A "remake'" is a term used to described something that has been done again, sometimes with better quality, and usually with more features.

Film

The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source. For example, 2001's Ocean's Eleven is a remake of the 1960 film, while 1989's Batman is a re-interpretation of the comic book source material which also inspired 1966's Batman. Furthermore, the 2005 film Batman Begins would not be considered a remake, as it is still an adaptation of the comic book series.

With some exceptions, remakes make significant character, plot, and theme changes. For example, the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair is centered on a bank robbery, while its 1999 remake involves the theft of a valuable piece of artwork. Similarly, when the 1969 film The Italian Job was remade in 2003, few aspects were carried over. Another notable example is the 1932 film Scarface which was remade in 1983 starring Al Pacino; whereas the 1932 is centered around bootleg alcohol, the 1983 version is based around cocaine. Sometimes a remake is made by the same director, for example the black and white A Story of Floating Weeds was remade into the color Floating Weeds by Yasujiro Ozu or the Dutch-language Spoorloos was remade into the English-language The Vanishing by George Sluizer.

Not all remakes use the same title as the previously released version; 1983's Never Say Never Again, for instance, is a remake of the 1965 film Thunderball; the 1966 film Walk Don't Run is a remake of the World War II comedy The More the Merrier. This is particularly true for films that are remade from films produced in another language, such as: Point of No Return (from the French Nikita), Vanilla Sky (from the Spanish Abre los ojos), and A Fistful of Dollars (from the Japanese Yojimbo).

In the recent history of cinema, remakes have generally been considered inferior to earlier versions by film critics and cinema-goers alike, e.g., The Birdcage, To Be or Not to Be. See the list of film remakes for exceptions to the generalization.

Another noteworthy (and increasingly common) development is the use of a successful (usually older) television series to be remade as a feature film. Like other film remakes, these often fare badly at the box-office and/or are considered a poor reflection on the source material (e.g. The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Dudley Do-Right); however, some have gone on to become successful film franchises (e.g. Scooby-Doo, The Addams Family, Mission: Impossible, Transformers).