Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Another Round’ and Hollywood’s Weird Obsession With Remaking Foreign Classics
With the commercial success and awards recognition of foreign-language films like Roma, Parasite, The Farewell, and Minari (the latter two are partially in English) in the U.S. over the past three years, debates about subtitles, dubbing, the descriptor “foreign” and English-language film adaptations have been resurfacing online, with users reevaluating our relationships with international works of art.
A version of this conversation appeared again on social media this week after Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson’s production company Appian Way, along with Endeavor Content and Makeready, announced that they would be developing an English-language remake of the Danish film Another Round—about a group of teachers who embark on a binge-drinking experiment as a potential star vehicle for the Wolf of Wall Street actor. Just a day after director and co-writer Thomas Vinterberg took home Best International Film at the 93rd Academy Awards for his beloved and incessantly memed comedy-drama, fans of the original were less than enthused about the announcement of the adaptation on Twitter.
“There's no rhyme or reason to remake ANOTHER ROUND,” said one user. “The film is accessible af. It’s literally right on Hulu. International films have a greater reach than ever before in America because of growing interest in world cinema in audiences. We don’t need a fucking American remake.”