Quentin Tarantino laments remake culture, refuses to watch ‘Shōgun’, ‘Ripley’ or ‘Dune’: “I’ve seen the story”
“It’s one after another of this remake and that remake"
by Elizabeth Aubrey · NMEQuentin Tarantino has lamented remake culture in a new interview, saying he refuses to watch series like Shōgun and Ripley or films like Dune, saying: “I’ve seen the story.”
The Pulp Fiction director shared his thoughts on remake culture during an interview on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. When asked if he thought Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two was the best film of the year, Tarantino replied that he didn’t know because he hadn’t watched it – and doesn’t intend to.
He explained: “I saw [David Lynch’s] Dune a couple of times. I don’t need to see that story again. I don’t need to see spice worms. I don’t need to see a movie that says the word ‘spice’ so dramatically.
“It’s one after another of this remake and that remake. People ask have you seen Dune? Have you seen Ripley? Have you seen Shōgun? And I’m like no, no, no, no. There’s six or seven Ripley books. If you do one again, why are you doing the same one that they’ve done twice already? I’ve seen that story twice before, and I didn’t really like it in either version, so I’m not really interested in seeing it a third time. If you did another story, that would be interesting enough to give it a shot anyway.”
He continued: “I saw Shōgun in the ‘80s. I watched all 13 hours. I’m good. I don’t need to see that story again, I don’t care how they do it. I don’t care if they take me and put me in ancient Japan in a time machine. I don’t care, I’ve seen the story.”
Recently, it was revealed that another new remake of the classic BBC sitcom The Office was happening, with Mexico being the latest country to get in on the act.
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As confirmed by Variety, the Mexican incarnation will be helmed by writer and director Gary ‘Gaz’ Alazraki, who has had hits with the 2013 film Nosotros Los Nobles and the 2015 series Club De Cuervos, and showrunner Marcos Bucay (Cómo Sobrevivir Soltero).
The show will be made available on Amazon Prime Video, and will revolve around the company Olimpo Soaps in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, led by the office manager Jerónimo Ponce III.
Alonso Aguilar, head of Mexico Originals at Amazon Studios, said of the remake: “It’s really exciting to do our own version of one of the most successful comedies of all time. The Mexican office worker subculture is one of the richest and most surreal in the world, and with Marcos Bucay and Gaz Alazraki, the two most successful comedy creators in the country, we know we have something unique that will surpass all expectations and leave fans of previous versions speechless.”