I was prompted to this task by a Google search to see if anyone had actually done this before, a proper list of the most-remade movies. All of the posts I found were seriously b.s., apparently created by people who had no access to the internet and/or had never watched movies, read books, or attended plays. I found the general level of research desultory, the frames of reference shallow, and an overall tendency to ignore silent film, live theatre and radio.
I don’t pretend to be scientific or all-inclusive here, but I guarantee this is more thorough than any similar survey you’ll find on the internet. It will undoubtedly get added to over time. I’m also not fussy about including television and other media in addition to films. And I’ve restricted it to English language versions.
For the sake of sanity we have left out Shakespeare, comic book franchises, Sherlock Holmes and fairy tales. Those may merit their own posts here in the future. If I create any such posts, I’ll add them here and link back.
Interestingly, almost all of the films mentioned below are adaptations of works of literature…with the corollary that most of them were written before the age of cinema and began to be adapted for the new art form the instant it was born. The first adaptations of some of these tales dates to the turn of the century or before. (Whereas certain better known oft-remade stories like A Star is Born or King Kong date from decades later.) At any rate there is something both satisfying and reassuring about seeing so many classic books represented.
In most cases, I’ve already done in-depth posts about the various versions of the story in question; just follow the links to read ’em. Lastly, I’ll be enhancing this post with more detail as time goes on.
A Christmas Carol — Not surprising, eh? Here are around 40 versions; no doubt there are others. In addition, here are other often-adapted Dickens works: Oliver Twist at least 10 versions (1922, 1933, 1948, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007), Great Expectations 6 versions (1917, 1934, 1946, 1974, 2011, 2012); A Tale of Two Cities : five (1911,1917, 1935, 1958, 1980) , David Copperfield (1935, 1969, 1999, 2000)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Here are close to 30 versions. Some other works by Robert Louis Stevenson that have frequently been remade: Treasure Island. At least 8: (see my post here). also put radio version , and directors and stars. Kidnapped — five: 1938, 1948, 1960, 1971, 1995
Peter Pan — J.M. Barrie’s original1904 play, then musicals 1924, 1950, 1954 (with Mary Martin), another 20 stage musicals. and movies 1924 (the Betty Bronson one), 1953, 2003, tv shows 1955, 1976 , 2014, and lots and lots of sequels and fan art thinks like Spielberg’s Hook. Read about them all here.
Little Women — stage versions and thirteen films 1917, 1918, 1933, 1949, 1950, 1958 (2x), 1970 1978, 1994, 2017, 2018, 2019
The Three Musketeers — Around a dozen versions. I’ve heard the claim that it is the most remade story, but compared with A Christmas Carol and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I don’t think so. However when you throw in the sequels/related Dumas tales The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo, it begins to add up: The Man in the Iron Mask , six versions, 1929, 1939, 1952, 1977, 1989, 1998, at least four of The Count of Monte Cristo (1922, 1934, 1975, 2002)
Tarzan — A dozen incarnations which I wrote about here.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (12): Tom Sawyer (six: 1917, 1930, 1938, 1973, 1995, 2014) /Huckleberry Finn (six: 1920, 1931, 1939, 1960, 1974, 1993); Another frequently remade Mark Twain classic: The Prince and the Pauper — Seven: 1920, 1937, 1962, 1975, 1977, 1996, 2007
Ten of this one: 1905, 1911, 1917, 1922, 1923, 1939, 1956, 1982, 1996, 1997. More on them here. Another Hugo classic Les Miserables has eight: 1934, 1935, 1952, 1958, 1978, 1998, 2012, 2018 , plus stage versions
The Turn of the Screw: at least ten, which I wrote about here.
Dracula — Here are ten, at least. There are undoubtedly more, and then consider all the sequels.
Frankenstein — Ten: 1910, 1931, 1957, 1973, 1984, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2015 (others, plus plays etc). Read about ’em here.
The Last of the Mohicans — Ten versions we wrote about here.
The Phantom of the Opera — Here are nine versions.
Brewster’s Millions — Oddly, there are very few comedies that keep getting remade, and even odder, this is the most frequent one, with around nine adaptations, not all for the screen, which I wrote about here.
Robin Hood — Eight: 1922, 1938, 1952, 1973, 1991, 1993, 2010, 2018
Jane Eyre — eight: 1934, 1943, 1970, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2011
Vanity Fair — Thackeray’s classic satirical novel, starting with the play Becky Sharpe and at least eight films, in 1915, 1932, 1935, 1967, 1987, 1998, 2004, 2018
The Virginian — eight versions in various forms, which we wrote about here.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin — At least seven versions, which we wrote about here.
The Island of Dr. Moreau — seven: 1911, 1921, 1932, 1959, 1972, 1977, 1996. H.G. Wells is practically his own subgenre. I’ve written about War of the Worlds here, The Invisible Man here, Food of the Gods here, and the ’32 version of Moreau here.
At least seven versions: 1923, 1935, 1972, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2020, written about here.
Anna Karenina — seven: 1927, 1935, 1948, 1985, 1997, 2000, 2012
Quo Vadis: play, (six: 1901, 1913, 1924, 1951, 1985, 2001)
Zorro — six plus: 1920, 1940, 1957, 1975, 1990, 1998
The Bat — Blogged about the various (six) versions here.
3 Godfathers — six : 1916, 1919, 1921, 1930, 1936, 1948 (wrote about a couple of the versions here).
King Solomon’s Mines: (six) 1937, 1950, 1979, 1985, 1986, 2004
Moby Dick — five: 1926, 1930, 1956, 1998, 2011 (Thoughts on Melville here).
The Sea Wolf — five: 1930, 1941, 1958, 1993, 2009 (Thoughts on Jack London here)
The Spoilers — five: 1914, 1923, 1930, 1942, 1955. The Spoilers was even made into a spoof version, The Soilers (1923) by Stan Laurel! More on the many versions of The Spoilers here.
Pride and Prejudice (1940, 1980, 1995, 2005) / Sense and Sensibility (1950, 1971, 1981, 1995, 2008)
The Great Gatsby — Five screen versions and one stage version, which we wrote about here.
Tom Brown’s School Days — Five: 1916, 1940, 1951, 1971, 2005
A Star is Born — Four or five versions, depending on if you count What Price Hollywood? Wrote about them here.
The Lost World: 1925, 1960, 1992, 2001
The Squaw Man — just the play (1905) and 3 screen versions all by Cecil B. DeMille: 1914, 1918, 1931. The fact that no one else has touched it since seems superstitious almost. More on The Squaw Man‘s author Edwin Milton Royle here.
The Thief of Baghdad — four: 1924, 1940, 1961, 1978
King Kong (3+) 1933, 1976, 2005 we wrote about them here
Svengali/ Trilby — 1931, 1964, 1983
(Travalanche) 
You must be logged in to post a comment.