I watched the Daniel Craig-Rooney Mara version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo again over the weekend. I enjoy that version and I hadn’t seen it in a while, but I kept getting confused because I remembered so much of the Noomi Rapace-as-Lisbeth films (I think I’m going to watch those again this weekend). So, I ended up spending too much time this weekend thinking about remakes and Americanizing films and TV shows that were originally good/better in another language or in another culture. This is has been happening more and more – Fox already canceled Gracepoint, the Americanized version of the UK hit Broadchurch. And now Fox is going to do an Americanized remake of the popular UK show Luther. Luther was one of Idris Elba’s most celebrated projects – he’s won awards for playing the troubled detective and it’s one of his best-known roles. And Idris is on board this Americanized project… as a producer. They’re probably going to get another actor to play Luther, even though Idris can do a flawless American accent.
One of the most acclaimed British series of the last decade, BBC crime drama Luther, is getting a U.S. remake. Fox has given a rich put pilot commitment with a seven-figure penalty to the adaptation, which will be written/executive produced by the original series’ creator Neil Cross. The British series’ star, Idris Elba, is on board as executive producer. The project hails from 20th Century Fox TV, studio-based Chernin Entertainment and BBC Worldwide Prods. Also executive producing are the Chernin company’s Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope and BBC Worldwide Prods’ Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner.
Luther, which ran on BBC for three seasons, centered on John Luther (Elba), a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions. While opting to end the original series after a three-season, 14-episode run, Cross has left the door open for a Luther movie starring Elba. The original Luther series, which aired in the U.S. on BBC America, earned eight Emmy nominations for best miniseries, best actor (Elba), and best writing/directing.
Fox has another drama about a brilliant, unorthodox detective based on a European property coming up in midseason, series Backstrom, an adaptation of Leif G. W. Persson’s books. Remaking acclaimed British drama series by U.S. networks has proven tricky. Neither NBC’s Prime Suspect nor Fox’s Gracepoint — a U.S. version of ITV’s Broadchurch, which, like Luther, was adapted by original creator Chris Chibnall — have been able to gain much traction.
Is this stupid? Or do people think Americans are too stupid to, like, watch BBC America or PBS Masterpiece? I’ll admit, I never got into Luther, but that was mostly because it was so dark, not because it was “too British” or whatever. And NBC’s attempt to Americanize Prime Suspect was just sad. I still don’t believe that the Americanized version of The Killing was anything other than a poorly written, dumbed-down catastrophe. But… there are some shows that end up crossing the pond and becoming hits. Think… The Office. Or Elementary, which started out as a version of Sherlock. I’ll admit it, I LOVE Elementary – it’s one of the better procedurals on TV these days. That being said, I think cop shows have a difficult journey in “remake” attempts.
So, would you watch an Americanized Luther? Eh… it would depend on who they cast as Luther. And I really don’t understand why American TV puppet masters can’t simply invest in original American stories.
And maybe this was just an excuse to post photos of Idris Elba. Shhh….baby, don’t speak.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Dear America,
The English accent is NOT THAT DIFFICULT.
Love,
The rest of the world.
On the actual solid opinion side of things as opposed to just shouting “NOOOOO” at the sky, I think where something like “Elementary” has succeeded as opposed to “Gracepoint” is that “Elementary” is just taking the Sherlock Holmes character and running with it. “Gracepoint” seems like it’s pretty much a remake (and only diverging vv late in the series run) which does beg the question “why?”
Also, “Elementary” has Jonny Lee Miller, the main reason why I watch it. Just like I watched “Luther” because of Idris Elba; without him, what’s the point?
Yes….to all of this….I love me some Idris…this remake sounds like a terrible idea…if you haven’t seen Luther its all on Netflix…put down whatever you’re doing and go watch it…you won’t be sorry
I think the problem with airing the original episodes is not so much the accents. There are only six episodes per series and unlike the BBC, Fox is ad-run, so they’ll want more.
That said, other than Idris (because he’s genuinely great) I didn’t think the original series was anything to write home about.
•Kalie•
It’s about the money, and only about the money, that we remake shows. And to be honest, most Americans don’t hear a wide range of British and Irish accents, so sometimes we do struggle with them. But that isn’t the primary reason why we remake shows.
