These Are The Very First Movie Sequel, Remake, And Reboots Ever

Published March 2, 2016
Updated February 28, 2018

First Movie Remake: The Great Train Robbery

Bandit Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery (1903). Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Great Train Robbery, written, directed, and produced by Edwin S. Porter, forever changed the world of film by breaking away from the static single-shot stories of the silent era and bringing about the dynamic kind of narrative filmmaking — complete with location shooting, cross-cutting, and a moving camera — we all take for granted today.

And lest we think remakes are solely a notion of today’s Hollywood, The Great Train Robbery was indeed remade — the very next year.

The plot was simple: a group of outlaws holds up a train and is then pursued relentlessly by the sheriff and his posse. Some say it’s the first Western, some say it’s the first action film, and some just say it’s the first narrative film (as we know it today) overall.

The Great Train Robbery 1903

The Great Train Robbery (1903) Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Great Train Robbery was also a huge success with audiences, so it didn’t take long before another filmmaker took a shot at his own version of the film (and in a fashion showing even less originality than today’s remakes). In 1904, director Siegmund Lubin released his own version of the film, under the very same name, and made it nearly identical to its predecessor. The remake featured the same plot as the original, while, much like a modern remake, pumping up the violence and the stylized production design.

That same year, a new copyright law was put into effect in order to protect physical film reels from being copied and resold for profit. But even with this new copyright law, there was no protection of intellectual property. And so, Lubin tiptoed around the copyright law and made his own version of The Great Train Robbery so that he could reap all the reward.

The Great Train Robbery Dance

The Great Train Robbery (1903) Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Profit was the motive, plain and simple. Lubin did not want to risk failure with an original film when he could easily make money by creating a nearly exact replica of an already successful film. In fact, this kind of remake, common in early Hollywood, was much more blatant and shameless than the kind of remakes we sometimes see today. It wasn’t until much later in the 20th century, and especially in recent years, that respected filmmakers found critical acclaim with successful remakes that shed new light on a great story.

author
Briana Jones
author
Briana Jones is a freelance writer, screenwriter, and artist roaming the hot sands of the southwest. She enjoys the strange and unusual, and green tea.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.