Army Archerd finds it "hard to believe" that on two successive nights in Westwood two 2005 remakes
of "vintage pix were preemed." — CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN and FUN WITH DICK AND JANE. I don’t know why he’s so shocked. YOURS MINE AND OURS opened a couple weeks ago and KING KONG is opening soon. And in coming weeks, we’ll see movie remakes of vintage TV shows, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and MIAMI VICE. And the studios wonder why movie going is declining… so much of what’s being released is either stuff we’ve seen before or don’t want to see at all.
And I had no clue that DICK AND JANE was a remake at all until a couple weeks ago.
It’s worth mentioning–or maybe it isn’t–that “Cheaper By the Dozen 2” isn’t a shitty remake but a shitty sequel to a shitty remake. The original sequel to the original “Cheaper” had Clifton Webb’s father character pass away, with Myrna Loy struggling along as a widow. I’d like to see the studio with balls enough to bump off father-of-twelve Steve Martin in a comedy.
(Incidentally, with “Cheaper” and “Yours Mine and Ours” so profitable, does anyone know who controls the rights to “With Six You Get Eggroll?”)