Often, remakes in the sci-fi genre struggle to measure up to the originals, leaving fans of the classics unimpressed with modern reinterpretations. Yet, every so often, a remake emerges that captivates audiences, especially when they are unaware of its origins. This often occurs when the updated version bears a different title or when the original has faded from mainstream memory, allowing a fresh creative team to breathe new life into old material. Occasionally, these efforts result in remakes that eclipse the originals, a rare but noteworthy achievement. Here, we delve into ten sci-fi films that might surprise you with their roots in earlier works.

One standout example is John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” released in 1982. Initially, the film did not fare well at the box office but has since ascended to cult classic status, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest sci-fi horror films ever made. Its groundbreaking special effects remain impressive, even decades later, and the gripping storyline continues to captivate audiences. “The Thing” draws its inspiration from John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella “Who Goes There?” but it was not the first cinematic adaptation of this tale.

The original adaptation was the 1951 film “The Thing from Another World,” a black-and-white classic that stayed true to the novella, albeit with less sophisticated creature effects compared to its successor. The production of the original involved multiple writers and directors, resulting in significant differences between the two films.

In 1982, director John Carpenter unleashed “The Thing” on movie audiences, and the film bombed horribly. Of course, that didn’t stop it from becoming a beloved cult classic, and many now regard “The Thing” as one of the best sci-fi horror movies ever made. The film is notable for its brilliant special effects, which still look amazing decades after its release, and it features an engrossing narrative. The movie itself is based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella “Who Goes There?,” but “The Thing” isn’t the first movie adaptation of that story.

The original was “The Thing from Another World,” released in 1951. The black-and-white film is a faithful adaptation of the novella, though its creature effects aren’t anywhere near the high bar set by its successor. Still, there are several key differences, as the original went through several writers and directors before production came to an end. 

In “The Thing from Another World,” a group of U.S. Air Force personnel and several scientists discover a crashed flying saucer in the Alaskan ice. They also find a humanoid body nearby, which is likewise frozen. It’s soon determined that the creature is a highly evolved form of plant life, and just as it does in the John Carpenter remake, it begins to stalk and threaten them. Both movies tackle themes of paranoia and isolation, though the 1982 movie incorporates a fear of individuality that the first movie lacks. While both are excellent classics, “The Thing” is considerably more popular.

While it’s primarily a horror comedy musical, “Little Shop of Horrors” sits firmly within the realm of science fiction. The maniacal, carnivorous plant at the center of the drama is an alien life form, which is easily forgotten as the film progresses. The movie’s alternate ending is proof enough that the plans of world domination hatched by Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs) are coming from a place not of this world. The film is remembered fondly for its fun songs, ridiculous premise, and Steve Martin’s solo, but it’s not original.

“Little Shop of Horrors” is based on a 1982 off-Broadway musical of the same name. The ’86 film’s plot is similar to the musical, but even that live theatrical run isn’t the first time the story was told. Both it and the 1986 film are loosely adapted from 1960’s “Little Shop of Horrors.”  This film, directed by B-movie legend Roger Corman, is still a farcical dark horror comedy. However, it’s very different from those that followed, and it even employed a young Jack Nicholson in a minor role.

The overall narrative structure remains the same, though the plant is called Audrey Jr., not Audrey II. Toward the film’s conclusion, Audrey Jr. hypnotizes Seymour (Jonathan Haze) to feed it, so he brings in a prostitute. Ultimately, the plant’s buds open, revealing the faces of its victims, resulting in the police accusing Seymour of murder. Its ending is considerably darker than later adaptations, as Seymour becomes the final bud in Audrey Jr. before it withers and dies.

Of all his films, director David Cronenberg is arguably best known for 1986’s “The Fly.” The movie utilized groundbreaking practical special effects to depict the transformation of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) from a man into a gigantic fly-like monster. It came with the tagline, “Be afraid. Be very afraid,” describing the general tone of the movie. It’s a true body horror classic, and one of the genre’s best, but it’s not an original story. Still, it’s quite different from the film that inspired it: 1958’s “The Fly.”

That earlier film is an adaptation of George Langelaan’s short story of the same name, which was published in 1957. In the ’86 film, Brundle creates teleportation pods because he hates traveling, as well as the possible lucrative nature of a practical application of the technology. When he solves his technical problem, he successfully teleports; however, he doesn’t realize there’s a fly inside the pod with him, and its DNA slowly overtakes his. In the 1958 film, teleportation is also used, but things are different when a fly enters the main character’s system.

