Remake Podcast Notes

What country and era each version made in and what impact this might have on each of the way the versions where made.

·       Anthony Zimmer – France 2005

·       Tourist – USA 2010

·       As these era’s were quite close to each other, this would give very little impact on how technically different they are. For example the technology, social and political issues and celebrities would be fairly similar. The main impact on the way each version was made was the country; As France isn’t as prominent in the film industry for popular films, they were already at a disadvantage.

What the budgets were of each version and how this might impact production.

·       Anthony Zimmer €11.16 million ($15.11 million)

·       Tourist $100 million

·       This would’ve had a huge impact on the production, The tourist had over 6 times as much budget so they can produce a better quality film, with superior crew and cast compared to Anthony Zimmer.

Are the intended audiences for each version the same?

·       Anthony Zimmer – 30-50 mixed

·       Tourist – 18-40 women

·       Anthony Zimmer has a slightly older target audience, this is due to the context, being more suited to and older audience and the actors that aren’t as mainstream as the actors from the tourist which younger people have grown up with and may aspire to be. The tourist also focuses more on the love story as well as the action to gain a younger, wider target audience. This romance aspect also is more targeted at women

Were there any other successful films that made have had an impact on the production of this remake?

·       There weren’t too many films that would have had a big effect on Anthony Zimmy because it was a pretty small production, however there were a few films such a the kings speech, The chronicles of Narnia and Black swan which were realeased at similar times as The Tourist, making these in competition for sales. Also Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows was released a few weeks before and still would be a huge Christmas hit, impacting the box of sale of the Tourist.

What social or political issues were going on at the time of each version?

·       Anthony Zimmer – State of emergency in lower suburbs

·       Tourist – Unemployment

·       Around the time these films were released, both countries were going through various financial issues, this makes selling a film harder because people are buying and going to see films as much as they have less disposable income.   

Were the reasons for the remake artistic or financial?

·       The orginal was already quite artistic, coming from the French film industry who are more interested in the artistic aspect from the financial, the US knew that they would struggle to compete with the Artistic nature of the French so the main reason was financial. Casting famous well known actors was a clear sign that they had money and wanted to make money.

How was each version marketed?

·       Anthony Zimmer - Studio Canal

·       Tourist – Columbia Picture, Spyglass Entertainment

·       Anthony Zimmer was marketed by one French studio where as the Tourist was marketed through 2 large American companies. Anothny Zimmer was first marketed in france through the typical low budget films such as online marketing and a some poster. The tourist has a larger marketing campaign through the US and the UK, with tv trailers, city billboards and other similar conventions.

How did production and distribution technology impact on the production of each version?

·       Anthony Zimmer – lower technology, big impact

·       Tourist – better technology, smaller impact

·       Having poorer production and distribution technology would have a greater impact on the production because they didn’t have the financial aid to use as greater tech and a higher budget film would

How was news of the remake/reboot received by modern audiences? 

·       Quite a lot of people were actually unaware that the tourist was a remake and if they knew it was a remake they probably hadn’t watched Anthony Zimmer. Without comparing it to the original, the general public received it fairly poorly with the slow paces storylines with famous stars Jolie and Depp who played a relatively ‘normal, boring character’ receiving only 42% on rotten tomatoes. From critics it was even poorly received at 20% calling it a ‘Predictable Hollywood flop’

How did modern audiences respond to the new version once it had been released?

·       People who had heard and watch Anothny Zimmer were highly anticipating the remake, it received 63% on rotton tomatoes which is fairly high. The audience were looking forward to a bigger budget, more Hollywood style film with stars, however the poor adaptation of the storyline left the audience disappointed with the remake