I Didn't Realise How Frequently Remakes Happen, But These 13 Films Have Been Remade Over And Over Again

In 1951, the second adaptation of the movie was released as a TV film starring Kathleen Crowley and Conrad Nagel. In 1954, the story returned to the big screen with a Judy Garland and James Mason version. 1976 brought us the beloved Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson adaptation. And in 2018, the most recent version of the film starred Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. 

Eight years after the Little Orphan Annie comic strip debuted in post-WWI American newspapers, the film of the same name hit the big screen. Five years after that in 1938, a second adaptation of the film was released. 

The first two films were written with the assumption that viewers were already familiar with the story of Annie, and picked up in the middle of her story after being adopted by Daddy Warbucks. In the 1982 and 2014 versions – both simply titled Annie – her entire story from orphanage to luxury fills out the plot more. However, the 2014 film starring Quvenzhané Wallis is the only adaption to be set in modern times and not the Great Depression era.

The first film came out in 1933, and has been ranked as the greatest horror film of all time. 43 years later, in 1976, the first remake of the film came out and was also called King Kong. Almost 72 years after the original, another King Kong was released in 2005. Then, in 2017, Kong: Skull Island rebooted the character once again to give us another take on the primate's origin.

The first King Kong vs. Godzilla came out in 1962, and was later remade in 2021 as Godzilla vs. Kong, to serve as a sequel to the King Kong canon established by Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019). And, of course, Godzilla is a pretty remade monster as well!

The original film bares little resemblance to its musical successor, aside from the focus being on a man-eating alien plant. The reimagined 1982 Broadway musical introduced more campy elements that served to transition the story from a purely dark comedy, to something a bit more jazzy and fun. This version of the story featured rock and doo-wop tunes that became the source material for the 1986 theatrical remake.

In total, there are over 147 adaptations of the 1843 novel, including plays, musicals, animations, films, all media titled Scrooge, and early radio productions. 

The bigger remakes range from A Christmas Carol (1938) to Scrooged (1988) and to The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992); probably the most widely viewed remake is Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983).