How Would You Remake 'Brewster's Millions' in Today's World?
Filed under: Comedy, Newsstand
For the past few years, my friends and I have talked about the potential for a Brewster's Millions remake on several different occasions. Everyone has those movies they're oddly obsessed with, and for us it's this flick. I think it's because the storyline (originally based on George Barr McCutcheon's 1902 novel) is perfect remake material, which is why we've already seen eight versions of it -- the last of which being the hilarious 1985 film starring Richard Pryor and John Candy. Not to mention the film is a great fit for some fun buddy humor, allowing a studio (in this case Warner Bros.) to pair up two of today's hottest comic actors and watch them go to town.The central premise is that a man inherits hundreds of millions of dollars, but in order to retrieve it he must first spend a smaller amount (it was $30 million in the 1985 film) in 30 days without acquiring any assets and without revealing his predicament to anyone. Newbies Michael Dilberti and Matthew Sullivan have been hired to write the remake, and they'll be up against a premise that may be a tough fit for today's world, where someone can easily spend millions in minutes. Let's face it, the 2009 world is a lot different than the 1985 world, and Dilberti and Sullivan will be charged with making this premise work in the here and now.
But what does that mean? Do you have to up the amount Brewster now has to spend? $30 million was a lot in 1985, but I imagine someone could spend that quite easily in 2009 if they needed to. Will the duo have to add more rules to make it work? And who do you get to star?
How would you remake Brewster's Millions in today's world?










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-17-2009 @ 12:13PM
Furious D said...
Brewster invests the in the Weinstein Co., and has it all gone in 1 day.
Or he gives it away as a corporate bailout.
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8-17-2009 @ 12:28PM
Mangorilla said...
Might work as a stoner comedy... Have some fun showing the stupid junk a stoner might buy, like some scenes with mountains of eBay packages arriving daily, followed by the unveiling of the expensive and inexpensive eBay junk that lies beneath. Then the stoner decides to invest in pot, as most potheads probably would, and attracts the attention of a comical druglord and inept DEA agents, and in the end he/she ends up having to pay all of the inheritance to avoid death/jail. Either way you'll never replace Richard Pryor or come close to that level of goodness, so why not just have a lot of stupid fun with it?
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8-17-2009 @ 12:31PM
Torgan said...
I was just recently watching the 85 version on cable, and I was amazed on how many of cast is sadly no longer with us. Being a child of the 80's, this movie was a favorite.
I think an interesting twist would be to actually have the friend become aware of situation and as he keeps trying to help his friend, he keeps making more money. This was touched upon lightly in the 85 version, however, it would certainly put a different spin on things if he actually knew what was going on.
Another possibility would be to have a set of twin siblings who hate each other duking it out to outspend the other to try and get the full amount, just seeing what each would do to the other to make sure the other didn't succeed.
As for stars, I'd like to see someone who can be funny, but also serious. I think it would be an interesting vehicle to have an actor play both parts if you went the twin way. Perhaps someone like Nathan Fillion.
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8-17-2009 @ 1:00PM
jonathanf said...
For the movie remake, it would be a simple alliteration - Brewster's Billions. Give him 300 million to spend in 30 days and he will inherit 3 billion.
Then give the project to the Apatow crew. This would be a great vehicle to team up any combo of actors :
Jason Siegel as Brewster with Seth Rogen as the pal and Leslie Mann as lawyer./love interests. Heck pick any of these and they' easily fit into either role: Paul Rudd, Steve Carvell, Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Amy Smart, Anna Farris, Christina Applegate, Zach Galifinakis, Bradley Cooper etc,
Or kick it over to my favorite fat boy and have Kevin Smith and his crew do it - Brewster rents the NJ Devils instead of a minor league baseball team etc. Smith would be in the good 'best friend John Candy role' and maybe Justin Long or Jason Lee as Brewster, Elizabeth Banks as lawyer/lover. Put Craig Robinson in there as a one of the hockey players etc.
Such a depth of talent to choose from, it really is just updating the premise and changing some of the rules in the will to make it more relevant - no internet purchases, no ebay bids etc.
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8-17-2009 @ 1:00PM
Jonathan Bolton said...
Call it Brewster's Billions and he has to spend the 300 million inheritance of the first film in 30 days ! Beat that !
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8-17-2009 @ 3:28PM
Astin said...
The catch of not accumulating any assets is what makes it tricky. $30 million was just as easy to spend in the 80's as it is today, but it's hard to spend any large amount of money without having something to show for it.
Stocks, bonds, houses, companies, they all count as assets.
It's not like you can buy stock in Washington Mutual retroactively.
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8-17-2009 @ 3:37PM
David said...
I loved Richard Prior in Brewsters Millions. As I remember it he had to spend all 30 Million and have nothing to show for it in the end, and he couldnt tell anyone about that rule. This made him look like a nut who was spending all his money. Theres def some remake possibilities there. I can imagine a lot of my comic favorites play the part of Prior and making it hilarious once again.
Personally I would like to see it played by Will Farell and his friend that helps him played by Paul Rudd. I think the Judd Apatow idea is good, they seem to produce some of the cool comedies. But I would lean more toward Todd Phillips to direct (the hangover) and the oldschool crew. It might even work with Zach Galifianakis as the lead roll and ed helms as his friend. The badguys I would want to see as Will Arnett, Alec Baldwin, and William Fichtner.
Whatever happens i cant wait!
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8-17-2009 @ 5:05PM
Mike said...
I could see Vince Vaughn as one of the main characters. Brewster if you sorta wanna cast him against type, or the clueless best friend along for the ride if you want him manning more familiar territory.
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8-17-2009 @ 7:53PM
snowballa said...
wow, you guys are as unimaginative as hollywood. you know there are other funny people besides the apatow crew right?
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8-17-2009 @ 8:02PM
c said...
I would cast Dave Chappelle. He would have millions just right in front of him and he has to throw it all away. Wait I think I have heard this before.
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8-17-2009 @ 11:20PM
Andy said...
Oh Brewster's Millions...great movie.
A friend and I use the term 'Brewster' for a business that just seems to be trying to waste money and go out of business...making stupid decisions and whatnot.
I think now is kind of a bad time to remake a movie about wasting money. Didn't seem to help 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'.
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