Admittedly I've never read the book but the 1990 film to me is a masterpiece. It's easily obtainable and still pretty timeless so I don't think a remake is needed at all. Also can't imagine anyone coming close to the masterful performances of Kathy Bates and James Caan.

my point exactly!

to remake this and put it side-by-side with contemporary films would be quite a shock to audiences... no thousand cuts a minute, no CGI ghosts with anthropomorphised faces and behaviour, instead you get real tension building, real acting and the horror of something that could happen to anyone!

F*cking April fools...I'm getting old.

How about a sequel?

Misery Rises, or maybe Misery is alive!

I'm not sure about it, I still think I'd prefer a remake or an homage... Like how they made Disturbia with Shia LaBeouf to pay tribute to Hitchock's Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly...

Misery is a masterpiece, my favourite King adaptation. Hard to believe Rob Reiner directed this - why the hell did he devolve into making bland rom-coms when he's capable of utter genius like this and A Few Good Men, alongside his other early gems - Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Stand By Me and When Harry Met Sally ..?

Anyway, no way in hell should they remake this, nor any other great film for that matter. The only remakes necessary are for weak films that could have been improved, or very old adaptations that could benefit from the developments in film technology.

Hollywood's habit of endless remakes is tedious, crass and insulting to films and audiences. Any Hollywood money to be spent on Misery should go toward getting the original re-released in theatres.

So... too soon?

Maybe they should wait another decade before anyone thinks of remaking this? It's only been 27 years.

I agree with you, really hard to believe Rob Reiner directed this... I guess the script and acting was that good...

Ask your friends who are under 30 years old how many of them have seen Misery... I bet you less than a third of them know it exists...

A remake would resurrect Misery... She'd be alive again! ... the film, that is...a new generation will rediscover the original as well...

@Renovatio said:

Ask your friends who are under 30 years old how many of them have seen Misery... I bet you less than a third of them know it exists...

A remake would resurrect Misery... She'd be alive again! ... the film, that is...a new generation will rediscover the original as well...

Simply re-release the original in theatres. No need to waste money on a remake which will be weak at best, garbage at worst, and inevitably destroy the fine reputation of 'Misery'. The habit of remaking films that are still fresh and powerful to modern audiences must stop, instead we should turn peoples' attention back toward the classics and rediscover an appreciation for quality filmmaking.

@mechajutaro said:

@Renovatio said:

my point exactly!

to remake this and put it side-by-side with contemporary films would be quite a shock to audiences... no thousand cuts a minute, no CGI ghosts with anthropomorphised faces and behaviour, instead you get real tension building, real acting and the horror of something that could happen to anyone!

Amen: ever notice the near constant absence of movies featuring heroes in capes, masks, mechanized suits of armor, etc., with plots characterized by clearly delineated "good guys" and "bad guys" whenever one moseys on down to the nearest cinema? Dunno about you all, but I'm fed up with this seemingly insatiable thirst for nuance, depth, and substance that's infected steadily more and more filmgoers every year since 9/11. And don't get me started on the continued marginalization of man boy thespians like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and more recently Skylar Astin and Miles Teller....

Wow, I think we're twins. I cannot stand all this nonplussed, intellectually insulting, coprophagous superhero tripe any longer. I don't mean to insult anyone who likes those films, but dear god, enough is enough. I'm in my mid-40s, and I remember what great film-making was like. Every summer we saw films of original ideas, smart writing, impeccable acting, and gorgeous REAL cinematography (not "touched up" with CGI or whatever). Misery was one of those films one cannot understate. A remake would only do insult to its originality and screenplay adaptation. (A TV series - now there's an idea!). Trust me, today's producers and directors know about films like this, but the studio execs push them toward the superhero garbage to turn a profit. Independent studios make stuff like this on occasion, so that's where you'll find gems like this. You can thank the endless sprawl of multiplexes for all the superhero garbage, trite comedies, and plotless action flicks. I say leave Misery alone, and spread its greatness by word-of-mouth.

Also, wasn't this released the same year as Silence of the Lambs (if not, then it had to be only a year or two different, if I recall)? Silence of the Lambs is also a great flick in this "minimalist horror" type of film making...

I think it works better than the book. The book had to much humor and gore. Even the hobbling scene was better here and very iconic.

I sure hope they never remake it. Not only is it a basically perfect film, but if they ever did remake it they'd likely do exactly what the original film avoids, which is go over the top with the material.

Everyone remembers the "hobbling" scene. Those who have read the book know that in the book, Annie doesn't smash his feet with a sledgehammer, she cuts off one with an axe, slices off one of his thumbs with a knife, and kills a state trooper with a wooden cross and a lawnmower. She also gets Paul hooked to a prescription medication and uses his dependency on it to make him do her bidding.

None of this is in the film. It's a low-key, almost talky adaptation with not much gore and few jump scares--but that's what makes it so effective. If they did a remake of it, it's unlikely they'd show the same restraint.

Who would they cast instead of Bates & Caan?

haha... I like that... I do prefer it when remakes do their own thing and just pay homage to the original, rather than trying to remix the original or just reshoot it...

I don't see the point of remaking this movie, it was pretty faithful to the book with a great standout performance by Kathy Bates, the only thing I think a remake can add is scenes from the novels Annie Wilkes was a fan of.

But anyone who can top Kathy Bates truly is a dirty bird!

No! Absolutely not! Please do not put the idea out there for producers to grab a hold of.