite being his most commercial film to date, the movie is undeniably masterful thanks to the fluid camerawork, sophisticated storyline, and beautiful tension.
2 'True Grit' (2010)
True Grit is an adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name and a remake of the 1969 same-title movie. The film follows Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a fourteen-year-old farm girl, who employs Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a drunken and violent lawman, to find Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the bandit who killed her father.
The film earned a total of ten Academy Award nods including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Bridges and Best Supporting Actress for Steinfeld. However, True Grit didn’t take home any wins. Moreover, The Coen brothers' adaptation of the 1969 John Wayne classic shines on its own, with standout performances from the talented cast.
3 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015)
Remade from the 1979 classic film, Mad Max, Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth installment in the franchise which continues to center on the titular character, played by Tom Hardy. The film follows Max as he aids Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) in her rebellious quest against an oppressive tyrant called Immortan Joe, to return to her homeland.
The over-the-top action movie was nominated for 10 categories at the 88th Academy Awards but lost four including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Its six Academy awards were more than any other movie at that year's ceremony and set a new benchmark for an Australian movie's number of wins.
4 'Ben-Hur' (1959)
A remake of the 1925 silent film of the same name, Ben-Hur was adapted from the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. The film is set at the beginning of the first century and follows Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), a prosperous Jewish prince and trader who resides in Jerusalem. But after being betrayed and sold into slavery by a Roman friend, he escapes and returns for retribution.
Ben-Hur garnered 12 Academy Award nominations and won an unprecedented 11 of them including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role as well as Best Cinematography. The film is still regarded as a masterwork of epic filmmaking, a moving expression of religion, and one of the best movies ever created.
5 'Les Misérables' (2012)
2012's Les Misérables is a remake of numerous movie adaptations that comes before it of the 1862 French novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The movie, which is set in early nineteenth-century France, follows the tale of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a parolee who, despite being pursued by the cruel policeman Javert for years, undertakes to look after the daughter of a factory worker.
The nearly three-hour-long movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 2013 including Best Picture which the film, unfortunately, lost to Argo. However, the film still won in three different categories, Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Sound Mixing.
6 'Chicago' (2002)
Chicago is based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name and remade from the 1927 same-title movie as well as Roxie Hart in 1942. The film revolves around Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), two murderers who are imprisoned beside one another in 1920s Chicago while awaiting trial.
Chicago garnered a total of 13 Academy Award nominations including Best Director for Rob Marshall’s directorial debut as well as Best Supporting Actress for Zeta-Jones which she won triumphantly. The film also ended up winning 6 categories including Best Picture, making it the first musical movie to do so since Oliver! in 1968.
7 'The Sound of Music' (1965)
Based on Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers and remade from the 1958 German movie, Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika, The Sound of Music is set in 1938 in Salzburg, Austria, and follows a young Austrian postulant (Julie Andrews), who is assigned to the home of a widowed retired naval officer to be his governess for his seven children.
The Sound of Music received a total of 10 Academy Award nominations and went on to win 5 of them including Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Wise, Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. The film is possibly the best stage musical that has been adapted for the film to date, and undoubtedly the most successful in terms of improvement over the original.
8 'West Side Story' (1961)
Adapted from the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name which was inspired by Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, the 1961 West Side Story is also a remake of the 1936 movie, Romeo and Juliet. The film follows two young people from two opposing juvenile gangs who fight for dominance of the Upper West Side in New York City in 1957, and fall in love. However, the conflicts between their friends spiral out of control and end tragically.
The movie was well-received by audiences and critics and became the highest-grossing film in 1961. West Side Story also earned 11 Academy Award nominations and went on to win 10 of them including Best Picture, becoming the musical with the most wins in record time. Additionally, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins also became the first winners to share a category, Best Director.
9 'My Fair Lady' (1964)
Remade from Pygmalion (1938) and Kitty (1945), My Fair Lady is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion. The film follows Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), a lowly Cockney flower vendor, who overhears Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), a haughty professor of phonetics, casually wagering that he can teach her to speak "correct" English and make her presentable in Edwardian London's high society.
My Fair Lady was a critical and financial triumph, rising to the position of the second-highest-grossing movie of 1964. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and proceeded to win 8 of them including Best Picture, Best Director for George Cukor, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Harrison, and Best Cinematography. The film was ranked as the 91st greatest American picture of all time by the American Film Institute in 1998.
10 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001)
Remade from the 1978 movie of the same name and based on 1954's The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is set in Middle Earth and follows Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and his companions on their quest to destroy the One Ring before it falls into the hands of Dark Lord Sauron.
Both critics and viewers praised the movie, hailing it as a turning point in cinema and a triumph for the fantasy film subgenre. At the 74th Academy Awards, The Fellowship of the Ring was nominated for 13 awards and proceeded to win four including Best Cinematography and Best Makeup. The film lost its Best Picture bid to A Beautiful Mind.