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About That Popular 'Black Films Don't Sell ...5 Other Suitable Past Dramas That Lifetime Could Remake With All-Black Casts
Eactly a week ago, the big news was that the all-black remake of Steel Magnolias drew 6.5 million viewers on average, making it the 3th most-watched Lifetime telecast ever! EVER!
So with that kind of success, you shouldn't at all be surprised if there are more of these all-black remakes of past films that initially starred white people, since that kind of short-sighted thinking is common in this industry.
I haven't heard any rumblings yet, so I did a little digging of my own, to come up with a list of some other past classic titles that Lifetime could be looking to remake with all-black casts. Needless to say, these are all films that would fit Lifetime's style and target audience.
And just for fun, you guys can play producer and help me cast each one; who knows, someone at Lifetime could be reading this, and maybe your enthusiasm (or lack thereof) for any of these films as all-black remakes, as well as your suggestions, might actually be of influence... or maybe not.
Humor me!
After sorting through countless films released over the last 25 years or so, here are 5 titles I settled on.
1. Fried Green Tomatoes - the 1991 comedy-drama (itself based on a novel), which starred Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mary-Louise Parker. It tells the story of a Depression-era friendship between two women, Ruth and Idgie, and a 1980s friendship between Evelyn, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny, an elderly woman who knew Ruth and Idgie. The centerpiece and parallel story concerns the murder of Ruth's abusive husband and the accusations that follow. It was nominated for two Academy Awards.
2. Terms of Endearment - the 1983 drama (also based on a novel) starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson. It covers thirty years of the relationship between Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Winger). The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress for Shirley MacLaine, Best Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson, and four Golden Globes.
3. How to Make an American Quilt - the 1995 movie (also based on a novel) which starred Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn, Anne Bancroft, Maya Angelou, and Alfre Woodard, and centers of bride-to-be Finn Dodd (Ryder) who hears tales of romance and sorrow from her elders as they construct a quilt. This one costars 2 black actresses, so we could put an asterisk next to it.
4. The First Wives Club - the 1996 comedy (based on the best-selling 1992 novel) that starred Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler as three divorced women who seek revenge on their ex-husbands who left them for younger women. Sarah Jessica Parker, Marcia Gay Harden and Elizabeth Berkley co-star as the younger women. It was nominated for an Academy Award as well.
5. Beaches - the 1988 comedy-drama (based on a novel) that starred Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. In the film, a privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. The film's theme song, Wind Beneath My Wings, won Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1990. It also was nominated for an Academy Award.
That's it!
It's actually a coincidence that these were all based on novels; I wasn't intentionally looking for films adapted from novels.
Steel Magnolias was adapted from a play, not a novel.
So, if you were a producer commissioned by Lifetime to package another past woman-centered drama with an all-black cast, which of these would you consider? And secondly, how would you cast it?
Or if there are other titles that you think Lifetime could be considering, feel free to list those.
12 Comments
Nadell | October 18, 2012 2:32 AM
Possibly good ideas but I would hope this doesn't become a trend. How would folks feel about there being an all-white cast for "THE COLOR PURPLE", "WAITING TO EXHALE", 'SOUL FOOD", "BOOMERANG" or "LOVE JONES"?
dee | October 16, 2012 3:29 PM
Please NO, STOP ....I would like to think we are more creative than to remake white-cast movies...Its being to look like a minstrel show..sorry
Mack | October 16, 2012 12:32 AM
Enough with the all-black remakes. Seriously! I'm black and don't feel the need to remake white films and stories with all-black or multi-racial casts. It's totally redundant. And am I the only one who thinks that all hell would break loose if the reverse were to happen? Imagine "The Color Purple" with an all-white cast? How about Meryl Streep in a remake of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman"? Michelle Pfeiffer as Harriet Tubman?! And guess what, back in the mid-1990s, Pfeiffer was actually presented with an offer to play Tubman in a film that was in development at Disney (that naturally stalled) by an executive who is best described as a complete idiot. There are so many books and stories out there that are primed for big screen and small screen treatment that it makes no sense that this trend is picking up steam. And as much as I love the ladies in Lifetime's "Steel Magnolias" remake, you know it's bad when they all were upstaged by a movie-elevating performance delivered by Aunjanue Ellis in a formulaic ripped-from-the-headlines TV pic that aired the same weekend. The remake paled so much in comparison to the original 1989 film, it's not even funny. Just imagine what they could have done with an original piece of material instead that hadn't already been done to cult status perfection?
mantan | October 15, 2012 8:06 PM
i agree with saadiyah who agreed with jay & donella, make new films off books or screenplays that haven't been adapted already!! even though i'm not a fan of street lit i think some of them could be done pretty well.
i also wouldn't mind seeing of toni morrison's books adapted as well, but those are pretty ambitious for lifetime though.
Chance | October 15, 2012 7:41 PM
Let's be real. Kenny Leon was going to bring Cat On a Hot Tin Roof to the screen similar to the way he did A Raisin in the Sun. Anika (or Sanaa), Terrence, James Earle Jones and Phylicia... That would be amazing.
Or they can finally jump on that remake of The Wiz...
saadiyah | October 15, 2012 3:37 PM
I agree with Jay and Donella. Either create something original or use a good story already written about Black men and women that hasn't been adapted to the screen yet. There are many of them out there. If Lifetime (or any other cable channel) wants to take risks, there is also a ton of "street lit" to choose from that might be interesting to a wider audience.
chez | October 15, 2012 2:01 PM
Beaches and Fried Green Tomatoes are on my list of faves. I don't want to see any remake black, white, asian, or anything else.
And the Steel Magnolias remake was SUPBAR. Awful.
jay | October 15, 2012 1:25 PM
or they could hire black screenwriters and do original all black cast dramas. whatever.
Donella | October 15, 2012 1:07 PM
Octavia Butler's Kindred, since it may not make it to the big screen.