British accents are an issue, as well as their unique pop culture and historical references that don’t mean anything to Americans. A lot is lost. I’ve worked on an international team in Europe with a variety of Brits. Before each meeting, I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, in their regional accents. Once the meeting began, they would make an effort to do a more flat accent so that the rest of us, who weren’t Brits, could understand them. But, even more so…they had to watch their vocabulary and references so that we could all understand them. Since they were in the majority, this didn’t happen consistently.
Instead of complaining, just understand that they are trying to go for a broader American audience and not just those who can tune their ears to the variety of Brit accents and also understand their unique references.
They have similar issues with us. Just try watching Veronica Mars with a bunch of Brits. I had to explain so much that it took the fun out of it!
Big Daddy Yum!
Oh no! Who else can put their hands on their head, shout “AW NAAAAAAAAAH!” and throw a phone/punch a wall/stamp their feet because they are having an existential crisis, while a man in a mask holds the entirety of London hostage, six times an episode?
It’s like someone in a network office saw this and thought “that’s exactly what Criminal Minds is missing – emotional melodrama.”
Yes this is stupid. I am American but live abroad I can’t understand why they have to make every successful show into an American one. The Bridge.. please leave it as Scandinavian, The Killing, Broadchurch.. I guess it’s for ££ and if those don’t have cable can’t watch the foreign counterparts.
I understand your point and agree…but I do love “The Bridge” and binge-watched “The Killing”. Both series have exceptional actors. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman were pretty intense in The Killing. I also think it needs to be noticed that the stories were not copy-paste but adapted to the social context they wanted to depict. I can live with that a lot better than with a simple copy like they did with The girl with the dragon tattoo.
It becomes a huge problem when you take a beloved series and remove the element that makes it stand out. Like taking Britishness (whatever that is) out of IT Crowd. Or perhaps darkness out of Luther. If that’s what they’re going to do, I don’t know.
The only series I can compare are Danish Riget and American Kingdom Hospital. The first one is a masterpiece by Lars von Trier and the second an American version of it, rewritten by Stephen King. And Kingdom Hospital, comparing it to Riget, is soulless and dumb. It’s just a standard ghost story where everything has to be explained, the quirky characters are transformed into pretty idiots, somebody added a bit of patriotism, and all the magic that made Riget special is gone. That was a sad, sad experience of TV.
Exactly. Location and societal context matter to a show!
Luther was my guilty pleasure because – Idris Elba, Ruth Wilson and the other actors aside – it was pretty schlocky and not very good but kind of compulsive viewing. So without Idris? Good luck Fox! It’ll be shite!
This is silly- why would he even WANT to play the same exact role again, but this time with an American accent? That would be such an odd step for his career, and a really bad idea. He’s producing, so he’s on board.
As for “American-isations” of things: I kind of don’t see what the big deal is. Yes, many times the original is better, and the reboot is changed (some people call it dumbed down, but they are incorrect for the most part). Other countries often take American shows and reboot them to fit in with their own cultural norms/landscapes, so that audiences will relate to it better. And in those cases, the American show was the better one. When British TV shows get remade for American audiences, they might seem dumbed down because they use American slang instead of British slang, but that is because most Americans can’t relate to British slang, and the show should fit in to the culture it airs in.
It isn’t that Americans are just soooo dumb they can’t be bothered to watch things from other cultures; all cultures prefer to watch things which are consistent with their world view. This is true everywhere.
I live in the UK, and so much of our TV is just AWFUL, but when I talk to Americans they think they sound so intelligent and worldly because they just looove British TV. (They often use British slang too, which is just hilarious). The truth is, the majority of TV here is so so so stupid, you only see the somewhat good stuff. It’s just silly!
“Other countries often take American shows and reboot them to fit in with their own cultural norms/landscapes, so that audiences will relate to it better.”
Can you give me examples to check out? Successful remakes of American shows in Europe?
Because I’ve really never heard of any successful show like that. At least here in Mid/Southern Europe we seem happy with just watching American or British shows (or Danish or German or Japanese or whatever), not remaking them. I’ve only seen one attempt of sort-of-remake of a British show here, and that failed miserably. I don’t think it even lasted a season. Because we have no problem with shows that are not adopted to our culture specifically.
