“How will we direct all that energy will be a huge challenge. But I have a lot of hope,” Andrés Wood says
The day Chilean director Andrés Wood went to America to promote his film, “Spider,” which is Chile’s Oscar submission this year, his country erupted in protests amid a massive and violent time of political upheaval.
What started as anger over a surge in the price of subway fare was just the breaking point in the Chilean populace’s frustration with its government over economic inequality. People took to the streets for days, a state of national emergency was declared, and protestors accused the military of using excessive force.
It all echoes the turbulent time depicted in Wood’s film “Spider,” which is set in both the modern-day and the early ’70s, just before Chile’s Marxist president Salvador Allende was deposed in a coup and replaced with the dictator Augusto Pinochet. Watching and discussing the film as part of TheWrap’s Awards and Foreign Screening Series on Wednesday night, Wood said he was shocked how the film has become startlingly more relevant and why it gives him hope for change in Chile.
“I will return tomorrow to another country I think,” Wood told TheWrap at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles. “In a way, I’m very proud the people have reacted to that. The thing is, how will we direct all that energy will be a huge challenge. But I have a lot of hope, even though the way to a new equilibrium, we don’t know exactly how it will be.”
“Spider” is a thriller and love triangle that follows three fascist activists working within an opposition group and committing a political crime with the aim of bringing down President Allende. But, it also flashes forward to see where those people would be today, using its love story to drive the drama across decades. One of the fascists is still hiding out and is leading an anti-immigrant crusade, while the others are wealthy members of Chile’s elite class who benefited from the Pinochet regime even as others were oppressed.
Wood said that the root of the film’s idea came from wondering where these people would be and what’s happening in Chile today. The film began development well before Brexit, before Trump and before Chile’s current political conflict, and Wood has watched the film change in response.
“There’s a group of Chileans that do whatever they can to keep power or keep control,” Wood said. “The film was getting more and more relevant in the present, and that’s something that we always thought. We are writing, and things are changing so fast.”
What’s intriguing about “Spider,” however, is how it finds depth and complexity in dangerous and unlikable people, fascists who were willing to assassinate and manipulate in their drive for power.
Opening this weekend is “The Upside,” an American remake of “The Intouchables,” a film that made so much money in France that it became a cultural event. After earning $166 million in France, the country’s second-highest-grossing film ever, and over $426 million worldwide, an American remake of the film was inevitable. But surprisingly, box office hits abroad don’t always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
STX Entertainment
15. The Tourist (2010) – $67.6 Million
France, “Anthony Zimmer” (2005)
The romance didn’t translate overseas because while audiences were hoping for “The Tourist” to be a steamy thriller from Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp — something the original managed with Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal — critics dismissed it. But that wasn’t the case with audiences and the Golden Globes, who nominated it for Best Picture – Comedy or Musical.
Columbia Pictures
14. Nine Months (1995) – $69.6 Million
France, “Neuf mois” (1994)
This much-loved Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore rom-com about pregnancy started as a French romantic comedy called “Neuf mois,” but it was the remake that took off in America and abroad, grossing $138 million worldwide.
Twentieth Century Fox
13. “Dinner for Schmucks” (2010) – $73.0 Million
France, “Le Diner de Cons” (1998)
The snappy French comedy “Le Diner de Cons,” or “The Dinner Game,” made over $4 million at the domestic box office after releasing in France back in 1998, spawning this less-critically successful remake from Jay Roach starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell.
Paramount
12. “Eight Below” (2006) – $81.6 Million
Japan, “Antarctica” (1983)
Both “Antarctica” and “Eight Below” were big box office hits. How could a survival story about eight huskies not be? But while “Eight Below” is a Disney-fied and whitewashed version of the story, the Japanese film hews closer to a real-life ill-fated rescue mission from the ’50s. “Antarctica” also held the box office record in Japan until the release of “Princess Mononoke” in 1997.