Instead of slowly changing into a fly, André Delambre (David Hedison) has his head and arm swapped with the insect. Still, he retains his intellect and tries to reverse the process, while the fly flutters about with his head, his arm, and his ability to speak. Ultimately, the two films tell the same story through different approaches, adapting Langelaan’s narrative in strangely literal and disturbing ways, making both versions of “The Fly” equally intriguing.

Director Terry Gilliam’s 1995 sci-fi hit “12 Monkeys” is a time-travel story centered around the destruction of humanity via a virus. James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a prisoner in 2035, living beneath the ruins of Philadelphia, and is recruited to travel back in time to locate the origin of the virus so a cure can be developed. What follows is one of the most convoluted time-travel stories ever told, and while it’s a fascinating tale, it’s not original.

The film is a remake of a 1962 French short called “La Jetée” (The Jetty), which is in black and white and only 28 minutes long. The overall plots are similar; “La Jetée” features an unnamed prisoner (Jean Négroni) who lives beneath the ruins of Paris following the end of World War III. Scientists develop a means of time travel with the hope of calling people from the past and future to help in the present.

The prisoner, who is obsessed with a childhood memory where he saw a man die at an airport, is sent both to the past and into the distant future, which is where he receives a means of restoring the present. He later returns to the pre-war period of his youth to avoid execution but is killed at the airport, completing the circle that began when he was a boy. Other than the virus, that’s largely the same plot as “12 Monkeys,” which is a modernized retelling of “La Jetée.”

“Vanilla Sky” is one of those movies that you either love or hate. This happens a lot in science fiction, though it’s not entirely clear throughout most of the film that “Vanilla Sky” is even part of the genre. Regardless, the narrative is a fascinating psychological thriller about David Aames Jr. (Tom Cruise), a publisher who begins to find faults in reality after he’s disfigured in a car accident. The ending of “Vanilla Sky” explains everything up to that point, and it has fallen into the status of being a cult classic.

The 2001 film is a remake of the Spanish movie “Open Your Eyes,” which premiered only four years prior. The plots of the films are almost identical, as “Open Your Eyes” centers around César (Eduardo Noriega), a handsome young man who has a way with women. He’s picked up by an old fling who crashes the car in an attempt to kill them both, disfiguring César. After recovering, but with horrible scars, he hides behind a mask.

César starts to notice strange cracks in reality. He devolves into a dreamlike state and ultimately learns that it’s been 150 years since his death, having been cryogenically preserved by a company called Life Extension. He learns that he can die in his dreamlike state and be reborn, so he jumps from the company’s building. While there are variations in the plots and characters, “Vanilla Sky” is a true remake of “Open Your Eyes.”

Director Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 science fiction drama “Solaris” is set on a space station in orbit of the titular planet. An unusual phenomenon is discovered, but none of the astronauts want to return home, so Dr. Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) is recruited to travel to the station on a solo mission. He finds that most of the crew is either dead or has inexplicably vanished. The strange phenomenon involves long-dead loved ones being replicated aboard the station, which quickly impacts Kelvin.

It’s an unusual story that explores love and loss in a unique way, while also confronting the decisions that people make and sometimes regret later in life. The film is not the first of its kind, as it was preceded by 1972’s “Solaris,” which was a sci-fi movie that was far ahead of its time. Both movies are adaptations of Stanisław Lem’s 1961 novel of the same name. They feature the same plot, though there are various styles, characters, and story elements that were altered in the 2002 adaptation.

There was even a television movie adaptation that was made in 1968 in the Soviet Union, which makes 2002’s “Solaris” the third film adaptation of Lem’s novel. The plot of the first film is true to the book, and it’s similar to those that followed. Each adaptation differs somewhat from the rest, and in an unusual twist, they’re all highly regarded examples of science fiction movies filled with emotional depth, which is often rare in sci-fi.

In 2007’s “I Am Legend,” Will Smith plays Robert Neville, the only human still alive on the island of Manhattan. The world ended three years earlier, thanks to a cure for cancer that utilized a modified measles virus. While it eradicated the illness, it also transformed those infected into vampiric mutants, ending the world. Neville is a scientist who remains behind hoping to find a cure, but his efforts are thwarted when the mutants begin to show intelligence and take the fight to him.