“It isn’t that Americans are just soooo dumb they can’t be bothered to watch things from other cultures; all cultures prefer to watch things which are consistent with their world view. This is true everywhere.”
It’s not about Americans being dumb at all. They’re not dumb. They’re just not interested, it seems. (This is a huge generalisation that of course does not apply to everyone.)
And while it might be true that cultures prefer watching things consistent with their world view, you can hardly pull a big difference between world view of USA and Europe/Britain. I do think tho that for smaller countries (who have regular contacts with their slightly different neighbours, and whose economy depends on outside market) it’s not at all a problem to watch a show that is not 100% adopted to their culture because we’re used to it already from real life.
“All cultures prefer to watch things which are consistent with their world view. This is true everywhere.”
Quite a big statement.
In many countries it is quite typical to grow up watching shows and movies from all over the world – I live in Northern Europe and our TV is full of American, British, Scandinavian, German, Spanish, French etc. shows. So for us it’s not at all strange to watch entertainment that is not “consistent with our world view” and therefore the idea of making remakes seems quite pointless – why not just watch the original?
It’s probably different for those who grow up in The US and Britain because these countries have a large movie/tv industry and you are used to always being able to watch shows in your own language. Not the case everywhere.
In my country, foreign TV series outnumber domestic ones by a huge number, and I remember only one American series being turned into our version and it bombed horribly. Most of the series are American or British, with a few German, Scandinavian, Spanish, etc. put in the mix.
I might understand remaking series that are in foreign languages ( Americans aren’t used to subtitles, are they?) but British ones that are in already in English? I don’t get that.
However, one of my favourite shows at the moment, Shamelles ( very underrated) is a remake of a British show.
It cracks me up how many people seem to think that the British shows they air in the US are the only ones they have.
Sorry; but this just isn’t true. In Australia, for example, we have an absolute shed-load of American and British TV. We have Aussie shows too; but so much from elsewhere. We have no problem watching things outside of our cultural experience. We also have foreign language TV on certain channels.
I think that, because the U.S. Is such a cultural powerhouse, Americans have been babied. Even novels that are written in English get words changed so that Americans can “understand” them. So “torch” gets changed to “flashlight” and so on and so forth, even if it makes no sense in the context of the novel that a British person in the UK would use the word “flashlight”.
How are you supposed to understand other cultures and their usage of language, and their accents, etc if you are rarely exposed to them? We are exposed to other cultures all the time through TV, so we know that some words and slang are different, we understand different accents, we have a bit of knowledge about those cultures. I think it’s sad that Americans don’t get this. Everything is “americanised” before you even see it.
It’s so circle-jerkish, isn’t it? I mean Luther intends (whether it always succeeds or not is another matter) to have American hardboiled influences. So now we have an American-influenced TV show being remade to have… what? British influences of American influences of… ?
Jebus. It’s only a cop show.
The worst of the worst of the worst of American remakes I’ve seen was the one of the French zombie thing, The Returned. It had the pompous one from House in it. Woeful. Absolutely woeful.
Money is the reason they remake these shows. It’s not about the accents or inability to watch PBS. If the networks buy a Foreign show, they pay for the licensing and make a small profit through commercial sponsors. If they remake a show/movie that’s already proven successful, they presumably already have a hit and reap all the profits for themselves, including the licensing fees that they’ll be charging on it in the future.
That said, Idris is Luther. Period.
A remake is a crime against humanity
I’ve only watched a few episodes I love Idris but it’s kind of over the top and not my thing.
It’s nothing to do with the accents though.
I think when it comes down to it the only reason why they remake these shows is money and not as much to do with lack of faith in the audience. Look at the success of Downton Abbey and to a lesser extent Doctor Who in the states the audience is there.
They can’t make as much money rebroadcasting as they do if a show is a hit and goes into syndication and UK shows don’t necessarily go into a second season even if they are popular.
No. No, no, no, no……just…NO! Luther is already perfect the way it is. Leave it alone! 🙁
Why can’t he be ‘sexiest man alive’?
Yes why not!
I wouldn’t call Elementary a remake of Sherlock. Both Sherlock and Elementary are shows made from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series; Sherlock definitely doesn’t own the IP of the material. Elementary positioned itself as different from Sherlock even before the show started running, not to mention that the focus and format is different from Sherlock.
