Describing a remake as “unnecessary” or a “cash grab” is incredibly banal; a hack criticism. Of course it’s an unnecessary cash grab, it’s a movie. I also think it’s easy and unoriginal to spout knee-jerk negativity and vitriol at a remake, though I consciously have to fight the impulse to do so.
Of course Audition is a classic. It’s nothing short of amazing. The likelihood that someone else could adapt it with similar results is pretty low. But there’s no reason for me to get all bent out of shape just because Mario Kassar is getting Richard Gray (director of the as-yet-unreleased The Lookalike) to write and direct a new Audition. Deadline even says the usual claptrap that they’re re-adapting the original novel. But y’know what? I ain’t mad. Why should I be? No matter how this remake turns out, we’ll always have Takashi Miike’s wonderfully depraved Audition.
The remake begins production this fall, and I hope they have fun making it. Fuck it, I hope it turns out okay. After all, I review films. I should want them to be good.