It’s an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world that’s different from most in the genre. Of course, it’s not unique, as it’s a remake of not one but two previous movies. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel of the same name, following 1971’s “The Omega Man” and 1964’s “The Last Man on Earth.” Each of these films is a highly regarded adaptation starring some serious talent. “The Last Man on Earth’s” primary player is Vincent Price, while “The Omega Man’s” lead is Charlton Heston.

That put Smith in good company, and while each of the three feature film adaptations is quite different from one another, they all share the same DNA as the novel. In “The Omega Man,” it’s not a cure for cancer but biological warfare that cripples humanity. In “The Last Man on Earth,” it’s an ill-defined bacterial plague. The novel that inspired them all features a pandemic that turned most of humanity into vampires.

“The Invasion” is a 2007 sci-fi horror film that centers around Dr. Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman), a psychiatrist working in Washington, D.C., who notices that the people around her act suspiciously without emotion. She begins to notice this shortly after a Space Shuttle crashed, which brought with it alien spores. If that plot sounds even vaguely familiar to you, then you might be thinking of Jack Finney’s 1955 novel “The Body Snatchers,” which has had four feature film adaptations.

The 2007 movie is the fourth, coming after 1993’s “Body Snatchers,” which followed 1978’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” which in turn was a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. Of the four films, the 1956 movie and its remake are considered the best. Conversely, “The Invasion” and “Body Snatchers” have been critically panned and are both commercial failures. Despite this, they represent a long succession of adaptations around a singular story.

Much of “The Invasion” mirrors the plot of the previous films and the novel, though it’s been updated to a modern setting with contemporary issues. Other than that, it’s essentially the same movie, which is one of the reasons it failed to make a splash at the box office. Lacking any true originality didn’t set the film apart from its predecessors and only stands as an example of what not to do with a remake. Still, retellings of this story continue to persist, so it’s unlikely that “The Invasion” will be the last.

Science fiction often depicts strange circumstances that can be difficult to follow, which is true of 2024’s “Parallel.” The film centers around Vanessa (Danielle Deadwyler) who is mourning the loss of her child. She takes refuge in the family’s lake house alongside her husband Alex (Aldis Hodge) and his brother Martel (Edwin Hodge). Before long, she experiences something unusual — an encounter in the woods ends with a gunshot, and the person who fired in her direction appears to be herself.

The film explores alternate realities centered around the concept of grief and overcoming it. It’s a thought-provoking movie with deep themes, and it’s a remake of a 2020 Chinese film called “Parallel Forest.” Both films feature the same plot, as they revolve around a mother grieving her child who finds another version of herself in the woods. “Parallel Forest” is a touch darker, but there are several changes to the plot and events as they unfold, though they’re otherwise very similar.

It’s not uncommon for a Western movie to take inspiration from something out of the East. “Parallel” offers an opportunity for non-Chinese viewers to experience the same story told from a different perspective. Most viewers likely had no idea that “Parallel” wasn’t an original story, seeing as “Parallel Forest” is largely unknown outside of China, but that’s what makes adaptations like “Parallel” great. They open up stories from other cultures in different, exciting ways. Still, “Parallel” didn’t get much attention in the States when it was released.

“Bugonia” has received plenty of press, thanks to receiving four Academy Award nominations, including one for best picture. The film tells the tale of two men who kidnap a CEO because they think that she’s actually an alien intent on destroying the Earth. They believe that she’s an Andromedan who is killing the world’s bees and making humans subservient to their alien overlords. Everything about the conspiracy theory sounds like something dreamed up in the darkest corners of the internet, creating a great deal of tension.

The film is more of a black comedy than a sci-fi movie, though it’s firmly within the genre thanks to its ending. “Bugonia” is a remake of a 2003 Korean film called “Save the Green Planet!” The plots are similar, though one is told from an Eastern perspective, while the other is from the West. In “Save the Green Planet!,” a conspiracy theorist captures the head of a pharmaceutical plant, whom he suspects to be an alien who is planning on taking over the world.

The various stages of the narrative are mirrored in both films, though the settings are different due to where they were produced. While “Bugonia” has been lauded by critics and audiences alike, director Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 movie hasn’t fared nearly as well. While it is highly rated by critics, “Save the Green Planet!” is largely unknown in the West, leaving “Bugonia” as the most-seen version of the story that few viewers realize is a remake.