Can’t say I’ve watched many British-to-American remakes (unfortunately Dancing with the Stars comes to mind, but reality TV is a little different. I also honestly wonder how many people remember it’s basically a spinoff if Strictly Come Dancing, because it seems like such an American thing now), so I can’t comment on how much it’s dumbed down for American audiences. But I have seen a bit of Broadchurch and understand why they’d want to tweak the premise a bit (and possibly why it didn’t work in America? I haven’t seen or heard anything about the American remake so this is going to mostly be extrapolation). I don’t think the “small seaside town murder mystery” carries the same cultural connotations in America as it does in Britain, where you have a long tradition of small-town-whatevers in film and literature. See things like Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy; not a murder mystery but set in a small town dealing with its politics. I’d say that’s a very Brit-lit kind of book that you kind of get but don’t really have the same background unless you actually read a lot British literature/watch a lot of British stuff.
I bought the three seasons from the BBC- loved Luther, but I wanted more Alice. The ending as Luther and Alice walked off together left so many delicious possibilities.
•Rosalee•
I like Idris Alba a lot but Ruth Wilson is just wickedly delightful and gave ‘Luther’ that special something that is hard to re-capture.
Agreed. Alice is still one of my favorite characters ever written for television and Ruth Wilson is ah-may-zing!
Idris and Ruth were why I watched it; the stories had plot holes to drive a truck through.
Look I loved Broadchurch and Luther and FOX needs to stop trying to Americanize shows which are still being broadcasted in the UK. It is beyond dumb. I love David Tennant but Grace Point was horrible through and through. You could still watch Broadchurch on demand too so the comparisons between them were so striking. Apparently FOX doesnt realize people have cable and actually can get BBC America.
I don’t think Idris Elba even would want to play Luther again. It would be pointless for his career. I don’t like US versions of UK tv shows generally but i like Shameless US better so maybe it can work.
Well a lot of my friends who live in Kentucky love Broadchurch and Graham Norton. I don’t think accents are an issue. My friends explained that they are surrounded by idiots all day. They love to come home, turn on the BBC, and listen to someone who is classy and intelligent.
I think Hollywood is completely out of touch with Americans and Idris should be sexiest man alive.
Remakes can work. Three’s Company, The Office and Queer as folk were all remakes of a British shows and they were all hits. Coupling and Gracepoint were remakes and were terrible. It’s a roll of the dice like any tv show. I don’t think Gracepoint was cancelled. It’ an 8 to 10 episode miniseries. Fox plans to show all the episodes, it won’t be renewed that’s for sure.
Shamelles is another great remake, House of Cards too.
Maybe not so much Americans being dumb, but we ARE lazy and way too many people behave as if listening to an accent is way too hard and worse, as if watching a show in its original form on PBS or BBC America even is somehow elitist.
You would have thought US broadcasters would have learned by now that very few adaptations have really worked. I imagine that this in particular will either be completely toothless or they will go way overboard trying to make it gritty and it will just end up being offensive.
I don’t think it’s that — in fact nowadays I’d say a high percentage of actors in movies/tv are brits anyway. Rather I think Elba has other irons in the fire and doesn’t want to get pigeon holed as Luther in the U.S. I’d check out the American version, if they don’t wreck it by, oh, changing Luther to a white character for instance, as happens.
He’s said he would like to do a S4.
UGH!!! *tossing the desk Luther Styles*
It is Lazy and Stupid and Lazy… what? can’t people read subtitles or enjoy an accent? UGH why? This makes me super pissed cause WHY??!
See Also; Let the Right One In remake
I usually did turn on the subtitles while watching Luther, since the accents were thick at times and I didn’t want to miss anything . But I never felt like that took away from my enjoyment . I guess American tv execs think everything has to be easily digestable/dumbed down for people to watch it?? Idk…rather presumptive of them
Me too. I’ve had to do that with Guy Ritchie movies like Snatch and Lock stock… For the most part it’s the slang that I have issues with ,but sometimes the accents are hard to understand.
seriously. i usually have subtitles on when i watch british shows – i don’t want to miss stuff, as accents often drift in and out from heavier to lighter. it’s not that big of a deal.
