Where do you stand on remakes? Are they a necessary evil of the film industry? Interesting cinematic experiments? Blasphemy? It’s case-by-case, depending on how beholden you are to a specific movie, filmmaker, or property. Some people think specific films should never be remade, like John Hughes movies, many of which reflect a time, place, and attitude that studios will find difficult to replicate or update in modern times. During an interview with People, Molly Ringwald, who stars in several of Hughes’ movies, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, said she thinks a remake of The Breakfast Club would be a bad idea.
There have been rumblings about a remake of The Breakfast Club for a while, with a new cast of fresh faces. According to Ringwald, you’d need Hughes’ permission to remake the coming-of-age comedy, and that could prove difficult, as he passed away from a heart attack in 2009.
Ringwald on remaking Hughes’ The Breakfast Club
“Well, they can’t be [remade] because they can’t be made without the permission of [the late] John Hughes, and he didn’t want the films to be remade,” Ringwald said. “And I don’t think that they should be really.”
While Ringwald doesn’t think anyone should remake The Breakfast Club, she is open to someone putting a new spin on the premise. Maybe something more in the vein of 10 Things I Hate About You, which is a reimagining of William Shakespeare‘s The Taming of the Shrew.
“I feel like if somebody does something, I would prefer that they do something … that takes from Breakfast Club and then builds on [it], and represents this generation’s issues rather than to try to recreate what was of a different time,” Ringwald said.
Would a contemporary Breakfast Club work?
I could see a modern take on The Breakfast Club working for contemporary audiences. Then again, do schools even have detention anymore? I suppose you have to punish unruly kids somehow, but the idea of detention feels so archaic to me. If you remake The Breakfast Club, I’m picturing someone in detention for social media drama, using ChatGPT to complete assignments, and other reasons. What do you think about Hollywood possibly remaking The Breakfast Club? Do you agree with Ringwald? Are Hughes’ movies too sacred to be remade? Let us know in the comments section below.
