MovieChat Forums > What's Up, Doc? (1972) Discussion > Isn't It Time for a Remake?? - Here's a ...

Isn't It Time for a Remake?? - Here's a 2006 Cast ...

posted 18 years ago by whickman1
82 replies | jump to latest

Barbra Streisand .... Judy Maxwell - Kathy Griffin
Ryan O'Neal .... Dr. Howard Bannister - Jim Carrey or Nicolas Cage
Madeline Kahn .... Eunice Burns - Lisa Kudrow
Kenneth Mars .... Hugh Simon - John Michael Higgins
Austin Pendleton .... Frederick Larrabee - Nathan Lane
Michael Murphy .... Mr. Smith - Will Ferrell
Philip Roth .... Mr. Jones (as Phil Roth) - Brad Garrett
Sorrell Booke .... Harry - Jason Alexander
Stefan Gierasch .... Fritz - Eugene Levy
Mabel Albertson .... Mrs. Van Hoskins - Catherine O'Hara
Liam Dunn .... Judge Maxwell - J.K. Simmons
John Hillerman .... Mr. Kaltenborn - Patrick Stewart
George Morfogen .... Rudy, the Headwaiter - Angela Kinsey
Graham Jarvis .... Bailiff - Colin Mochrie
Randy Quaid .... Professor Hosquith - Rainn Wilson

The remake wouldn't have to follow the 1972 plot exactly. Indeed, the 1972 production was a remake of "Bringing Up Baby" from 1938. It was 34 years from "Brining Up Baby" to "What's Up Doc?" and it will be exactly 34 years from "What's Up Doc?" to 2006. It is time.

[–] LordLustworthy 17 years ago

NO!

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Enough with the remakes already!! Bad enough they got their mitts on The Heartbreak Kid and Yours Mine and Ours! Leave the good movies alone, find a crappy one that actually needs retooling or come up with something original.

"They're all gonna laugh at you! They're all gonna laugh at you!

[–] sgtagee555 17 years ago

Dump Kathy Griffin. She's not funny, nor is she a good actress. I like the Jim Carrey in the Bannister part. I love the rest of the cast ideas you have. Lisa Kudrow would be GREAT as Eunice Burns.

[–] samuraivaletservice 17 years ago

Here's a twist. Switch the male and female leads, and make Tina Fey the Grant part (glasses connection to original). Then you'd need a Jim Carrey type to be the wild original Hepburn part...

[–] GoGoGadgetFilm 16 years ago

wow. the fact that people think there's ever a "time" for a remake... the fact that people would actually back a remake of this movie with people like lisa kudrow or jim carrey or anyone else who was mentioned in ANY of the parts... it all makes it so clear why movies are so terrible these days. the responses in this thread prove that it's not because hollywood is churning out more crap. it's because today's audiences know nothing about what a good movie is and hollywood is just following suit. thank goodness for those who posted here that actually see the absurdity in this entire thread.

[–] shelton_k 17 years ago

*lol* I think Jim Carrey would be PERFECT for the part of Howard. :)

[–] bunny226622 16 years ago

I agree with LordLustworthy. NO, NO, NO, PLEASE! Remakes predominantly suck. You know what movies need remakes? The ones that need improvement, not the ones that are perfect the way they are.

[–] keljor-1 16 years ago

Nahhh, no remake necessary. We'd only be disappointed. Couldn't believe how funny this movie still is after 36 years. Credit that first and foremost to the credited screenwriters Buck Henry, David Newman & Robert Benton (who wrote Bonnie and Clyde!) and of course Bogdanovich, who kept everything clipping along. Very hard to direct a screwball farce like this piecemeal over a couple of months and trust that it all can be edited together to work as hilariously as it does in this film. Natch, the performances are terrific too, with Streisand sublimely effortless demonstrating topflight quickwitted comic chops. Hard to believe she thought this would bomb before it was released. And Liam Dunn... definite echoes of his tour de force performance in Larry Bryggman's performance as the wacked out judge in David Mamet's play ROMANCE at the Atlantic Theater Company in NYC in 2005.

[–] madden-2 16 years ago

Why, in God's Name, would one want to remake this film? In what way is it wanting? How would it be improved?

Perhaps we should consider the long overdue remake of that tired warhorse, "Casablanca"--this time with real stars and a better supporting cast. Or maybe "Some Like It Hot", with funnier actors, wittier dialog and more dynamic direction.

One real possibility would be a Broadway musical version. The sad, sad state of the Great White Way makes it a perfect venue for an insipid, pale adaptation. I offer the idea to Andrew Lloyd Webber without fee. He hasn't ripped off any old Hollywood chestnuts for a few years, now.

[–] hermwalt 16 years ago

[sarcasm] When will they remake The Lord Of The Rings? [e/sarcasm]

[–] snowflakebound 16 years ago

This film can never be remade, it is too wonderful. Plus because are in more "modern times" there would be a lot more dirty jokes that would ruin the idea of slapstick comedy. Airplane is a perfect example of that, dirty jokes mixed with genuine humor and that came out only 8 years after this film did.

[–] tuttt 15 years ago

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Teresa
http://MermaidLady.com

[–] Jakezen 8 years ago

Your response is perfect! I could not have said it any better.

[–] dammmitdoll2k2 14 years ago

I recently watched "What's Up, Doc?" after not having seen it since I was a kid in the 70s. It just could not be remade today as is. Even in a zany screwball comedy, there has to be some plausibility. If a character like Judy Maxwell just decided to worm her way in to Howard Bannister's life, and insist on calling him by another name, he'd have her arrested for stalking and get a restraining order against her, or she'd be picked up for trespassing and likely mentally evaluated. Eunice could have had Judy charged with false impersonation or identity theft. Being followed around by a strange, albeit kooky and adorable, woman is not funny anymore in a "Fatal Attraction" world. The scene where Harry gives Mrs. Van Hoskins a beatdown in the hotel probably wouldn't go over too well with today's audiences either. Also, with cell phones and surveillance technology, a lot of the gags involving missed/mixed messages and switched cases just wouldn't play in the 21st century.

If "What's Up, Doc?" were to be remade today, it would have to be totally rewritten so as to be believable in the times we now live in. Not to rain on your parade if you happen to love this movie, but I don't think audiences would buy it in the 21st century. Even in comedy, there must be logic and believability. The world is a less innocent place than it was in 1972 and it's nearly impossible to suspend disbelief that much.

[–] gtbarker 13 years ago

Yeah surely it's time they made yet another pointless and far worse than the original remake..