Why Not Just Do It Again? Trivia Quiz

Answer: King Kong

"King Kong" was a hit when it was released in black-and-white in 1933. Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, it ended up inspiring several other 'large animals in the city' movies in its wake. Perhaps no one can argue that the scene featuring Fay Wray as bait is anything short of memorable.
Unsurprisingly, a movie with that much buzz was bound to be remade. It was, once in 1976 with Jessica Lange in Fay Wray's role and again in 2005 with Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow. All three brought Kong to the top of the Empire State Building and all of them ended with the tragic death of the colossal ape.
The 1976 version was directed by John Guillermin (who also made "The Towering Inferno") and the 2005 version was done by Peter Jackson after the completion of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. In this third version, King Kong was played by Andy Serkis (who also played Gollum) and was filmed using a motion-capture suit.

Answer: Hawaii Five-0

"Hawaii Five-0" was re-imagined in 2010 and became one of very few successful TV remakes re-contextualized for modern audiences. Starring Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, and Daniel Dae Kim, the show pumped up the action. The original, which started airing in 1960, lasted twelve years on the air and nearly three hundred episodes.
"Charlie's Angels", based on the show of the same name, aired new episodes in 2011 but was cancelled before it could show its ninth episode. The original show lasted five years beginning in 1976 and it aired over one hundred episodes.
"The Bionic Woman" was remade in 2007 and only survived eight episodes before cancellation. Its ratings plummeted; the original from back in 1976 lasted three years.
The original "Melrose Place" lasted seven seasons (and over two hundred episodes) between 1992 and 1999, but its remake (in 2009) lasted only the one season with eighteen episodes.

Answer: Walk This Way

First appearing on Aerosmith's third album, "Toys in the Attic", "Walk This Way" was the disc's second single (after "Sweet Emotion") and its highest-charting (at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100). After eleven years, Run DMC, seeking a new hit, approached Aerosmith with an idea to cover the song with a new spin. What resulted was the chorus of "Walk This Way" and new rap verses.

It actually charted higher than the original (at number four). The music video and single featured the original band, or at least two members of it.

Answer: Tomb Raider

Although the "Tomb Raider" series had years and years of PC and console titles with little change between their basic formulas, changes were made when Eidos Interactive (the original publishers) were purchased by Square Enix, the makers of "Final Fantasy" and "Kingdom Hearts". To modernize the game, they had to redefine it, especially with PlayStation 3 games like "Uncharted" covering the tomb raiding aspect perfectly well.

As such, Lara Croft was given a deep back story and more survival skills than ever before. Other similar games to get rebooted in the late-2000s/early-2010s included "Prince of Persia", "Mortal Kombat", and "Twisted Metal".

Answer: The Biggest Loser

"The Biggest Loser" actually started in 2004 in the U.S. as a competition to help its contestants lose weight and break through their obesity issues. Every week, one would be eliminated and prompted to lose the weight away from 'the ranch'. If they still lost weight they'd have a chance to become a big loser regardless...not to mention the health benefits. "Big Brother", "Deal or No Deal", and "Wipeout" were all created by Dutch-based entertainment company Endemol who, to some degree, have dabbled in nearly every American reality show out there.

They also created the original versions of "Fear Factor" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition".

Answer: Killing Me Softly with His Song

Flack's original version of the song was a huge hit winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocals. It not only reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (on two separate occasions), but it reached number two on two other Billboard Charts.

It was, by far, her greatest hit; it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in the 1990s. The Fugees included a remake of the song on their second of only two full albums, "The Score", and the R&B reinvention pushed it onto four different Billboard charts, topping the Billboard Pop Songs listing.

They weren't the only ones to cover it though; the song has been remade in dozens of countries by new artists.

Answer: Halloween

"Halloween", of course, was the story of Michael Myers escaping from a mental institution and returning to his old stomping grounds to kill again, only this time in a William Shatner mask. The original (starring Donald Pleasance and scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis) was nothing short of masterful, kicking the slasher sub-genre into high gear and pushing Carpenter's burgeoning career in horror (as well as Curtis').
When Rob Zombie approached the topic of a remake in 2007 (shortly after making "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects") he decided to make it an all-out psychotic break; the film was much more gruesome and was follow up by an even more relentless sequel in 2009. Neither were too successful; critics thought that the remakes focused more on graphic violence.
Well duh, it's a Rob Zombie movie.
"Friday the 13th", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were all remade in the 2000s by Michael Bay's production company, Platinum Dunes.

Answer: The Office

Although all of these shows started out in the UK, "The Office" may have been the greatest success. Originally airing for two series in the UK, Gervais ended the show and started work on "Extras" in the years that followed (and then started on "Life's Too Short".

The original run was from 2001 to 2003. The American version, however started airing in 2005 and became massively popular on NBC. Running for nine seasons it made stars out of Steve Carrell, Mindy Kaling, BJ Novak, Rainn Wilson, and John Krasinski.

Although a number of US/UK remakes haven't been successful, a great many have. Others included "Whose Line is It Anyways", "Being Human", "Shameless", and the game shows "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and "The Weakest Link".

Answer: Silent Hill

Not even horror video games can escape the remake. "Silent Hill" had been though of by die-hard fans as a series long off-the-rails. Considering the psychological factor and intense stories of the early games, the later installments had been watered down and simplified for a beat-em-up audience.

When the Wii was released, "Shattered Memories" was proposed. A Wii remake with new graphics, motion controls, and added content would bolster the original to new heights. To an extent, it did. Added psychological depth and beautiful effects enhanced the game and allowed for elements of the original to spill through, even ten years after the original released on the PlayStation 1.

Answer: Psycho

Originally filmed in black-and-white, Hitchcock's "Psycho" was a masterpiece for suspense, thrillers, and the horror genre as a whole. Featuring the iconic shower scene and the psychotic Norman Bate (and, yes, his mother), it put Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins onto the map and inspired countless other works (and sequels...and a TV show).
In 1998, Gus Van Sant got the idea to recast and remake the film, shot-for-shot, and it didn't go over too well. Leigh was replaced by Anne Heche and Perkins was replaced by Vince Vaughan. The movie was shot in colour. Critics despised it and Van Sant agreed that it was an experiment in remaking film. Everyone decided not to do shot-for-shot remakes of wholly influential works.
Yeah. We'll see how long that sticks.