I have a question. English is not my first language, but and I have noticed that I can understand some accents ( such as Scottish or Geordie) better than people who are native speakers. Same happens to my friend from Norway. How come?
•Charlie•
The accents you can hear better are probably closer in pronunciation to your mother tongue.
english isn’t my first language either. the english i speak is american english, which is quite different from british english. and i’m talking only about the “standard” american english versus the “standard” british english (as in english used on the national news), not even local accents, which the US has many, as i am sure does britain. you’d have to ask a linguistics expert, but i assume that it has to do with the “flow”/rhythm of a language and the similarity of that “flow”/rhythm to your native language or dialect – it’s what your ear (well, brain) is attuned to discerning.
My mother tongue is from the Slavic language branch, maybe it has some similarities with the before mentioned accents, because it is a bit harder than standard English?
I subtitle every show and every movie I can.
Why?
First, the main reason is because it increases literacy in children (not kidding), so anytime you can, subtitle. Children (and adults) benefit hugely with seeing *and* hearing a language.
Second, voices are often drowned out by music or noise in the movie/show and adding various accents can accentuate the problem. IMHO, dialogue is essential to understanding what I’m watching so I subtitle.
Bottom line, when in doubt, subtitle. You do get used to it and it now feels odd when the written words are missing.
does it really help with literacy in kids? interesting.
•Ag•
Yup. Studies have shown that subtitles improve literacy and this is one easy way of doing it.
Here is one article but if you google it, you’ll find plenty more.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/captioning-support-literacy-0
:ETA:
Here is another link with lots of resources to support subtitles improve literacy.
http://www.zaneeducation.com/video-subtitles-captions/subtitle-and-closed-captions-research.php
All I needed to read was the headline and this project needs to be shut the heck down. Do not mess with Luther. grr
I don’t know why a British show cannot be on a regular broadcast commercial channel. Why let them hide on PBS or BBC America? It would cut down on all the repeats and other ‘filler’ fluff. 52 weeks / 22 episodes + music specials and other events – repeats = perfect slot for a 12 week British series….. Oh wait, I get it. If there’s a direct comparison will someone look bad?
But I gotta say I LOVED NBC’s Prime Suspect. It’s only crime was being sold as an American version of it. If it was a stand-alone series it probably would have done better. I love Maria Bello, I even the stupid hat she wore plus Aidan Quinn – hey now! The chemistry between the other cast members was there. I don’t understand what happened. I’m still sad.
Will an American Luther be “The Office” or “Prime Suspect” for audiences?
“Shhh….baby, don’t speak.” LOL
I’ve been watching Gracepoint which is shot for shot identical to Broadchurch. And miscast. Only watching because Tennant swears they tinkered with the ending. We’ll see.
Will there be an ending even though it was cancelled? I loved Broadchurch and still found the shot for shot identical first episode of Gracepoint almost unwatchable because of those eye-roll inducing little things added to make it more Hollywood (as opposed to simply more American). The original’s biggest strengths were its authenticity, simplicity and the lack of added glamour/drama present in most of the cop shows. Gracepoint was ruined by added dramatic long shots in the rain, over the-top reactions, unnecessary symbolism, changing the female cop from awkward and very relatable into a monolouging badass and depriving the viewers of some of the mystery that was Danny’s faith by showing too much at the beginning. Not to mention the supporting cast. You can tell who will be the future suspect just by looking at their clothes and make-up. I started watching for the same reason as you but I couldn’t get past the second episode.
I fast forward a lot and watch certain bits. The new preacher is no Arthur Darvill and overly creepy. I didn’t realize it had been cancelled. Only 2 or 3 left. Hope not.
I read that he’s up for doing it because of the fans, but he only plans on doing 1 episode. He wants to bring Luther to the big screen. I think he can make more money from a TV series.
Well, I thought they were doing a movie that would be a prequel to Luther which I loved loved loved thought it was brilliant (not British but I think it is just so cool the way the Brits used the word “brilliant” all the time) the upside of that is Justin would still be around (close your eyes spoilers there) but the downside is that Alice would not yet be on the scene.
And that is because I think Ruth Morgan and the character of Alice were the best but I guess I am getting a little of that from The Affair because I think that Alison sort of morphs into Alice in the scenes where she is being questioned by the detective.