REMAKE ISSUES

[nganok]

Recently I got the idea to do a remake of Cinema Paradiso - (older Italian Film) but make it more current using the same basic storyline. What legal hurdles could I expect.

[GonnaBeFamous]

Sounds like a drama. Drama's don't sell in the spec script and they won't get you an agent. Ditch it and you'll solve two problems.

[NikeeGoddess]

why bother with hurdles?! no one will think you as creative by americanizing a foreign flick. take what you like (maybe the edited clips from various flicks on the floor) from Cinema Paradisio and run with it but, ditch the idea of using the storyline. that's what Tarantino does and look how successful he is.

[Joe Calabrese]

I agree and disagree to various points.

A well written and compelling drama will get you noticed (look at Finding Forester) by an agent. Yes, it is much harder/near impossible to sell as a spec script (most dramas are adaptation of novels, plays, real life events and/or written by established persons), but can be a great showcase of your talent if written well and is compelling. If that's your preferred and genre of talent, then go for it.

As for Cinema Paradiso. The concept of a young boy (which was a pseudo biography of the filmmaker, Giuseppe Tornatore.) who falls in love with film and is guided by a mentor type, is a good premise of a coming of age film and can be revisited again and again. I remember a film a few years ago (can't think of the title) about a Chinese boy who becomes his county's first filmmaker when watching Americans make a film and is mentored by one of the crew.

So, if you want to write a story about a young boy coming of age and using film's very basic concept/plot as a backdrop and/or catalyst for change, then go for it.

I would use it as a Nicholl, Austin, Sundance and other competition piece as well as a writing sample of your work for agents.

If you want to make a direct remake of CP then I advise against it, since the rights are hard/near impossible to gain and will always be compared to a great piece of work.

[preyer]

having, i think, answered the question, let me go off on somewhat of a tangent and ask what constitutes a 'remake'? is 'charlie and the chocolate factory' a remake of 'willie wonka'? is it enough to call something a 're-imagining' and escape the 'remake' label as tim burton tried with 'planet of the apes'?

[PsychoticWriter]

Recently I got the idea to do a remake of Cinema Paradiso - (older Italian Film) but make it more current using the same basic storyline. What legal hurdles could I expect.

If you plan to keep the entire story line exactly as it is, as well as all the original characters then i think you have to purchase the rights to the original source material from either the studio that made the film, or the screenwriter or novelist who originally wrote the story. It depends on who still own the rights.