Walt Disney Pictures
11. “Vanilla Sky” (2001) – $100.6 Million
Spain, “Abre Los Ojos” (1997)
Cameron Crowe directed Tom Cruise in the American remake of Alejandro Amenabar’s “Abre Los Ojos,” about a handsome and vain man who suffers an accident that disfigures his face. Crowe’s version follows Amenabar’s closely but makes a significant change to the ending that polarized some critics and audiences.
Paramount Pictures
10. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) – $102.5 Million
Sweden, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (2009)
While technically an American version of Stieg Larsson’s book, the success of David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” owes a lot to the overseas success of the Swedish adaptation of the book. The Swedish version grossed over $10 million in America and over $100 million worldwide. And the film’s star, Noomi Rapace, set the stage for screen versions of Lisbeth Salander, further using it as a launching pad for her own English-language acting career.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
9. “The Italian Job” (2003) – $106.1 Million
Britain, “The Italian Job” (1969)
Mark Wahlberg might not be Michael Caine, but F. Gary Gray’s retro caper of the classic British heist movie was a box office hit and helped put Mini Coopers back on the map stateside.
Paramount Pictures
8. The Grudge (2004) – $110.3 Million
Japan, “Ju-On: The Grudge” (2002)
“The Grudge,” like “The Ring,” was part of a wave of Japanese horror remakes from the early 2000s and also spawned several other American horror sequels.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
7. “The Birdcage” (1996) – $124.0 Million
France, “La Cage aux Folles” (1978)
Mike Nichols’ “The Birdcage” isn’t just a remake of a foreign film, it’s also an adaptation of a long-running French play. Both film and play are titled “La Cage aux Folles,” and the French film adaptation was nominated for three Oscars following its release in 1978.
MGM
6. “The Ring” (2002) – $129.1 Million
Japan, “Ringu” (1998)
The American version of “The Ring” remains the highest-grossing horror remake of all time, and it was so wildly successful that it spawned a whirl of other American remakes of Japanese horror films, including “The Grudge,” “Pulse,” “The Eye,” “Shutters,” “Mirror” and more, all within a few years of each other.
DreamWorks
5. The Departed (2006) – $132 Million
Hong Kong, “Infernal Affairs,” (2002)
Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” is so intrinsically tied to Boston cops and gangsters that it’s hard to remember that the film’s twisty story of moles and double crossing originated in Hong Kong as “Infernal Affairs,” which itself spawned several sequels abroad. And while the film’s critical acclaim in Japan was impressive, it was Scorsese’s film that won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Warner Bros.
4. “Godzilla” (1998) – $136.3 million
Japan, “Godzilla” (1954)
Roland Emmerich’s “Godzilla” starring Matthew Broderick wasn’t a hit with critics, but it did stomp all over the box office in 1998, becoming the 9th-highest-grossing film of the year.
Warner Bros.
3. True Lies (1994) – $146.2 Million
France, “La Totale!” (1991)
The French “La Totale!” is firmly a comedy and performed modestly at the French box office, but James Cameron made it his own when he cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in his tongue-in-cheek action blockbuster.
Twentieth Century Fox
2. “3 Men and a Baby” (1987) – $167.7 Million
France, “3 Hommes et un couffin” (1985)
Made on a mid-size budget and starring the most ’80s cast of Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson as three bachelors watching over a baby, “3 Men and a Baby” was a surprise comedy hit as the top grossing movie of 1987. But its French predecessor was likewise a success, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film in 1986.
Buena Vista Pictures
1. “Godzilla” (2014) – $200.6 Million
Japan, “Godzilla” (1954)
“Godzilla” has had so many remakes and sequels over the years, but Gareth Edwards’ film gets closer to the melancholy of Ishiro Honda’s original monster movie than ever before.
Legendary/Warner Bros.
“The Upside,” opening this week, is a remake of the French box office smash “The Intouchables”
Opening this weekend is “The Upside,” an American remake of “The Intouchables,” a film that made so much money in France that it became a cultural event. After earning $166 million in France, the country’s second-highest-grossing film ever, and over $426 million worldwide, an American remake of the film was inevitable. But surprisingly, box office hits abroad don’t always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
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